How Southern Miss baseball sweep of James Madison boosted odds to host NCAA regional

Southern Miss baseball continues on a path to host an NCAA Tournament regional. The No. 13 Golden Eagles (37-14, 19-8 Sun Belt Conference) swept James Madison (20-30, 10-17) at Veterans Memorial Park in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

They earned their third straight conference series win , and it was also their first road conference sweep of the season. Southern Miss rallied late in the series opener, scoring six runs in the seventh inning to win 8-5 on May 8. The Golden Eagles run-ruled James Madison in Game 2, 11-1 in eight innings, and earned the sweep in Game 3 with a 10-5 victory on May 10.

Here's what stood out for Southern Miss. Golden Eagles' offense needs to stay consistent After its sweep of ULM on May 2, Southern Miss only put up 12 runs through three games. In the series against James Madison, the Golden Eagles scored 29 runs off 35 hits and three home runs.

Outfielder Ben Higdon had five hits and seven RBIs in the series. Higdon has recorded 13 multi-hit games, which at times have powered the lineup. Center fielder Joey Urban had six hits and six RBIs following the ULM series, where he had just had one hit.