University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Friday, March 6
Pete Taylor Park
6 pm
Southern Miss
12-2
9
vs
4
North Alabama
7-7
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
North Alabama
2
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
4
9
1
Southern Miss
4
0
3
0
0
2
0
0
X
9
9
2
Kyle Morrison Drives in Five to Lead Baseball to 9-4 Friday Evening Win over UNA
3/6/2026 9:31:00 PM | Baseball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Kyle Morrison had two hits and drove in five runs to lead No. 10 Southern Miss to a 9-4 victory over North Alabama Friday night at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field.
The Golden Eagles (12-2) rebound from its Wednesday night loss to Nicholls with six strong innings coming from starting pitcher Colby Allen with Kros Sivley covering the final three frames.
On a night where wind wreaked havoc with fielders, it certainly came into play during the top of the first. With a runner at first and two outs, Nash Rippen hit one into left that was misplayed by Davis Gillespie getting by him which resulted in the batter registering a two-run inside the park homer. It was Rippen's fifth round-tripper of the year.
In the bottom half of the frame, Ben Higdon opened things with a walk. After a lineout and another walk to Matthew Russo, Gillespie lined out to left and Drey Barrett's fly ball to short right field got caught in the wind and landed safely, allowing Higdon to score on the single. Morrison then slammed a Tripp Patterson pitch over the center field wall, his fourth long ball of the year, to give the Golden Eagles a 4-2 lead after one.
The Lions (7-7) cut the gap with a solo run in the third coming on an RBI single from Dylan Coleman. But the Golden Eagles piled on with three more runs in the bottom of the frame. After Russo was hit by a pitch and Gillespie doubled, Morrison drove in both runners with a triple to right center.
Southern Miss then added two more runs in the sixth coming on an RBI single from Russo that the left fielder had trouble picking up, allowing a second runner to score on the play.
Allen (1-1) got the win by allowing three runs on six hits over his start with two walks and five strikeouts. Sivley, who allowed a run in the ninth on a RBI single by Petey Craska, collected a three-inning save. He gave up that lone run on three hits with three strikeouts and one walk.
The two teams return to action Saturday in a 12 noon contest. The game was moved up two hours due to impending bad weather expected in the area.
The Golden Eagles (12-2) rebound from its Wednesday night loss to Nicholls with six strong innings coming from starting pitcher Colby Allen with Kros Sivley covering the final three frames.
On a night where wind wreaked havoc with fielders, it certainly came into play during the top of the first. With a runner at first and two outs, Nash Rippen hit one into left that was misplayed by Davis Gillespie getting by him which resulted in the batter registering a two-run inside the park homer. It was Rippen's fifth round-tripper of the year.
In the bottom half of the frame, Ben Higdon opened things with a walk. After a lineout and another walk to Matthew Russo, Gillespie lined out to left and Drey Barrett's fly ball to short right field got caught in the wind and landed safely, allowing Higdon to score on the single. Morrison then slammed a Tripp Patterson pitch over the center field wall, his fourth long ball of the year, to give the Golden Eagles a 4-2 lead after one.
The Lions (7-7) cut the gap with a solo run in the third coming on an RBI single from Dylan Coleman. But the Golden Eagles piled on with three more runs in the bottom of the frame. After Russo was hit by a pitch and Gillespie doubled, Morrison drove in both runners with a triple to right center.
Southern Miss then added two more runs in the sixth coming on an RBI single from Russo that the left fielder had trouble picking up, allowing a second runner to score on the play.
Allen (1-1) got the win by allowing three runs on six hits over his start with two walks and five strikeouts. Sivley, who allowed a run in the ninth on a RBI single by Petey Craska, collected a three-inning save. He gave up that lone run on three hits with three strikeouts and one walk.
The two teams return to action Saturday in a 12 noon contest. The game was moved up two hours due to impending bad weather expected in the area.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Allen, Colby (1-1)
L: Patterson, Tripp (0-2)
S: Sivley, Kros (1)
Batting:
2B: Walker, Wes 1
HR: Rippen, Nash 1
RBI: Coleman, Dylan 1 ; Rippen, Nash 2 ; Craska, Petey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Millard, Will 1 ; Sheffield, Cayden 1 ; Rippen, Nash 1 ; Craska, Petey 1
Batting:
2B: Higdon, Ben 1 ; Gillespie, Davis 1
3B: Morrison, Kyle 1
HR: Morrison, Kyle 1
RBI: Russo, Matthew 1 ; Barrett, Drey 1 ; Smith, Seth 1 ; Morrison, Kyle 5
SF: Smith, Seth 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Urban, Joey 1 ; Higdon, Ben 2 ; Russo, Matthew 2 ; Barrett, Drey 1 ; Gillespie, Davis 1 ; Morrison, Kyle 2
CS: Long, Ty 1
HBP: Urban, Joey 1 ; Russo, Matthew 1 ; Barrett, Drey 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
5
AB
4
R
2
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
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OF
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LHP
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