University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Drey Barrett Grand Slam in Ninth Lifts Golden Eagles in Sun Belt Championship
5/23/2026 12:59:00 AM | Baseball
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Drey Barrett smashed a ninth-inning, two-out, 0-2 grand slam in the bottom of the ninth to lift top-seed and No. 8-ranked Southern Miss to a 7-6 walk-off victory over Troy Friday night at DABOS Park.
The Golden Eagles (42-14) increased their current winning streak to 11 games, while capturing their eighth walk-off win of the season and 41st since the start of the 2017 campaign. The Golden Eagles also improved to 13-2 all-time in this event and have won their first two games in each of the four tournaments that they have played here in Montgomery.
Barrett led the Golden Eagle offensive attack with three of their 11 hits, including two home runs, and a career-best six RBI.
Down 6-2 in the ninth, the Golden Eagle comeback rally started with one out with both Seth Smith and Joey Urban collecting singles. After back-to-back walks, the second one to Davis Gillespie, scored the first run of the inning. Matthew Russo then fanned before Barrett launched Cooper Ellingworth's 0-2 pitch 422 feet over the bypassing train in left field to provide his second game-winning hit of the year. His other came against Purdue on Feb. 20 during the Round Rock Classic.
Despite throwing to two batters, Ellingworth suffered the loss and fell to 1-4.
Southern Miss relief pitching, like it has done all season, kept the Golden Eagles in the game, as Kros Sivley – who made his 100th career appearance – JW Armistead, Teague Broadhead and Josh Och limited the Trojans to just two runs over the final five innings.
Och, who threw a scoreless ninth with a hit and two strikeouts, earned the victory and improved to 6-2.
The Trojans (30-28) opened the scoring in the second off Golden Eagle starter Camden Clark. After retiring the first two hitters, Houston Markham belted an opposite field homer over the left field wall for the first tally of the contest.
Troy then added three more runs in the fifth, chasing Clark in the process. After a hit and a walk to open the inning, Clark allowed an RBI single to Jimmy Janicki ending his night. Kros Sivley entered, and after giving up a sacrifice bunt to move both runners up a base, Drew Nelson singled them in to make the score 4-0. Clark allowed four runs on four hits with a season-high four walks and four strikeouts over four-plus frames.
The score was then increased to 5-0 in the sixth. After a couple of flyouts to start the frame, Aaron Piasecki recorded an infield single before scoring on a Josh Pyne RBI double.
The Golden Eagles cut into the lead in the bottom of that frame. After a leadoff double by Russo, Barrett hit his initial homer to left center off the scoreboard to make the score 5-2. Russo finished the game with a pair of doubles.
Troy added its final run on a double steal with Markham swiping home on the play in the eighth.
Trojan starter Benjamin Stubbs, who beat the Golden Eagles earlier this season in Hattiesburg, gave up two runs on seven hits with three walks and six strikeouts over five innings.
The game, which was originally slated for 11 a.m., started over eight hours later due to weather in the area.
The Golden Eagles (42-14) increased their current winning streak to 11 games, while capturing their eighth walk-off win of the season and 41st since the start of the 2017 campaign. The Golden Eagles also improved to 13-2 all-time in this event and have won their first two games in each of the four tournaments that they have played here in Montgomery.
Barrett led the Golden Eagle offensive attack with three of their 11 hits, including two home runs, and a career-best six RBI.
Down 6-2 in the ninth, the Golden Eagle comeback rally started with one out with both Seth Smith and Joey Urban collecting singles. After back-to-back walks, the second one to Davis Gillespie, scored the first run of the inning. Matthew Russo then fanned before Barrett launched Cooper Ellingworth's 0-2 pitch 422 feet over the bypassing train in left field to provide his second game-winning hit of the year. His other came against Purdue on Feb. 20 during the Round Rock Classic.
Goodnight.#OTR | #ETM | #SMTTT https://t.co/1ZBcCWdvgM pic.twitter.com/eUXi2eo4Uv
— Southern Miss Baseball (@SouthernMissBSB) May 23, 2026
Despite throwing to two batters, Ellingworth suffered the loss and fell to 1-4.
Southern Miss relief pitching, like it has done all season, kept the Golden Eagles in the game, as Kros Sivley – who made his 100th career appearance – JW Armistead, Teague Broadhead and Josh Och limited the Trojans to just two runs over the final five innings.
Och, who threw a scoreless ninth with a hit and two strikeouts, earned the victory and improved to 6-2.
The Trojans (30-28) opened the scoring in the second off Golden Eagle starter Camden Clark. After retiring the first two hitters, Houston Markham belted an opposite field homer over the left field wall for the first tally of the contest.
Troy then added three more runs in the fifth, chasing Clark in the process. After a hit and a walk to open the inning, Clark allowed an RBI single to Jimmy Janicki ending his night. Kros Sivley entered, and after giving up a sacrifice bunt to move both runners up a base, Drew Nelson singled them in to make the score 4-0. Clark allowed four runs on four hits with a season-high four walks and four strikeouts over four-plus frames.
The score was then increased to 5-0 in the sixth. After a couple of flyouts to start the frame, Aaron Piasecki recorded an infield single before scoring on a Josh Pyne RBI double.
The Golden Eagles cut into the lead in the bottom of that frame. After a leadoff double by Russo, Barrett hit his initial homer to left center off the scoreboard to make the score 5-2. Russo finished the game with a pair of doubles.
Troy added its final run on a double steal with Markham swiping home on the play in the eighth.
Trojan starter Benjamin Stubbs, who beat the Golden Eagles earlier this season in Hattiesburg, gave up two runs on seven hits with three walks and six strikeouts over five innings.
The game, which was originally slated for 11 a.m., started over eight hours later due to weather in the area.
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