No. 10 Southern Miss Responds, Creates New Momentum with Win vs. North Alabama

The Golden Eagles had a disappointing midweek loss on Wednesday, but they took out their frustrations on North Alabama on Friday.

Southern Miss senior RHP Colby Allen got his first win of the year on Friday night at Pete Taylor Park. / @SouthernMissBSB

HATTIESBURG, Miss – After suffering a disappointing loss to Nicholls at home on Wednesday night, Southern Miss head coach Christian Ostrander said he hoped his team would be "pissed" heading into this weekend's series against North Alabama.

The No. 10 Golden Eagles responded the way Coach Oz wanted, as they defeated North Alabama 9-4 in the first game of the series at Pete Taylor Park on Friday night.

Colby Allen Fights Through Early Adversity

Southern Miss senior RHP Colby Allen / @SouthernMissBSB

Senior RHP Colby Allen's fourth start of the year got off on the wrong foot, as North Alabama was able to take a 2-0 lead in the top of the first off a bizarre play where a high fly ball in left field couldn't be tracked down by junior outfielder Davis Gillespie under the lights at The Pete. Lions outfielder Nash Rippen took advantage of the situation, getting a rare inside-the-park home run. It was just the first of a handful of plays by both teams that were affected by the lights and the early-night sky.

The Golden Eagles came back strong with four runs in the bottom of the first, though, and Allen settled in nicely through the next five innings. He finished with five strikeouts in six innings.

"Felt good," Allen told Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI of shaking off a slow start and grabbing his first win of the season. "Had a rocky start but kept punching and settled in. It was big for us to get back in the win column. Now we have some momentum going into the rest of the weekend."

Eags' Bats Get the Job Done

Southern Miss senior second baseman Kyle Morrison / @SouthernMissBSB

Despite being down 2-0 in the top of the first, the Golden Eagles wasted no time flipping the script in the bottom of the first, as a single from sophomore third baseman Drey Barrett scored senior outfielder Ben Higdon to make it 2-1. Then, with Barrett and senior first baseman Matthew Russo on base, senior second baseman Kyle Morrison smoked a three-run homer 414 feet over the midfield wall to give USM a 4-2 lead.

K MO CHANGED THE GAME WITH ONE SWING#OTR | #ETM | #SMTTT@d1baseball https://t.co/LSepMg71CU pic.twitter.com/2oNfXM6bzb

— Southern Miss Baseball (@SouthernMissBSB) March 7, 2026

From there, the Golden Eagles never looked back. Morrison, Russo and Barrett combined for six hits (two each). Morrison had a team-high five RBI. After scoring just two runs on Wednesday, which was the team's fifth game in six days, the USM offense looked more like itself on Friday.

Going For The Series Win on Saturday

Dalton Trigg

Next up, the Golden Eagles will look to secure the series against North Alabama at The Pete on Saturday. Sophomore LHP Grayden Harris will be on the bump for Southern Miss, looking to build on his six shutout innings performance at Louisiana Tech last week. Stay tuned to Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI for more coverage throughout the weekend.