No. 12 Southern Miss Sweeps Louisiana Tech; Big Showdown vs. Mississippi State Looms

The Golden Eagles won their 10th game in a row by completing a weekend sweep of the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs on the road.

Southern Miss head coach Christian Ostrander became the fastest coach in program history to reach 100 wins. / @SouthernMissBSB

No. 12 Southern Miss continued to impress in the early stages of this season on Sunday, as it completed a weekend sweep of Louisiana Tech at "The Love Shack" in Ruston, La., with a 6-2 win. The Golden Eagles won their 10th game in a row, improving to 10-1 on the year, while Louisiana Tech fell to 8-4.

Coach Oz Makes History with 100th Win

Southern Miss Golden Eagles head coach Christian Ostrander watches the action during the game against the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos at Pete Taylor Park in Hattiesburg, Miss., on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. / Matt Bush/Special to the Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

With the win, third-year head coach Christian Ostrander made program history by becoming the fastest Southern Miss baseball head coach to reach 100 wins. Coach Oz got his 100th win in just 137 games. Previously, legendary head coach Pete Taylor was the fastest to reach 100 wins, doing it in 163 games. Coach Oz's mentor and predecessor, Scott Berry, reached 100 career wins in 165 games.

"I'm so grateful to be in this position, to be at a program like this," Coach Oz told Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI right before this season began. "To have one of my close friends, a guy I look up to, Coach Berry, feel like I was the next to take over something that he did so well with. ... It's all a blessing."

"I try to share that with my daughters," Coach Oz said of doing something he loves as a job. "I share it with these guys. Make sure you're chasing something that you truly do love, because I can tell you right now, I've been doing it since 1997 in some form or fashion, different levels, and it's like, 'Are you kidding me? They pay me to do this? This is fun.' So (I'm) very fortunate to feel that."

Eags Bullpen Nearly Untouchable All Weekend

Marty English got the start for the Golden Eagles on Sunday at "The Love Shack." / @SouthernMissBSB

Throughout the weekend, the Golden Eagles always felt in control of the series against Louisiana Tech, and the overall performance of the bullpen was a big reason for that.

In relief of Colby Allen on Friday, Kros Sivley and Josh Och combined to give up just one hit and zero earned runs in a little more than four innings. During Saturday's run-rule win over the Bulldogs in seven innings, starting pitcher Grayden Harris didn't need much relief help after going six innings, but Drake Meeks came in and closed the game out, giving up zero hits or runs. And finally, on Sunday, Camden Sunstrom (W, 1-0), Sivley and Camden Clark (S) combined to give up just five hits and zero runs in six innings of work.

Overall, the pitching staff posted an outstanding 1.08 ERA over the 25 innings played over the weekend, with a total of 27 strikeouts.

Southern Miss Runs Keep Piling Up

Joey Urban hit his fourth home run of the season on Sunday to give Southern Miss a 6-2 lead over Louisiana Tech. / @SouthernMissBSB

The Golden Eagles' offense was just as impressive as the pitching this weekend, as Southern Miss outscored Louisiana Tech 25-5.

On Sunday, specifically, Southern Miss found itself down 2-1 in the top of the fourth inning before Seth Smith reached on a Louisiana Tech fielding error, which scored Drey Barrett and Kyle Morrison. The Golden Eagles took a 3-2 lead.

Then, in the top of the fifth inning, Matthew Russo, who has been in a bit of a slump by his standards lately, launched a solo home run to deep right field to extend the Golden Eagles' lead to 4-2. As a cherry on top, Joey Urban delivered two more insurance runs in the top of the ninth inning with a two-run bomb to left field, giving Southern Miss a 6-2 lead that held to the end.

Next Up: A Potential Top-10 Matchup vs. Mississippi State at The Pete

Ben Higdon got things started off for Southern Miss in the top of the first inning on Sunday with a lead-off double. / @SouthernMissBSB

Arguably the toughest test of this young season awaits the Golden Eagles on Tuesday night, as they'll take on No. 4 Mississippi State at Pete Taylor Park in what should be a wildly energetic atmosphere. Southern Miss is a winner of 10 consecutive games, while Mississippi State is coming off its first loss of the season to No. 1 UCLA, an 8-7 thriller through 10 innings.

"It's the most important game of the year because it's the next one," Coach Oz told Southern Miss sideline reporter Jason Baker of the upcoming game against Mississippi State. "That's our mentality, and that's how we're gonna look at it. I know it's gonna be a great atmosphere. I know our folks are gonna show up, so it should be a lot of fun."

We'll have to wait to see what the new NCAA baseball rankings look like when they're released on Monday, but we believe it's safe to say that Tuesday's game between in-state rivals Southern Miss and Mississippi State will be a Top-10 showdown. Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI will be at The Pete to bring you postgame coverage of that one, so stay tuned!