Matthew Russo Drives in Four as Southern Miss Opens Sun Belt Tourney with 7-6 Win over Georgia State

Wednesday, May 20

Montgomery, Ala. (DABOS Park)

4 pm

Southern Miss

41-14

Georgia State

27-29

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Georgia St.	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	1	1	6	13	0
Southern Miss	2	0	0	0	1	1	2	1	X	7	6	2

Matthew Russo celebrates driving in a runner after his single

Matthew Russo Drives in Four as Southern Miss Opens Sun Belt Tourney with 7-6 Win over Georgia State

5/21/2026 1:19:00 AM | Baseball

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MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Matthew Russo drove in four runs and Colby Allen threw the final 2 1/3 innings to lift No. 8 ranked and top-seeded Southern Miss to a 7-6 victory over Georgia State Wednesday night at DABOS Park in the team's opening game of the Sun Belt Baseball Championship.

The Golden Eagles (41-14) have now collected at least one win in each of the last 40 conference tournaments that they have played. Due to the length of the game prior to Southern Miss's contest and a 2 hour, 23 minute rain delay in the third inning of tonight's affair, the final game of the day between Troy and South Alabama was moved to 9 a.m. Thursday. The winner of that game will now meet Southern Miss at 11 a.m. Friday.

In order to win their four-straight Sun Belt Championship opener, Southern Miss scored in each of their final four at bats as they rallied from a 4-2 deficit. With the score tied at 4-all in the in the seventh, Russo delivered for the second of three times in the game by stroking a go-ahead RBI single through the right side. Ben Higdon followed with a run-scoring single of his own to make the score 6-4.

Colby Allen, who followed the trio of Grayden Harris, Josh Och and Kros Sivley on the mound in the contest, got the Golden Eagles out of a jam with two runners on and two outs by retiring the lone batter he faced with a fielder's choice.

The Panthers (27-29) closed the gap in the eighth off Allen with a RBI single from Nick Garagozzo to cut the deficit to one run, but Russo collected another solid at bat by driving in his fourth run with a groundout in the bottom half of the frame.

Georgia State tacked on one final run in the ninth off Allen on an RBI double by Adam Haber, but the Golden Eagle right-hander got a strikeout and groundout to end the game.

Allen improved to 6-1 with the victory as he allowed two runs on six hits with no walks and three strikeouts. He now has 23 career wins, moving him into a fourth-place tie with Nick Sandlin, Cliff Russum and Damon Pollard in that category.

The Golden Eagles opened the scored in the first inning for the fourth-straight game.

Seth Smith led off the bottom of the first with a walk. After going to second on a groundout to second, Kyle Morrison was hit by a pitch. Another groundout to second moved both runners into scoring position before Russo singled a 2-1 pitch through the left side to plate both runners.

The Panthers tied the game in the third with a pair of runs of their own. After a leadoff walk to Garagozzo snapping a 26-inning string of not allowing a free pass for the Golden Eagles, Carter Bailey then doubled to right center to plate the first run. Bailey then scored on a bunt single by John Beverley that was thrown wild by the pitcher Harris.

After the rain delay, the Panthers took the lead in the fourth. Och, who entered the game in relief of Harris, hit the first batter and then walked the next GSU hitter. After a sacrifice bunt to move each runner up a base and a strikeout, Beverley singled both runs to make the score 4-2.

Morrison cut the gap in the bottom of the frame with a solo home run to left for his 16th of the year.

The Golden Eagles followed Morrison's homer with another solo run in the sixth to tie the game at 4-4. After a strikeout to open the inning, Higdon singled to left and then scored from first a batter later when Tucker Stockman doubled into the right field corner.

Southern Miss has now won its last 10 games.