Higdon, No. 12 USM Keep It Simple Going Into Final Week of Regular Season: 'Just Win'

Don't look now, but the Golden Eagles are red hot as they head into the final week of the regular season.

On Sunday afternoon, No. 12 Southern Miss completed its second consecutive Sun Belt series sweep with a dominant 10-5 win over James Madison at Veterans Memorial Park in Harrisonburg, Va. It was the first Sun Belt road sweep for the Golden Eagles this season.

With the win, the Golden Eagles improved to 37-14 (19-8) while pulling to within one game of No. 8 Coastal Carolina in the Sun Belt standings after the Chants lost their home series to Old Dominion. Here's a recap of Sunday's win, the weekend overall, and a look ahead to the upcoming week.

Eags Display Versatile Offense All Weekend

For a team that has gone through some lulls on offense this season, Southern Miss seems to have found its groove at the plate at the perfect time. The Golden Eagles notched 10-plus hits in every game this weekend and scored a total of 29 runs in Harrisonburg.

After leading 1-0 through four innings on Sunday, USM added six additional runs in the top of the fifth thanks to an RBI single from Tucker Stockman, a two-RBI single by Joey Urban, and a bases-clearing three-RBI double for Matthew Russo.

The Dukes responded with a grand slam in the bottom of the fifth to cut the Eagles' lead to 7-4, but they never got any closer. That grand slam was the only time USM starting pitcher Camden Sunstrom (5-3) gave up any runs on Sunday. He finished with the win and four strikeouts through five innings of work.

Ben Higdon and Davis Gillespie lead the Eagles with three hits each on Sunday. Higdon, who has really turned things up a notch over the last few weeks, finished 3-of-4 at the plate with four RBI. Russo and Ty Long were the other two Eagles to notch multiple hits on Sunday with two apiece.

What has been so impressive about USM's recent surge is its ability to win without relying heavily on the long ball. Home runs are great, but head coach Christian Ostrander and batting coach Travis Creel have to be pleased and encouraged with how well the Eagles are playing station-to-station baseball right now. This well-rounded offensive approach is what can potentially propel a team to a deep postseason run.

Message for Final Week of Regular Season: 'Just Win'

With the final week of the regular season on deck, the message for this Golden Eagles team is clear, according to Higdon.

"The message heading into the final series is simple from me: just win," Higdon tells Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI. "There’s a lot of stuff in front of us as we know, but there’s one common denominator to getting it done, and that’s us taking care of business and winning ball games."

This coming weekend will be emotional, as it includes Senior Day on Saturday at Pete Taylor Park. However, given the possibility of a Hattiesburg Regional, plus the teams' goals well beyond that, Hidgon says the guys are going to try to play past those emotions.

"Honestly, I’m not sure what kind of emotions I feel like I’ll experience," Higdon said. "It’s a special place, no doubt, but I would like to keep the emotions at a minimum, because we have so much more work to do. Hopefully all of us seniors can be celebrated after the last pitch is thrown in Omaha."

Stay tuned to Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI for more USM baseball coverage throughout the coming week, starting on Monday morning when the latest national rankings are released.

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