Southern Miss vs. New Orleans: Pitching Matchup, 'Complimentary Baseball' and More

HATTIESBURG, Miss – Following a 2-2 week that concluded with winning a Sun Belt series against Old Dominion by the skin of its teeth, No. 10 Southern Miss knows it must start to string together more wins to keep that high ranking and build momentum for the postseason.

The Golden Eagles will look to start that momentum on Tuesday night against New Orleans at Pete Taylor Park. Southern Miss' last midweek win at home came against Ole Miss on March 10.

Coach Oz Preaches 'Complementary Baseball'

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Consistent hitting was a struggle for the Golden Eagles for a few weeks, but after notching at least 10 hits in four of their last five games, it appears as if the bats have woken up again. However, one area of concern is coming from a place that was such a massive strength early in the season: The bullpen.

In Friday's loss to ODU, it was a 3-3 tie until Southern Miss inexplicitly gave up six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Then, in Saturday's rubber match, despite holding a 6-1 lead, the bullpen gave up six more runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to give ODU a 7-6. The Golden Eagle bats were able to save the day and secure an 8-7 win, but head coach Christian Ostrander knows all "links in the chain" must be connected for his team to reach its goals.

"I'm the most critical one of anybody on these guys," Coach Oz said on his weekly sit-down with SuperTalk Eagle Hour on Monday. "We could be 32-0, and I probably wouldn't be satisfied. To me, we're close. We're close to getting back to where we need to be. Just need some of these young men to perform to their capabilities.

"And I'm not ever putting it all on them. We've gotta do our part as coaches. But at the end of the day, ultimately, it's them being that link in a chain when your time comes to keep that chain together. And you've gotta do that collectively. It's such an ultimate team sport with a ton of variables, and if one small variable, any variable, gets out of whack, it can influence the whole thing. We just gotta clean that up and play complementary baseball. If we get back to doing that, I'll like where we'll be."

Pitching Matchup for Tuesday Night

As of Monday evening, New Orleans hadn't listed a starting pitcher for Tuesday night, but Southern Miss did. The Golden Eagles will go with redshirt sophomore RHP Drake Meeks. It will be the first start of his collegiate career.

In three appearances this season, Meeks has a 3.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, three strikeouts, two hits, and one run given up. After missing all of 2025 with an injury, we're eager to see how Meeks performs in his first start, as he's looked really good in limited time this year.

Weather Forecast / How to Watch

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It should be a great night for baseball at The Pete, as forecasts call for mostly clear skies with temperatures in the low-70s around game time at 6 p.m. As of Monday evening, current forecasts also called for a zero percent chance of rain.

If you can't attend the game at The Pete on Tuesday, you can watch it on ESPN+. Stay tuned to Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI for more coverage following the game.