Russo's Breakthrough Pushes No. 12 Southern Miss Past Troy, Ties Sun Belt Series

The Golden Eagles had been looking for a big game from "Bull," and they got one at Pete Taylor Park in Saturday's big win over Troy.

Matthew Russo salutes The Roost and 16oz. Lounge at Pete Taylor Park after an RBI single. / Dalton Trigg

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – On a warm and sunny Saturday afternoon at Pete Taylor Park, No. 12 Southern Miss did exactly what good teams are supposed to do after a disappointing loss. After falling to Troy 6-5 on Friday, the Golden Eagles, who were looking slick in their "Parrothead Day" uniforms, punched back in the second game of the series, taking it to the Trojans with an 11-5 win.

With the win, the Golden Eagles improved to 18-5 (2-3) on the year, and the Trojans fell to 10-12 (3-2). For the second consecutive weekend, Southern Miss will be playing in a big Sun Belt series rubber match on Sunday.

Russo Gets His Big Breakthrough

Dalton Trigg

As we've been mentioning over the last week, it was only a matter of time before senior first baseman Matthew "Bull" Russo broke out of his slump at the plate. He had been hitting the ball well lately, but wasn't having the best of luck when it came to the location of those hits: "snakebit," as Southern Miss assistant coach Travis Creel put it earlier this week.

However, you can only hold a bull down for so long, and Russo powered the Golden Eagles to victory on Saturday by going 3-for-5 at the plate with three RBI.

After striking out in the fifth inning, Russo found himself back at the plate against the same Troy pitcher in the bottom of the sixth with the bases loaded. He delivered with a two-RBI single that extended the Southern Miss lead to 7-2, essentially putting the game out of reach. Then, for good measure, Russo added an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth to give the Golden Eagles an 8-5 lead.

“It felt great!,” Russo told Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI of his big performance following the game. “Was very happy l was able to provide some run support for the guys in that big moment. Looking to take the moment we had in today's game and bring it into a massive series decider tomorrow.”

Added head coach Christian Ostrander in his postgame media availability: “It’s huge for (Russo) and his confidence. He'd been pressing a little bit, and that's baseball. You can feel that a little bit sometimes. He knows he needs to be a presence in that lineup, and I think he's done a great job. Today was hopefully something that allows him to kinda settle in there and get some rhythm, get rolling.

"He needed a day like that, and we needed that day from him today."

Sivley Comes in Early, Gets the Win

Early in the second inning, senior LHP Kros Sivley came into the game for junior RHP Thomas Crabtree and had one of his best performances of the season. In just a little under six innings, Sivley registered five strikeouts and gave up just four hits and one run on a season-high 73 pitches. He pitched a shutout from the second inning through the sixth inning before giving up his one run in the seventh. Sivley improved to 3-0 on the year.

Sivley being able to step in and chew up that many innings in a big win really sets up the Golden Eagles well for Sunday when it comes to pitching. Sophomore RHP McCarty English is expected to be on the bump, and as the Golden Eagles go for their first Sun Belt series win of the season, Coach Oz will also have no shortage of high-quality bullpen options to choose from when needed.

"Gilly" Gets Homer No. 5 on the Year

@SouthernMissBSB

After a back-and-forth first two innings, junior outfielder Davis Gillespie gave his team some separation that it didn't let go of for the rest of the game by smashing a solo home run over the Coke sign in left field in the bottom of the third inning.

That run gave the Golden Eagles a 4-2 lead, and they never looked back. It was Gillespie's fifth home run of the season.

Southern Miss will be back in action against Troy at The Pete at 1 p.m. on Sunday in what will be a massive rubber match. Can the Golden Eagles flip the script from last weekend and capture the series win? We'll have more coverage with the answers to that question on Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI following the game.