Southern Miss Rises in Latest National Baseball Rankings After Bounce-Back Week

The Golden Eagles were rewarded for their 3-1 week in the new NCAA baseball national rankings, which were released on Monday.

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HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Although there were some tense moments, Southern Miss showed its resiliency and grit by pulling through and completing a comeback Sun Belt series win over Troy at Pete Taylor Park over the weekend to improve to 19-5 (3-3) on the year.

After losing to the Trojans in the first game of the series on Friday, the Golden Eagles won in convincing fashion on Saturday and then again in a 6-5 rubber match thriller on Sunday.

“We learned last week that there are going to be storms that will come our way this season,” Golden Eagles junior outfielder Davis Gillespie told Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI following Sunday's series-clinching win over Troy. “It’s how we respond to those storms that will make a difference, and that’s what we did this weekend.”

Where Eags Land in Latest National Rankings

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Altogether, the Golden Eagles bounced from last weekend's disappointing road series loss to Arkansas State by going 3-1 this week. Southern Miss not only won a big Sun Belt series over Troy at home, but also a midweek shutout win against Nicholls in Biloxi. That mark resulted in Southern Miss moving up in the NCAA national rankings this week.

D1Baseball, which ranked Southern Miss at No. 12 last week, raised the Golden Eagles up one spot to No. 11 this week.

Baseball America, which has been more critical of the Golden Eagles than the other polls this season, kept them at No. 16 this week with no movement.

We will update this post as more rankings are rereleased on Monday.

The Week Ahead

Mississippi State Bulldogs first baseman Reed Stallman (7) attempts to tag Southern Miss Golden Eagles base runner Joey Urban (1) at Pete Taylor Park in Hattiesburg, Miss., on March 3, 2026. | Matt Bush/Special to the Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

This week will get off to a roaring start for the Golden Eagles, as they'll face No. 6 Mississippi State in Starkville at Dudy Noble Field on Tuesday night. It won't be easy, but after defeating the Bulldogs 7-6 at The Pete earlier this month, Southern Miss will be looking for the regular-season sweep and another high-quality win for its resume.

The Golden Eagles will then head back to Hattiesburg and prepare for another home Sun Belt series over the weekend. This time, Southern Miss will welcome Appalachian State to The Pete. The Mountineers are just 12-10 (2-4) so far this season, but as we saw this past weekend with Troy, record doesn't mean much when it comes to how competitive a series can be.

Stay tuned to Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI throughout the week for more Black and Gold baseball coverage.