Senior Day Domination: No. 8 Southern Miss Secures Series Win vs. Georgia Southern

The Golden Eagles honored their seniors and collected their eighth win in a row on Friday night by defeating Georgia Southern at Pete Taylor Park.

Josh House

HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Following an emotional pregame ceremony to acknowledge and celebrate its seniors, No. 8 Southern Miss shook off a slow offensive start, at least by its high standards, and defeated Georgia Southern, 10-1, to secure yet another Sun Belt series win on Friday night at Pete Taylor Park.

Senior first baseman Matthew Russo was feeling all the emotions that came along with Senior Day at Pete Taylor Park on Friday. | Josh House

With the win, the Golden Eagles improved to 39-14 (22-8), while Georgia Southern fell to 16-39 (7-22). This Southern Miss ballclub has caught fire, having won eight games in a row while looking for its third consecutive Sun Belt series sweep on Saturday. Here’s how the Golden Eagles got it done on Senior Day.

Eags’ Display Balanced Offense

Southern Miss has scored at least 10 runs in each of its last four games heading into Saturday's regular-season finale. | Josh House

Although Southern Miss head coach Christian Ostrander has said his team is more built for crooked-number innings when it comes to scoring, we saw an extremely balanced, evenly distributed scoring performance on Friday night. The Golden Eagles scored at least one run in six of the eight innings the offense played, and eight of the nine batters in the lineup had at least one hit on the night.

What's more impressive is how Southern Miss has continued to show versatility in its scoring of all these runs. Seniors Joey Urban (2), Kyle Morrison (1), Ben Higdon (1), and sophomore Drey Barrett (1) all had doubles in the Game 2 victory.

Seth Smith launched his third home run of the year to the Right Field Roost in Friday's 10-1 win over Georgia Southern. | Josh House

And for a team that is a Matthew Russo homer away from having four double-digit home run hitters, it was junior shortstop Seth Smith who had the Golden Eagles' only home run of the game on Friday with a no-doubter solo shot to the Right Field Roost. It was just his third home run of the season.

Higdon, Russo and Davis Gillespie had two hits apiece on the night, and Urban led the Golden Eagles with three hits in five plate appearances. The vibes inside the Southern Miss dugout are at an all-time high right now, according to Higdon, and there's no reason that momentum shouldn't carry over to the Sun Belt tournament next week.

Clark, Sivley Lead Impressive Eags' Pitching Performance

Camden Clark has recorded 33 strikeouts over his last three starts for the Golden Eagles. | Josh House

Coming off a solid performance last weekend against James Madison, where he recorded nine strikeouts through six innings, sophomore RHP Camden Clark kept his momentum going against Georgia Southern. The former closer-turned-starter racked up nine strikeouts again on Friday night while improving his record to 8-0. This time, though, he did it in only five innings of work while giving up just one run and five hits.

For those keeping track at home, that's 33 strikeouts for Clark over his last 18 innings pitched. That's an incredible weapon for the Golden Eagles to be taking into the postseason, and when it's all said and done, head coach Christian Ostrander making the call to put Clark in as a full-time starter could be the biggest season-defining moment for this ballclub.

Senior RHP JW Armistead came in for one inning of work in the sixth and gave up two hits and no runs before handing the ball off to senior LHP Kros Sivley, who made the 98th appearance of his Golden Eagle career on Friday. Sivley finished out the final three innings of the game with four strikeouts and just one hit given up.

Senior LHP Kros Sivley made the 98th appearance of his Golden Eagles career on Friday night. | Josh House

Sivley and the other seniors will likely get at least one more opportunity to pitch again at The Pete, but if, for some reason, Friday night ends up being the final time, it was a fitting send-off for a guy who has given so much to the program over the years. Again, though, it's pretty much a lock at this point that the Golden Eagles will host a regional, so all of these seniors should get to experience Pete Taylor Magic for at least one more weekend.

Joey Web Gem!

M8 | JURB SAYS NO CYCLE WITH A RIDICULOUS GRAB IN CENTER and Southern Miss heads to the bottom of the 8th

Southern Miss 6, Georgia Southern 1 #OTR | #ETM | #SMTTT pic.twitter.com/5QRxlvArF7

— Southern Miss Baseball (@SouthernMissBSB) May 16, 2026

Not only has Urban been heating back up at the plate lately, but he flashed his fielding talent on Friday night as well.

In the top of the eighth inning, Georgia Southern first baseman Sean White smoked a ball out to center field, looking to hit for the cycle if he ended up with a triple. However, Urban had other plans, as he dove and made an outstanding catch to turn what would've been a for-sure triple into the second out of the frame.

Next Up: Going for a Saturday Sweep ... with a Chance at a Sun Belt Title

Senior first baseman Matthew Russo is hoping his final season at Southern Miss ends with an extremely deep postseason run. | Josh House

The Golden Eagles will officially conclude the regular season on Saturday, as they look for their third consecutive Sun Belt sweep before beginning postseason play.

With a win, Southern Miss would not only extend its nation-leading 40-win season streak to 10, but it could also lock up a Sun Belt regular-season championship if Louisiana can defeat Coastal Carolina in its Sun Belt series rubber match Saturday in Lafayette. Stay tuned to Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI for more baseball coverage throughout the weekend and all next week in Montgomery, AL, with the Golden Eagles getting things rolling in the Sun Belt Conference tournament.