Southern Miss Reveals Electric Starting Pitching Lineup for Opening Weekend

The Golden Eagles will have a lot of firepower when it comes to starting pitchers this season.

Southern Miss. pitcher Colby Allen (6) throws a pitch in relief in a game between the Southern Miss Golden Eagles and the Lafayette Leopards in a NCAA baseball game. February 15, 2025. / Joe Harper/bgnphoto.com

In less than 48 hours, Southern Miss baseball will be back in full swing at Pete Taylor Park for an Opening Weekend series against UC Santa Barbara. Players put in a lot of hard work over the offseason, and they're ready to see that hard work start paying off on Friday night.

On Wednesday, Southern Miss announced its starting pitchers for the weekend, which figures to be an electric trio this season.

Friday – Senior RHP Colby Allen

Colby Allen celebrates a Southern Miss win over Troy. / Aaron Fitt / D1Baseball

After being mainly a bullpen guy through his first three seasons at Southern Miss, Colby Allen will now get his opportunity to be a full-time starter in the coveted Friday-night spot. In 29 appearances last season, Allen posted a 7-4 record with 12 saves while earning NCBWA third-team All-America honors.

Third-year Golden Eagles head coach Christian Ostrander says Allen has added more to his pitching arsenal heading into his senior year.

 "It was pretty well documented, the fact that (Colby)'s been a two-pitch guy for us: fastball, slider ... sinker, slider guy who has done really well," Ostrander told Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI.

"Both of 'em are above-average pitches. They would grade out to above average. So now, the challenge was, especially if you're shifting roles from a reliever, where two pitches are probably enough, to where if you wanna start getting more length and try to get five, six, seven or more innings, having that third pitch to just kind of keep 'em off balance a little bit more would be important. Not just for now, but it's important for his development and his professional baseball career that will happen after this season."

Allen had the opportunity to go to the MLB after his junior year, but he simply couldn't turn down the chance to spend one more year wearing the Black and Gold.

“Why would you not come back? ... I get chills thinking about it,” Allen told the Pine Belt News when asked about taking the mound at The Pete for the first time this season. “I’ve been watching that moment over in my head 24/7 for probably the past two or three months. Visualizing everything. ... I get chills thinking about it.”

Saturday – Sophomore LHP Grayden Harris

Grayden Harris is poised for a breakout sophomore season at Southern Miss / D1Baseball

Grayden Harris had a great freshman campaign for the Golden Eagles, posting a 5-3 record with a 3.39 ERA in 16 appearances. The talented lefty notched 25 strikeouts in a little more than 58 innings.

Everyone associated with Southern Miss baseball is excited about what this season could look like for Harris, inlcuding former USM star slugger Slade Wilks, who correctly predicted Harris to be the Saturday starter.

 "Grayden Harris, I fully expect him to be the Saturday guy, just kind of from what I'm hearing," Wilks told Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI last week.

"(He) had a great season for a freshman. You don't see many freshmen come out of high school and immediately become a weekend starter for Southern Miss, or Division I baseball in general.

"From what I'm hearing, he's only gotten better and worked on his arsenal. Perfecting this craft. There's a lot of difference a year makes, having a whole other year under Coach Oz, especially on the pitching side. I expect really big things out of him."

Sunday – Redshirt Sophomore RHP McCarty English

Southern Miss. pitcher McCarty English (47) in his windup in a game between the Southern Miss Golden Eagles and the Tulane Green Wave in a NCAA Baseball game. March 26 , 2024. / Joe Harper/bgnphoto.com

It has been a long road for McCarty English to get to this point, but it might finally be his time to shine as he debuts his redshirt sophomore season as the Sunday starter.

During his freshman year in 2024, English appeared in 11 games with just one start, posting a 1-0 record and one save with a 4.91 ERA. However, he was forced to miss the rest of that season due to suffering a stress fracture in his elbow. In 2025, he only appeared in five games in relief.

After working his way through his elbow injury, the Ocean Springs native is hoping to show some of the same promise he showed nearly two years ago before his career got put on hold. After impressing during the offseason, including team scrimmages, we're expecting English to be a mainstay in Coach Oz's pitching rotation.

feed