University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Sunday, May 24
Montgomery, Ala. (DABOS Park)
9 am
Southern Miss
43-15
6
vs
2
Troy
32-29
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Troy | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 0 |
| Southern Miss | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 6 | 10 | 1 |
Southern Miss Wins Twice Sunday to Win Third Sun Belt Baseball Championship
5/24/2026 7:04:00 PM | Baseball
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Tournament Most Outstanding Player Joey Urban collected four hits and drove in five runs to lead top-seed and eighth-ranked Southern Miss to a pair of Sunday victories in capturing their third Sun Belt Conference championship in its four-year history with the league.
The Golden Eagles, now 44-15 on the year, defeated Troy 6-2 in the bracket final Sunday morning, before capturing the tournament title later in the day with an 11-7 victory over Louisiana at DABOS Park.
It marked the fourth-straight time the Golden Eagles appeared in the league's title game as they captured their first regular season and tournament crowns in the same season for the first time since 2018.
Southern Miss scored in each of the first five innings in the championship contest as they banged out 15 hits. Seth Smith, Urban, Davis Gillespie, Matthew Russo and Ben Higdon each drove in a pair of runs.
Smith, who along with Ty Long, led the team with three hits, set the tone for the Golden Eagles in the bottom of the first by hitting a leadoff home run for his fifth of the year. Matthew Russo added a two-run shot later in the inning to take charge early and never look back.
Southern Miss then added three more runs in the second, on a two-run single from Urban and an RBI double from Gillespie.
Long then doubled in a run to start a two-run third inning, before scoring on a Smith single.
The Golden Eagles then went on to add two more runs in the fourth on a two-run single by Higdon, before finishing their scoring in the fifth with Gillespie's second RBI double of the game.
After Grayden Harris threw three solid innings in the start, allowing just a run on one hit with no walks and four strikeouts, seven Golden Eagle relievers finished out the contest and outlived a five-run Cajun ninth, that included a two-run and three-run homer by Louisiana (39-23).
Thomas Crabtree, the fifth of eight pitchers, collected the win and improved to 2-2. He gave up a hit and fanned one in his inning outing.
Ragin' Cajun starter Andrew Herrmann (7-5) who pitched for the third time in the tournament, suffered the loss by allowing three runs on three hits with a walk and strikeout in only an inning of work.
In the opening game, Kros Sivley and Colby Allen combined to handcuff the talented offensive attack of the Trojans (32-29).
Four different Golden Eagles recorded a pair of hits including Urba31rn, Barrett, Higdon and Stockman.
Southern Miss took control of the game in the third with a four-run frame. After Smith knocked in the first run with a run-scoring double, Urban collected his 14th homer, a three-run shot, to right center. Gillespie added a two-run shot of his own, his 13th, in the fifth to complete the Golden Eagles scoring.
Troy added solo runs in the fifth and eighth frames.
Sivley blanked the Trojans for three innings, allowing two hits and walking one with a strikeout, before Colby Allen fired the final six frames to collect the win and improve to 7-1. Allen surrendered two runs (one earned) on seven hits with a walk and six strikeouts.
Troy starter Drew Nelson (3-2) allowed three runs on three hits with no walks and no strikeouts to suffer the loss.
The Golden Eagles, who earned automatic qualification to the NCAA Tournament, will play in a site yet to be determined. The host sites are expected to be announced at 7:30 p.m. Sunday night through social media.
Joining Urban on the all-tournament team was Allen, Russo and Barrett. He is a listing of the entire all-tournament team:
SBC ELITE AWARD
Mark Collins, Louisiana (So., OF – Opelousas, La.)
MOST OUTSTANDING PLAYER
Joey Urban, Southern Miss (Sr., OF – Jupiter, Fla.)
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Trace Mazon, Coastal Carolina (Jr., DH – Aledo, Texas)
Lee Amedee, Louisiana (Sr., 1B – Gonzales, La.)
Donovan LaSalle, Louisiana (Jr., OF – Lake Charles, La.)
Maddox Mandino, Louisiana (Jr., OF – Minden. La.)
Ty Roman, Louisiana (Jr., LHP – Diboll, Texas)
Mitchell Heer, South Alabama (5th Yr., RHP – Acworth, Ga.)
Colby Allen, Southern Miss (Sr., RHP – Louisville, Miss.)
Drey Barrett, Southern Miss (So., 3B – Holtville, Ala.)
Matthew Russo, Southern Miss (Sr., 1B – Madisonville, La.)
Clayton Namken, Texas State (Fr., C – New Braunfels, Texas)
Blake Cavill, Troy (Sr., 1B – Sydney, Australia)
Zach Crotchfelt, Troy (Sr., LHP – Jackson, N.J.)
Aaron Piasecki, Troy (Sr., SS – Muskegon, Mich.)
The Golden Eagles, now 44-15 on the year, defeated Troy 6-2 in the bracket final Sunday morning, before capturing the tournament title later in the day with an 11-7 victory over Louisiana at DABOS Park.
It marked the fourth-straight time the Golden Eagles appeared in the league's title game as they captured their first regular season and tournament crowns in the same season for the first time since 2018.
Southern Miss scored in each of the first five innings in the championship contest as they banged out 15 hits. Seth Smith, Urban, Davis Gillespie, Matthew Russo and Ben Higdon each drove in a pair of runs.
Smith, who along with Ty Long, led the team with three hits, set the tone for the Golden Eagles in the bottom of the first by hitting a leadoff home run for his fifth of the year. Matthew Russo added a two-run shot later in the inning to take charge early and never look back.
Southern Miss then added three more runs in the second, on a two-run single from Urban and an RBI double from Gillespie.
Long then doubled in a run to start a two-run third inning, before scoring on a Smith single.
The Golden Eagles then went on to add two more runs in the fourth on a two-run single by Higdon, before finishing their scoring in the fifth with Gillespie's second RBI double of the game.
After Grayden Harris threw three solid innings in the start, allowing just a run on one hit with no walks and four strikeouts, seven Golden Eagle relievers finished out the contest and outlived a five-run Cajun ninth, that included a two-run and three-run homer by Louisiana (39-23).
Thomas Crabtree, the fifth of eight pitchers, collected the win and improved to 2-2. He gave up a hit and fanned one in his inning outing.
Ragin' Cajun starter Andrew Herrmann (7-5) who pitched for the third time in the tournament, suffered the loss by allowing three runs on three hits with a walk and strikeout in only an inning of work.
In the opening game, Kros Sivley and Colby Allen combined to handcuff the talented offensive attack of the Trojans (32-29).
Four different Golden Eagles recorded a pair of hits including Urba31rn, Barrett, Higdon and Stockman.
Southern Miss took control of the game in the third with a four-run frame. After Smith knocked in the first run with a run-scoring double, Urban collected his 14th homer, a three-run shot, to right center. Gillespie added a two-run shot of his own, his 13th, in the fifth to complete the Golden Eagles scoring.
Troy added solo runs in the fifth and eighth frames.
Sivley blanked the Trojans for three innings, allowing two hits and walking one with a strikeout, before Colby Allen fired the final six frames to collect the win and improve to 7-1. Allen surrendered two runs (one earned) on seven hits with a walk and six strikeouts.
Troy starter Drew Nelson (3-2) allowed three runs on three hits with no walks and no strikeouts to suffer the loss.
The Golden Eagles, who earned automatic qualification to the NCAA Tournament, will play in a site yet to be determined. The host sites are expected to be announced at 7:30 p.m. Sunday night through social media.
Joining Urban on the all-tournament team was Allen, Russo and Barrett. He is a listing of the entire all-tournament team:
SBC ELITE AWARD
Mark Collins, Louisiana (So., OF – Opelousas, La.)
MOST OUTSTANDING PLAYER
Joey Urban, Southern Miss (Sr., OF – Jupiter, Fla.)
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Trace Mazon, Coastal Carolina (Jr., DH – Aledo, Texas)
Lee Amedee, Louisiana (Sr., 1B – Gonzales, La.)
Donovan LaSalle, Louisiana (Jr., OF – Lake Charles, La.)
Maddox Mandino, Louisiana (Jr., OF – Minden. La.)
Ty Roman, Louisiana (Jr., LHP – Diboll, Texas)
Mitchell Heer, South Alabama (5th Yr., RHP – Acworth, Ga.)
Colby Allen, Southern Miss (Sr., RHP – Louisville, Miss.)
Drey Barrett, Southern Miss (So., 3B – Holtville, Ala.)
Matthew Russo, Southern Miss (Sr., 1B – Madisonville, La.)
Clayton Namken, Texas State (Fr., C – New Braunfels, Texas)
Blake Cavill, Troy (Sr., 1B – Sydney, Australia)
Zach Crotchfelt, Troy (Sr., LHP – Jackson, N.J.)
Aaron Piasecki, Troy (Sr., SS – Muskegon, Mich.)
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Allen, Colby (7-1)
L: Nelson, Drew (3-2)
Batting:
3B: Darnell, Sean 1
RBI: Nelson, Drew 1 ; Boroff, Jabe 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Darnell, Sean 1 ; Pyne, Josh 1
Batting:
2B: Smith, Seth 1
HR: Urban, Joey 1 ; Gillespie, Davis 1
RBI: Urban, Joey 3 ; Gillespie, Davis 2 ; Smith, Seth 1
SH: Smith, Seth 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Urban, Joey 2 ; Higdon, Ben 1 ; Gillespie, Davis 1 ; Smith, Seth 1 ; Eubanks, Gray 1
Players Mentioned
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