Drey Barrett lived a childhood dream for Southern Miss at the Sun Belt tournament
Southern Miss infielder Drey Barrett delivered in the ninth for the Golden Eagles against Troy
In the backyard of the house I grew up in, there is a well-worn path from the garage to the back corner, where home plate would be during the wiffleball games that were played back there. That spot was worn down as well, partly due to the passage of time, but also due to the countless hours I was back there alone, tossing a ball to myself with the same cadence: “Two outs, two strikes, bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth. ” There are likely thousands, upon thousands, of such spots in backyards from coast-to-coast, with young baseball and softball players living out that very dream in solitude.
On Friday night, Southern Miss third baseman Drey Barrett came to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, with his team trailing Troy by a score of 6-3. The bases were indeed loaded. Southern Miss, as the top seed in the Sun Belt Conference tournament, had earned a bye to the quarterfinals but was down to its last strike.
That is when Barrett lived that childhood dream: Goodnight. #OTR | #ETM | #SMTTT https://t. co/1ZBcCWdvgM pic.
twitter. com/eUXi2eo4Uv — Southern Miss Baseball (@SouthernMissBSB) May 23, 2026 Barrett turned on a 93-mph pitch down in the zone, blasting a grand slam to deep left field and kicking off bedlam in the Golden Eagles’ dugout. Here is another look at Barrett’s golden swing: DREY BARRETT ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?!?!