For the fourth time in Southern Miss’ history, the Golden Eagles are once again hosting a regional.
In the Hattiesburg regional, the Golden Eagles are the No. 1 seed and will face off against No. 4 Columbia, while No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 Miami will open the regional.
Southern Miss, the No. 16 overall seed in the NCAA tournament, is paired with the Nashville Regional, which features No. 1 overall seed Vanderbilt.
SOUTHERN MISS
Before falling to Coastal Carolina in the Sun Belt championship, the Golden Eagles went on a record-setting 18-game win streak, which included a sweep against top-25 Troy.
The Golden Eagles’ pitching staff is statistically the best in the regional, boasting a 3.91 team earned run average and 1.27 WHIP, both ranking 12th nationally.
Southern Miss’ ace JB Middleton is the only arm to log over 100 strikeouts in the regional.
However, the critical part of the Golden Eagles’ season has been its lineup, which has hit 97 home runs, setting a new program record. Nick Monistere leads the team with 19 home runs, Matthew Russo has recorded 17 and Carson Paetow has put up 15.
The offense has recorded a .305 batting average and averages 7.1 runs per game.
ALABAMA
The Crimson Tide were a bubble team to host this year. Alabama got off to a 22-1 start but understandably cooled off as the Crimson Tide went 16-14 in the SEC. Notably, Alabama’s last 10 games of the regular season were all against top-25 teams, which resulted in a 5-5 record before they went 1-1 in the SEC tournament.
Alabama holds a 10-6 win, which came in a midweek matchup in Tuscaloosa.
In that game, the Golden Eagles jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but USM’s relief pitching struggled and surrendered six runs in the sixth inning. Southern Miss did outhit Alabama 12-11.
Bama’s lineup posted a .280 average, hit 108 doubles and 91 homers, which ranks No. 16 in the country. Kade Snell leads the Crimson Tide with a .366 average and put up 13 doubles, 10 home runs and 52 RBI. Other key bats include Richie Bonomolo Jr. (.320, 8 HR, 52 RBI) and Lebron Justin (.315, 18 HR, 72 RBI). The lineup also features Southern Miss transfer Bryce Fowler, who is hitting .261, homered six times and swiped 12 bases.
The Tide’s pitching staff holds a 5.11 ERA, with its top two starting arms being Zane Adams (5.54 ERA, 62 K, 26 BB) and Riley Quick (3.54 ERA, 64 K, 20 BB). However, a notable name that’s familiar to Southern Miss is Alabama’s relief pitcher Carson Ozmer.
Ozmer, a grad transfer, faced USM during the Auburn Regional back in 2023 as a member of Penn’s team. This season, Ozmer recorded a 2.89 ERA, 57 strikeouts and 13 walks in 22 appearances with all in relief.
MIAMI
It’s been a rough several years for a program that was regularly in the College World Series.
This season marks Miami’s 50th appearance in the NCAA tournament.
Miami earned an at-large bid after posting a 41 RPI and its strength of schedule being ranked No. 8 in the country.
The Hurricanes (31-24) were a bubble team and entered the regional, having lost six of their last seven games, during which they were outscored 52-37, with 15 of those runs coming in one game.
Miami’s offense averages just a .273 batting average and holds a team ERA of 5.03.
The Hurricanes have only homered 68 times this season, with Daniel Cuvet accounting for 16 of those. Cuvet leads Miami with a .378 average along with 17 doubles and 76 RBI. The only two members of the lineup who are hitting over .300 are Jake Ogden (.350, 8 HR, 30 RBI) and Derek Williams (.345, 8 HR, 21 RBI).
Griffin Hugus is Miami’s mainstay starting arm, as he is the only pitcher to start 15 games. Hugus puts up a 4.22 ERA, 85 strikeouts and 32 walks. Another key arm is a freshman starting pitcher, AJ Ciscar, who has recorded a 3.77 ERA, 56 strikeouts, and 14 walks in 57 innings.
COLUMBIA
The Lions (29-17) are the only team to win a conference tournament in this regional as the Lions went 3-0 in the Ivy League tournament by pulling an upset over top-seeded Yale.
The program last made the field of 64 in 2022 but has won the Ivy League's regular season crown in three of the past four years.
Columbia shares some recent history with Alabama, as the Lions won a series against them back in 2023.
The key part of Columbia’s team has been its offense as it posted a .290 batting average, hit 114 doubles, 74 home runs and averages 8.7 runs per game, which ranks 19th in the country.
The Lions features the Ivy League Player of the Year, Sam Miller, who leads his team with 16 home runs, 55 RBI and a .342 average. Another key bat is Anton Lazits, who hit .290 but put up 12 doubles and 10 homers while driving in 42 runs.
Initially, Columbia’s pitching numbers don’t seem eye-popping as the Lions hold a team earned run average of 6.57, but in conference play, that figure drops to 4.73.
Left-hander Jagger Edwards has the lowest earned run average of the Lions’ three regular starters at 5.27, with 42 strikeouts and 19 walks in 56.1 innings of work.
Columbia enters the matchup on a nine-game win streak and has won 16 of its last 17 games.
What do the ODDs say?
Per DraftKings Sportsbook, Southern Miss is a +120 favorite to advance out of the region. Alabama is +175 and Miami is +400, while Columbia sits at +1,000.
The Golden Eagles are listed at +8000 to win the national championship.
Southern Miss will face Columbia on Friday at 6 p.m. C.T.
