With a 6-2 win over Troy on Sunday morning, the Southern Miss baseball team advanced to the Sun Belt Tournament championship for the fourth straight season.
It was a revenge game of sorts for Southern Miss (43-15), who fell to Troy (32-29) on Saturday night after beating the Trojans earlier in the tournament.
How it happened
Veteran pitcher Kros Sivley got the start for Southern Miss and delivered three scoreless innings to give the Golden Eagles an early advantage. The offense broke through in the bottom of the third inning when shortstop Seth Smith drove in a run with a single. Moments later, center fielder Joey Urban blasted his 14th home run of the season, a three-run shot that pushed the lead to 4–0.
Troy got on the board in the fourth inning on a fielder’s choice after Colby Allen entered the game in relief. Allen settled in quickly, however, pitching six innings while striking out six batters and allowing just one earned run.
Southern Miss answered with another long ball when Davis Gillespie launched a 418-foot home run — his 14th of the year — extending the lead to 6–1.
Allen closed out the game despite a few late threats from Troy. The Trojans scored once more on a bases-loaded fielder’s choice, but Allen escaped the jam by striking out the final two batters to secure the win.
What the coach said
Southern Miss head coach Christian Ostrander praised his team’s composure after battling both a tough Troy squad and challenging weather conditions.
“Troy played really well, but we eventually stabilized our play and are moving on,” Ostrander told reporters after Sunday’s game. “The great thing about the game last night was that we got to play again today.”
Look at the numbers
Since joining the Sun Belt Conference in 2022-23, Southern Miss has reached the conference championship game every season at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery, Ala., which is usually home to the MiLB’s Montgomery Biscuits. The team won the entire tournament in 2023 and 2024.
The Golden Eagles had four players record multiple hits against Troy on Sunday: Joey Urban, Drey Barrett, Ben Higdon, and Tucker Stockman. Urban was the only player to score multiple runs, while Barrett reached base three times with two hits and a walk.
On the mound, Sivley tossed three scoreless innings with one strikeout. Allen earned the win to improve to 7-1 after six strong innings in relief. Troy used six different pitchers, with starter Drew Nelson taking the loss after allowing three earned runs.
Next up
1-seed Southern Miss will face 7-seed Louisiana (39-22) in the Sun Belt Conference Baseball Championship at 1:30 p.m. CT.
