Mississippi State
Southern Miss
No. 4 MSU Readies For Another Top 10 Challenge
March 02, 2026 | Baseball
HATTIESBURG – Fourth-ranked Mississippi State faces another top 10 battle on Tuesday when the Diamond Dawgs travel to take on No. 10 Southern Miss at 6 p.m. streaming on ESPN+.
MSU dropped a heartbreaker to top-ranked UCLA 8-7 in 10 innings in the final game of the Amegy Bank College Baseball Classic in Arlington, Texas on Sunday. It was the first loss the Bulldogs have suffered this season, falling to 11-1.
State will send senior Brendan Sweeney to the mound to make his first start in Maroon and White. The 6-foot-7 right-hander has made three relief appearances this spring including a save in the season-opening series against Hofstra. Sweeney sports a 1.23 earned run average with nine strikeouts and only one walk in 7 1/3 innings of work.
It will be Sweeney's second-career start. The South Carolina transfer started one outing for the Gamecocks against North Carolina, working a scoreless and hitless inning of work as an opener last year.
The Golden Eagles will counter with freshman righty Dylan Causey, who is also making his second-career start. Causey has made four appearances on the year working a total of three frames with no walks, two strikeouts and an unblemished ERA.
Mississippi State has dominated the series against USM historically, holding an 87-44 advantage in the series. The Bulldogs split with the Golden Eagles last season having dropped a 3-0 decision in Hattiesburg before bouncing back in a big way with an 18-3 run-rule victory in seven innings in Starkville. Current MSU standouts Bryce Chance, Ace Reese and Noah Sullivan all homered in their last encounter with Southern Miss.
Mississippi State heads into its first road test of the Brian O'Connor era batting .350 as a team with 18 home runs and averaging 10.3 runs per game. The Diamond Dawgs rank third nationally with 38 doubles and are 20 of 27 in the stolen base department. MSU also maintains a .983 fielding percentage.
Chance tops the Bulldog regulars with a .441 batting average and is 5-of-6 on steal attempts. A dozen of Reese's 20 hits this season have been of the extra-base variety and the junior third baseman leads the team with eight doubles, four homers and 18 RBIs.
State's pitching staff holds a 3.63 ERA with 136 strikeouts and 36 walks through 104 innings. The Diamond Dawgs have the eighth-best strikeout-to-walk ratio in the country at 3.78 while holding their opponents to a .215 average.
Sophomores Tomas Valincius and Ryan McPherson are tied for the team lead with 20 strikeouts apiece while Sweeney, Maddox Webb, Tyler Pitzer and Ben Davis are each responsible for a save. Webb, Pitzer, Jack Gleason, Dane Burns and Jackson Logar all sport flawless ERAs.
Southern Miss (10-1) is riding a 10-game winning streak after dropping its season opener to UC Santa Barbara. The Golden Eagles swept Louisiana Tech on the road over the weekend and also own victories against Power Four opponents Purdue, Oregon State, Baylor and Alabama already this year.
USM is hitting .290 as a team with 16 homers and averaging 6.9 runs a contest. The Golden Eagles don't run much – just 2-of-4 in steal attempts – and have a .979 fielding percentage.
Southern Miss has three hitters batting over .400 thus far this season led by Seth Smith's .478 average. Joey Urban is hitting .463 with four homers and 16 RBIs while Davis Gillespie is sporting a .405 batting average.
Golden Eagle hurlers have the ninth-best ERA in the country at 2.53. They have fanned 117 batters and walked 36 in 96 innings while holding opponents to a .230 batting average with 10 long balls.
USM has 10 arms – including Causey - that have yet to give up an earned run this year. Camden Sunstrom tops the Golden Eagles with 21 strikeouts while Camden Clark has closed down three saves.
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