Baseball Preview: The Southern Miss Series
Coming off a three-game sweep last weekend at Georgia State, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Baseball team wraps up its 2025 road schedule beginning on Friday when it faces No. 21-ranked Southern Miss in a three-game Sun Belt Conference series at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field.
The pivotal series begins on Friday with a 7 p.m. first pitch before resuming on Saturday at 3 p.m. The final game of the series is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. All three games will be streamed live on ESPN+ with fans able to listen in the Lafayette area on KPEL-FM (96.5) and worldwide on the Varsity Network app.
Louisiana (25-24, 15-9 SBC) plated 28 runs in its three-game sweep of Georgia State last weekend in Atlanta while slugging eight home runs – equaling the most since a three-game series at South Alabama in 2023. Luke Yuhasz led the home run barrage for the Ragin' Cajuns with one in each game with Conor Higgs (2), Caleb Stelly (2) and Lee Amedee (1) contributing.
Higgs continues his historic season for Louisiana, leading the team in average (.341), home runs (16) and RBI (43). Stelly (.294-7-25), Amedee (.293-2-28), Maddox Mandino (.292-1-8), Yuhasz (.288-5-21), Jose Torres (.284-2-30) and Owen Galt (.283-0-14) are next in hitting for the Ragin' Cajuns, who have posted a team batting average of .267 in SBC games to rank fourth in the 14-team league.
Louisiana will send its normal weekend rotation to the mound against Southern Miss (35-13, 18-6 SBC), beginning with left-hander Chase Morgan (4-1, 3.60 ERA) in Friday's opener. The Ragin' Cajuns will send southpaw Andrew Herrmann (3-3, 4.08 ERA) to the mound on Saturday with right-hander JR Tollett (5-4, 3.29 ERA) scheduled to pitch in the finale.
Southern Miss earned a three-game sweep over Arkansas State last weekend at home, outscoring the Red Wolves, 24-3, and extending its win streak to nine games. The Golden Eagles, who dropped a 12-2 contest to Georgia State on April 18, began their streak with a 15-9 win over GSU in the series finale before claiming wins over Southeastern Louisiana, App State and New Orleans.
Jake Cook (.366-1-21) leads USM, the SBC team leader in average (.299) and home runs (80), at the plate with three players – Nick Monistere (.319-16-57), Matthew Russo (.294-15-39) and Carson Paetow (.287-15-53) – among the SBC leaders in home runs.
Right-hander JB Middleton (8-1, 1.86 ERA) will start in Friday's opener for the Golden Eagles with right-hander Matthew Adams (4-2, 4.07 ERA) scheduled to start on Saturday. Freshman left-hander Grayden Harris (4-3, 3.40 ERA) will earn the start in Sunday's finale.
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GAMES 50-53 PREVIEW
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (25-24, 15-9 SBC) at Southern Miss Golden Eagles (35-13, 18-6 SBC)
DATE/TIMES (dates and times are subject to change)
Friday (May 9) – 7 p.m.
Saturday (May 10) – 3 p.m.
Sunday (May 11) – 1 p.m.
LOCATION/SITE
Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field (4,300) | Hattiesburg, Miss.
PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUPS
FRIDAY – 7 p.m.
LOUISIANA | LH Chase Morgan (6-3, 195, So., Cypress, Texas)
'25 Stats: 4-1, 3.60 ERA, 50.0 IP, 45 H, 23 R, 20 ER, 22 BB, 54 K, .242 OppBA
SOUTHERN MISS | RH JB Middleton (6-0, 178, Jr., Yazoo City, Miss.)
'25 Stats: 8-1, 1.86 ERA, 77.1 IP, 46 H, 17 R, 16 ER, 19 BB, 88 K, .169 OppBA
SATURDAY – 3 p.m.
LOUISIANA | LH Andrew Herrmann (6-3, 215, Sr., Kennesaw, Ga.)
'25 Stats: 3-3, 4.08 ERA, 64.0 IP, 68 H, 39 R, 29 ER, 24 BB, 47 K, .273 OppBA
SOUTHERN MISS | RH Matthew Adams (5-11, 190, CSr., Pearland, Texas)
'25 Stats: 4-2, 4.07 ERA, 55.1 IP, 55 H, 26 R, 25 ER, 13 BB, 63 K, .253 OppBA
SUNDAY – 1 p.m.
LOUISIANA | RH JR Tollett (6-2, 190, So., Ruston, La.)
'25 Stats: 5-4, 3.29 ERA, 65.2 IP, 65 H, 28 R, 24 ER, 12 BB, 54 K, .254 OppBA
SOUTHERN MISS | LH Grayden Harris (6-1, 210, Fr., Greenwell Springs, La.)
'25 Stats: 4-3, 3.40 ERA, 42.1 IP, 44 H, 23 R, 16 ER, 21 BB, 34 K, .268 OppBA
RANKINGS
Louisiana – Unranked
Southern Miss – No. 21 (D1Baseball/USA Today Coaches); No. 23 (NCBWA)
RADIO/TV/LIVE STATISTICS
RADIO (Pregame Show starts 30 minutes prior to first pitch)
Station – KPEL-FM 96.5 / The Varsity Network App
Talent – Jay Walker (pxp); Anthony Babineaux (color)
TV/STREAMING (ESPN+)
Talent – Jason Baker (pxp); Cliff Russum (color); Chris Kirtland (color)
LIVE STATS
CajunStats.com
SERIES HISTORY
Overall – Tied, 32-32
In Lafayette – Louisiana leads, 17-9
In Hattiesburg – Southern Miss leads, 21-13
Neutral Sites – Southern Miss leads, 2-0
Unknown Sites – Tied, 1-1
Last 10 – Southern Miss, 6-4
Streak – Louisiana +1
ON DECK
• Louisiana closes out its 2025 road schedule beginning on Friday when it visits No. 21-ranked Southern Miss in a three-game series at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field.
• The series pits the reigning Sun Belt Conference champions with Louisiana claiming the regular-season title and USM its second straight tournament crown.
• Louisiana (2022) and Southern Miss (2023-24) have combined to claim the last three SBC tournament titles.
• Louisiana's eight home runs last weekend at Georgia State were the most in a three-game series since hitting eight at South Alabama in 2023.
• The eight home runs hit at GSU matched the total by the Ragin' Cajuns during the month of March (8 in 17 games).
• Conor Higgs' 16 home runs are tied for second in the SBC with USM's Nick Monistere.
• With 34 career home runs, Higgs is one shy of tying Jonathan Lucroy (35, 2005-07) for fourth place in school history and two of tying Damian Grossie (36, 1988-91) for third.
• Higgs needs two home runs to tie Lucroy (18, 2007) for the fourth-most in a single-season in Ragin' Cajuns history.
• Lee Amedee's four-hit game in the series finale at Georgia State was the first this season by a Ragin' Cajun and first since Duncan Pastore went 4-for-4 against Nicholls on April 2, 2024.
• In Sun Belt Conference games, Louisiana is fourth overall in hitting (.267) and second in team ERA (3.32).
• Luke Yuhasz has hit safely in career-best 11 consecutive games (18-for-43) and has posted a slash line of .419/.767/.479.
THE UL/USM SERIES
• Louisiana and Southern Miss meet for the 65th time on the diamond in Friday's opening game, with the series deadlocked at 32-32.
• The series began in 1925 with the schools splitting a two-game series on March 18-19, before resuming 56 years later with a three-game series in Hattiesburg.
• The teams have met seven times since USM joined the Sun Belt Conference in 2023 with the Golden Eagles holding a 4-3 lead.
• The teams met in the championship game of the 2023 Sun Belt Conference Tournament and have combined for the last three SBC postseason titles.
HIGGS PURSUING TEAM TRIPLE CROWN
• Heading into the final stretch of the 2025 season, redshirt senior Conor Higgs is on pace to become the 16th player in school history to finish as the team Triple Crown winner.
• With 16 home runs, 43 RBI and a .341 average, Higgs would become the first Ragin' Cajun since 2022 (Carson Roccaforte, .374-16-68) to claim Triple Crown honors for Louisiana.
WHAT'S ON TAP
• Louisiana closes out the regular season with a Thursday-Saturday (May 15-17) series against Arkansas State at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park.
• The Ragin' Cajuns will head to Montgomery, Ala., to compete in the Sun Belt Conference Championships, which begin May 20 at Riverwalk Stadium.
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