Southern Miss baseball predictions: Why we're picking Golden Eagles to win Auburn Regional

Southern Miss baseball is headed to its seventh consecutive regional under coach Scott Berry, who announced earlier this month that he plans to retire at the end of the season.

The Golden Eagles fell just short of hosting for a second straight NCAA Tournament, so they're heading to Auburn, where they'll take on Samford (36-23) in their opening game. Auburn (34-21-1) and Penn (32-14) make up the other half of the regional.

So, can USM (41-17) crack the super-regional round for the third time in program history?

Here are our predictions:

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Langston Newsome, sports reporter

Southern Miss should feel slighted that this weekend’s regional isn’t in Hattiesburg. Instead, the Golden Eagles must travel to Auburn and will do so with added motivation.

Berry should expect a win from Tanner Hall – the Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Year – against No. 3 seed Samford on Friday. Hall delivered a 3-hit complete game with nine strikeouts in USM’s 7-1 victory over James Madison in the SBC tournament. The junior is 12-3 this season.

Strong performances from pitchers Will Armistead and Justin Storm will be more than enough to get the Golden Eagles out of the Auburn regional. The No.19 Tigers are the lowest-rated host in this tournament.

David Eckert, sports reporter

This kind of feels like a home regional type of draw without the home-field advantage for the Golden Eagles. Auburn is the weakest one-seed in the field, the metrics say, and Samford is a very manageable No. 3. So, like Langston, I think Southern Miss makes it out of the weekend.

This team is considerably better at the plate than last year's super regional squad. And, while the options behind Hall are not as good, the pitching depth on this year's team is still very solid. USM just allowed 14 runs in five games at the Sun Belt Tournament. If the Golden Eagles do that again, they'll be playing for another week.

This article originally appeared on Hattiesburg American: Southern Miss baseball in the NCAA Tournament: Auburn Regional picks