University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
2026 Baseball Roster
Roster
Matthew Russo
- Height:
- 6-2
- Weight:
- 255
- Class:
- Senior
- Hometown:
- Madisonville, La.
- High School:
- Saint Paul's School
Made the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll for the Fall 2025 semester.
2025 (R-Jr.): Started in all 63 games at first base…Was one of two Golden Eagles (Nick Monistere) to start every game during the season…Earned second-team All-Sun Belt Conference honors…Batted .290 with 11 doubles, a triple, 18 home runs and 57 RBI…Was hit a team-high 21 times, which ranked No. 42 nationally and third in the league…Finished tied for second in the league in homers…Enjoyed a pair of two-homer games, coming against TCU (3/2) and Nicholls (3/25)…Named to NCAA Hattiesburg Regional Team based on a 5-for-17 series with a double, a home run and three RBI, while also fielding all 53 chances successfully…Belted game-winning solo homer to open bottom of ninth to defeat Arkansas State (5/2) 2-1 in series opener…Added ninth-inning game-winning homer versus UNCW (3/8) for another 2-1 win…Belted three hits, including his two homers at TCU (3/2) in series finale which also resulted in a career-high five RBI…Tallied a career-best four hits at Troy (5/17)…Collected 18 multi-hit contests (12-2H, 5-3H, 1-4H) and 15 multi-RBI affairs (7-2RBI, 7-3RBI, 1-5RBI)…Enjoyed season-high seven-game hitting streak (2/25-3/8)…Named preseason All-Sun Belt at first base…Earned a spot on the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll for both the Spring 2025 and the Fall 2024 semesters.
2024 (R-So.): Played in 56 games with 39 starts, all coming at first base…Batted .315 with 10 doubles, six home runs and 38 RBI…Added 30 runs scored…Led the team in hit by pitches with 17…Ranked sixth in Sun Belt games in both on-base percentage (.474) and slugging percentage (.676)…Enjoyed second-best reached base streak during the year at 20 games…Produced 13 multi-hit games (8-2H, 5-3H) and eight multi-RBI affairs (3-2RBI, 3-3RBI, 2-5RBI)…Drove in five runs at New Orleans (2/21) and at Arkansas State (5/11)…Had longest hitting streak of five games twice…Hit game-winning three-run homer versus Nicholls (4/16) in the bottom of the ninth…Added a grand slam at Arkansas State (5/11)…Went 6x15 (.400) in the Sun Belt Tournament with three runs, two doubles both coming against Troy (5/23), and five RBI…Finished that tournament with a three-hit game against Georgia Southern (5/26) which included a two-run single in the ninth to provide a pair of insurance wins in the title game victory…A member of the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll for the Spring 2024 and Fall 2023 semesters.
2023 (R-Fr.): Saw action in 11 games, which included three starts (two at first base, one at designated hitter)…Batted .158 with two doubles and an RBI…Registered his lone RBI against Illinois (2/25) and his doubles against Texas State (3/19) and ULM (5/13)…Posted season-high eight putouts at Troy (4/2)…Played for the Upper Valley Nighthawks in the New England Collegiate Baseball League during the summer…Batted .194 with a pair of homers and 15 RBI in 24 games played…Earned a spot on the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll for the Spring 2023 semester and Dean’s List during the Fall 2022 semester…2022 (Fr.): Redshirted…Played for New Market in the Valley League during the summer…Appeared in 27 games and batted .280 with five doubles, a triple, two home runs and 11 RBI to go along with three stolen bases…Hit safely in nine of his final 10 games…Made the Dean’s List during the Spring 2022 semester and the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll for the Fall 2021 semester…Named to the C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll.
Prep: Batted .350 at St. Paul’s School to earn Louisiana Sports Writers Association Class 5A first-team all-state…Named the NOLA.com All-St. Tammany Parish Hitter of the Year…Led the parish in home runs with seven and was second in RBIs with 31…Was the only St. Tammany player to score more than 30 runs and knock in more than 30 in 2021…The All-Region player finished with a .650 slugging percentage…Committed just two errors all season with 53 put outs and started three double plays…As a pitcher, he was 4-0 with a 3.63 ERA, striking out 38 in 44.1 IP with nine walks…Named to the LHSAA All-District 6-5A first-team honors and earned second-team honors as well in 2018…Hit walk-off home run in the opening round of the Division I playoffs over Holy Cross…Helped lead team to the Division I state championship as a sophomore in 2019.
Personal: Received his undergraduate degree and is currently working on his masters in business administration…Born on July 19.
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