University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Saturday, March 7
Pete Taylor Park
12 pm
Southern Miss
13-2
6
vs
1
North Alabama
7-8
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
North Alabama
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
4
0
Southern Miss
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
4
X
6
5
1
Grayden Harris Fans Career-High 13 in 6-1 Win over North Alabama Saturday
3/7/2026 3:47:00 PM | Baseball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Sophomore left-hander Grayden Harris (Central, La.) tossed a career-high seven innings and added a career-best 13 strikeouts to lead No. 10 Southern Miss to a 6-1 victory over North Alabama Saturday afternoon at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field.
The Golden Eagles (13-2) captured their second consecutive victory over the Lions (7-8) with the final game of the series set for 4 p.m. Sunday. The game time has been moved back three hours due to expected lingering storms in the area.
Harris allowed a one-out single in the first and had a batter reach in the second via an error but then retired the next 15 batters he faced. He gave up a two-out walk in the seventh before allowing a single to Wes Walker. Cayden Sheffield then knocked in the only Lion run of the contest with a double to right, but Walker was thrown out of the plate to end the rally.
That was the damage suffered by Harris (3-0), who fanned the side twice and got at least two strikeouts in five different frames as he registered the most Golden Eagle strikeouts in a game since Tanner Hall had 15 against Arkansas State on April 30, 2023.
The Golden Eagles jumped out in front with a solo homer from Joey Urban in the third off the scoreboard in left center to give the home squad a 1-0 advantage. It was the fifth homer of the year for Urban. The lead was extended an inning later with a Kyle Morrison dinger that hit almost the same spot off the scoreboard and Southern Miss led 2-0. It was Morrison's fifth round-tripper.
Up 2-1, Southern Miss then put the game away in the eighth with four more runs on just one hit to go along with four walks and a hit batter. Urban opened the frame with a walk, before Matthew Russo was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game and Davis Gillespie walked. Drey Barrett then lined out to left for a sacrifice fly to account for the first run before another line out and a walk to reload the bases.
Seth Smith then sent a sinking liner into right that Sheffield dove for but could not come up with, clearing the bases for a three-run double.
Josh Och threw the final two innings and allowed no runs on a hit and a walk with two strikeouts to earn his second save.
UNA starter Luke Davenport (2-2) went 5 1/3 innings, limiting the Golden Eagles to two runs on four hits with two walks and five strikeouts to suffer the loss.
The Golden Eagles (13-2) captured their second consecutive victory over the Lions (7-8) with the final game of the series set for 4 p.m. Sunday. The game time has been moved back three hours due to expected lingering storms in the area.
Harris allowed a one-out single in the first and had a batter reach in the second via an error but then retired the next 15 batters he faced. He gave up a two-out walk in the seventh before allowing a single to Wes Walker. Cayden Sheffield then knocked in the only Lion run of the contest with a double to right, but Walker was thrown out of the plate to end the rally.
That was the damage suffered by Harris (3-0), who fanned the side twice and got at least two strikeouts in five different frames as he registered the most Golden Eagle strikeouts in a game since Tanner Hall had 15 against Arkansas State on April 30, 2023.
The Golden Eagles jumped out in front with a solo homer from Joey Urban in the third off the scoreboard in left center to give the home squad a 1-0 advantage. It was the fifth homer of the year for Urban. The lead was extended an inning later with a Kyle Morrison dinger that hit almost the same spot off the scoreboard and Southern Miss led 2-0. It was Morrison's fifth round-tripper.
Up 2-1, Southern Miss then put the game away in the eighth with four more runs on just one hit to go along with four walks and a hit batter. Urban opened the frame with a walk, before Matthew Russo was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game and Davis Gillespie walked. Drey Barrett then lined out to left for a sacrifice fly to account for the first run before another line out and a walk to reload the bases.
Seth Smith then sent a sinking liner into right that Sheffield dove for but could not come up with, clearing the bases for a three-run double.
Josh Och threw the final two innings and allowed no runs on a hit and a walk with two strikeouts to earn his second save.
UNA starter Luke Davenport (2-2) went 5 1/3 innings, limiting the Golden Eagles to two runs on four hits with two walks and five strikeouts to suffer the loss.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Harris, Grayden (3-0)
L: Davenport, Luke (2-2)
S: Och, Josh (2)
Batting:
2B: Sheffield, Cayden 1
RBI: Sheffield, Cayden 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rippen, Nash 1
Batting:
2B: Smith, Seth 1 ; Stockman, Tucker 1
HR: Urban, Joey 1 ; Morrison, Kyle 1
RBI: Urban, Joey 1 ; Barrett, Drey 1 ; Smith, Seth 3 ; Morrison, Kyle 1
SF: Barrett, Drey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Urban, Joey 2 ; Russo, Matthew 1 ; Gillespie, Davis 1 ; Stockman, Tucker 1 ; Morrison, Kyle 1
HBP: Higdon, Ben 1 ; Russo, Matthew 2 ; Morrison, Kyle 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
2
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
3
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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