University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Friday, April 10
Lafayette, La.
6 pm
Southern Miss
25-9, 8-5
8
at
1
Louisiana
19-15, 4-9
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Miss | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 7 | 0 |
| Louisiana | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
Baseball Opens Sun Belt Series at Louisiana with 8-1 Victory Friday Evening
4/10/2026 10:49:00 PM | Baseball
LAFAYETTE, La. – Matthew Russo and Tucker Stockman each collected two-run homers and Grayden Harris pitched 6 2/3 solid innings as No. 10 Southern Miss defeated Louisiana 8-1 Friday night at Russo Park in the opening game of a Sun Belt Conference series.
The start of the game was delayed an hour and a half due to rainy weather in the area, but the Golden Eagles (25-9 overall, 8-5 Sun Belt) won for the third-straight time. The Cajuns (19-15, 4-9) fell for the fourth consecutive game.
Harris limited the Cajuns to just one run on four hits with a walk and 10 strikeouts to earn the victory and improve to 6-1. Colby Allen fired the final 2 2/3 innings, giving up just one hit and fanning five.
The Golden Eagles jumped out early in the contest with a pair of runs. Davis Gillespie, who finished with a team-high three hits, opened the frame with a single to left on the first pitch, before Russo deposited a Sawyer Pruitt 1-0 offering over the right-center wall one batter later for an early 2-0 advantage. It was Russo's fifth homer of the year.
Pruitt pitched four-plus innings and allowed four runs on three hits with six walks and five strikeouts to suffer the loss and fall to 2-3.
It was Pruitt that surrendered five walks and the Cajuns made an error two innings later that helped increase the visitors lead to 4-0. Pruitt loaded the bases with three walks, before Drey Barrett's fielder's choice drove in one run. On the return throw to first to try and turn the double play, it was wild from the shortstop which allowed a second run to score on the play.
Two innings later, Stockman posted a two-run homer of his own to right, also scoring Ben Higdon who was hit by a pitch. It was Stockman's fourth homer of the year.
After the Cajuns plated their lone run in the seventh on a RBI single from Drew Markle, the Golden Eagles scored their final two runs in the eighth. After Barrett opened the inning with a single, he went to second on a botched fielding play on a Stockman sacrifice bunt putting two runners on. After another sacrifice bunt to put runners in scoring position, the first run scored via a wild pitch and the second came on a sacrifice fly from Seth Smith.
Josh Lim led the Cajuns with three of their five hits, which included two doubles.
Game two of the series is set to take place at 2 p.m., Saturday.
The start of the game was delayed an hour and a half due to rainy weather in the area, but the Golden Eagles (25-9 overall, 8-5 Sun Belt) won for the third-straight time. The Cajuns (19-15, 4-9) fell for the fourth consecutive game.
Harris limited the Cajuns to just one run on four hits with a walk and 10 strikeouts to earn the victory and improve to 6-1. Colby Allen fired the final 2 2/3 innings, giving up just one hit and fanning five.
The Golden Eagles jumped out early in the contest with a pair of runs. Davis Gillespie, who finished with a team-high three hits, opened the frame with a single to left on the first pitch, before Russo deposited a Sawyer Pruitt 1-0 offering over the right-center wall one batter later for an early 2-0 advantage. It was Russo's fifth homer of the year.
Pruitt pitched four-plus innings and allowed four runs on three hits with six walks and five strikeouts to suffer the loss and fall to 2-3.
It was Pruitt that surrendered five walks and the Cajuns made an error two innings later that helped increase the visitors lead to 4-0. Pruitt loaded the bases with three walks, before Drey Barrett's fielder's choice drove in one run. On the return throw to first to try and turn the double play, it was wild from the shortstop which allowed a second run to score on the play.
Two innings later, Stockman posted a two-run homer of his own to right, also scoring Ben Higdon who was hit by a pitch. It was Stockman's fourth homer of the year.
After the Cajuns plated their lone run in the seventh on a RBI single from Drew Markle, the Golden Eagles scored their final two runs in the eighth. After Barrett opened the inning with a single, he went to second on a botched fielding play on a Stockman sacrifice bunt putting two runners on. After another sacrifice bunt to put runners in scoring position, the first run scored via a wild pitch and the second came on a sacrifice fly from Seth Smith.
Josh Lim led the Cajuns with three of their five hits, which included two doubles.
Game two of the series is set to take place at 2 p.m., Saturday.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Harris, Grayden (6-1)
L: Pruitt,Sawyer (2-3)
Batting:
2B: Gillespie, Davis 1
HR: Russo, Matthew 1 ; Stockman, Tucker 1
RBI: Smith, Seth 1 ; Russo, Matthew 2 ; Barrett, Drey 1 ; Stockman, Tucker 2
SH: Higdon, Ben 1 ; Stockman, Tucker 1
SF: Smith, Seth 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Morrison, Kyle 1 ; Gillespie, Davis 2 ; Russo, Matthew 1 ; Barrett, Drey 1 ; Higdon, Ben 2 ; Stockman, Tucker 1
CS: Smith, Seth 1
HBP: Higdon, Ben 1
Batting:
2B: Lim,Josh 2 ; LaSalle,Donovan 1
RBI: Markle,Drew 1
Base Running:
RUNS: LaSalle,Donovan 1
HBP: Lewis,Noah 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
RHP
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LHP
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OF
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C
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