It’s that time of the week again for my weekly Southern Miss baseball report card, and this one comes with a bit more nuance than usual.
Southern Miss remained steady in the major polls, moving up to No. 11 in D1Baseball and No. 12 in Perfect Game. The Golden Eagles came in at No. 13 in the NCBWA and USA Today polls and No. 16 in Baseball America after a 3-1 week.
The Golden Eagles picked up a midweek win over Nicholls before taking two of three from Troy over the weekend at Pete Taylor Park. On paper, it looks like another strong week for Southern Miss.
But dig a little deeper, and it becomes clear this was far from a clean performance.
Southern Miss leaned heavily on its bullpen, got inconsistent production from its lineup and struggled to get length and consistency from its starting rotation. And yet, it still found a way to win a series against a tough Troy club.
That continues the theme of this 2026 squad.
With that in mind, below are this week’s grades.
Starting Pitching – D
This was the first weekend without Colby Allen on Friday night, instead rolling with Grayden Harris, Thomas Crabtree and McCarty English.
It was not good over the weekend against Troy.
Across the three games, the trio combined for just 9.2 innings, allowing 17 hits and 11 earned runs. That translates to a 10.66 ERA and a 2.07 WHIP, startling numbers well below the standard this group has set.
They haven’t been dominant to start the season, but it was still surprising to see all three struggle the way they did.
Harris, in particular, delivered his worst performance of the season Friday night, allowing the most hits and runs he’s given up in a start. He had put himself in position over the last couple of weeks to earn that Friday role, which made the outing all the more surprising.
Crabtree lasted just 1.1 innings on Saturday, and English allowed four earned runs in two innings on Sunday. In all three games, Southern Miss was forced to turn to its bullpen early.
“We have got to get better in some areas with that,” Southern Miss head coach Christian Ostrander said after the game on Sunday. “I’ll be lying to you If I said I have all the answers right now. But I know there’s a lot of good options and guys to do it. It’s really about finding out who can handle what position the best. Moving forward, we’re going to think about it.”
The only reason this grade isn’t lower is because the outings didn’t completely get out of hand. There were no massive innings or excessive walks, the starters were simply barreled up.
Still, that has to be cleaned up. There’s only so many times this team can rely on its bullpen to bail it out.
This group didn’t give Southern Miss a chance to control games early and instead put added pressure on both the bullpen and the offense to respond. That’s a dangerous way to live.
Bullpen – A
But while we are on it, let’s talk about the bullpen. It once again showed itself to be the backbone of this team.
Behind strong performances on Saturday and Sunday from Kros Sivley and Camden Sunstrom, Southern Miss was able to do just enough to win the series against Troy.
Across all four games this week, including the midweek against Nicholls, Southern Miss relievers combined to throw 26.1 innings, allowing just four earned runs on 16 hits with seven walks and 33 strikeouts. That comes out to a 1.37 ERA and an elite 0.87 WHIP.
Even more importantly than the numbers, the relievers consistently stabilized games after shaky starts.
Sivley delivered 5.2 innings of relief with just one earned run. Sunstrom followed with four scoreless innings. Camden Clark, working the back end, was untouchable Sunday, showcasing upper-90s velocity and a sharp changeup.
Allen also provided a strong outing Friday after Harris exited.
Time and time again, this group entered games with traffic, momentum against them or a deficit on the scoreboard, and more often than not, they shut things down.
At this point, it’s the identity of the team.
Starting pitching vs Troy (Harris, Crabtree, English) -
9.2 IP, 17 H, 11 ER, 3 BB, 9 Ks (ERA 10.66, WHIP 2.07)
Bullpen pitching vs Troy -
18.1 IP, 20 H, 4 ER, 2BB, 27 K's (ERA 1.96, WHIP 1.20)
Lineup – B
This was a tricky grade because the numbers don’t tell the full story.
Southern Miss hit .266 as a team for the week, which is fine. But that average was built in an uneven way.
The Golden Eagles managed just five hits in the midweek win over Nicholls and followed it up with just a seven-hit performance in Friday’s loss to Troy. At times, the offense looked stagnant and struggled to string together quality at-bats.
But Saturday and Sunday, it was different.
Southern Miss exploded for 11 runs on Saturday and followed it up with timely, clutch hitting in Sunday’s series-clinching win. When the Golden Eagles needed big at-bats late in games, they found them.
Kyle Morrison, Matthew Russo and Davis Gillespie were all highly productive at the plate, while Gray Eubanks and Ben Higdon also delivered strong weeks. That group provided the bulk of the offense.
At the same time, there were struggles throughout the lineup.
Joey Urban and Drey Barrett each had tough weeks at the plate, while Tucker Stockman and Caleb Stelly also struggled to find consistency.
In the end, the response to the struggles mattered to the grade for the week
Overall – B-
This was not a dominant week for Southern Miss.
The Golden Eagles didn’t have their best stuff from their starters. The offense was inconsistent. There were stretches where things felt out of sync.
And yet, they still went 3-1 and won a conference series. That’s what good teams do.
All season, Southern Miss has shown it can win in multiple ways, one just hopes it can eventually put it all together.
If that happens, this team has another gear.
For now, though, this was a solid week for the Golden Eagles.
