Russo Walk-Off! No. 10 Southern Miss Takes Down New Orleans in 9th-Inning Thriller

HATTIESBURG, Miss – Following a Sun Belt series win over Old Dominion that had a handful of tense moments, No. 10 Southern Miss turned its attention to the New Orleans Privateers. It had been nearly a full month since the Golden Eagles had won a midweek game at home, but they changed that with a dramatic 3-2 victory at Pete Taylor Park on a cool Tuesday night that was perfect for baseball.

With the win, the Golden Eagles improved to 24-9 on the year, whereas the Privateers fell to 14-21. New Orleans didn't have the best overall record coming into tonight's game, but it held a 7-3 record in midweek games, so Southern Miss knew there was a good chance that it wouldn't be easy.

Eags' Pitching Staff Faces Adversity Early, But Closes Strong

Redshirt-sophomore RHP Drake Meeks got the first start of his collegiate career on Tuesday, and he showed some real flashes despite his night being cut short. He struck out two of the first three UNO batters he faced, touching 96 mph on his fastball. However, two four-pitch walks and a wild pitch led to UNO taking a 2-0 lead in the first inning. With the bases loaded, head coach Christian Ostrander went with senior RHP JW Armistead, who stranded all three UNO runners by getting the final out of the inning with a strikeout.

After giving up those two runs in the first, the Golden Eagles' pitching staff pitched a shutout the rest of the way. UNO threatened several times throughout the game, but Southern Miss was able to come up with big stop after big stop. Armistead, Bruce Littleton, Thomas Crabtree, Josh Och, Kros Sivley and Colby Allen (W, 3-1) combined for 10 strikeouts with just five hits and no runs given up over the final eight innings. The Golden Eagles forced the Privateers to leave 15 runners on base.

Bull Delivers in the Clutch

Over the course of his career at Southern Miss, senior first baseman Matthew Russo has been involved in several clutch moments, and Tuesday night provided another one for "Bull." With the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning of a 2-2 game and down to his final strike, Russo sent the baseball right up the middle of the UNO defense for a walk-off RBI-single.

This was the second time this season Russo has been in this exact situation. In a rubber match against UC Santa Barbara in the season-opening series at The Pete, Russo was walked in with the bases loaded to give Southern Miss the win. Although a win's a win no matter how you slice it, it felt a tiny bit better for Russo to get the walk-off win on a hit this time around.

“Always feels good to get that big hit with the game on the line!" Russo tells Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI. "Props to the guys in front of me allowing me to produce in that situation. Looking to keep this momentum going into this weekend!”

Next Up, Cajun Country

USM Louisiana Ragin Cajuns — Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Athletics

After a brief trip back home, the Golden Eagles will now head to Lafayette, La. to take on the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns in what will be a massive Sun Belt series. No matter what the teams' records are, it's usually a pretty competitive matchup when these two teams get together.

Overall, Southern Miss holds a 27-19 record against the Ragin' Cajuns, having won the last three. However, the Golden Eagles are just 9-9 at Lafayette, so this weekend will likely be a challenge. Southern Miss is looking to continue its newfound hot streak, and Louisiana is trying to salvage a season that's slipping away, so stay tuned to Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI for more coverage of that series heading into next weekend.