Where Southern Miss baseball stands in latest 2024 NCAA Tournament bracket projections
HATTIESBURG — Southern Miss baseball has hosted two consecutive super regionals but failed to make the College World Series both times.
The season's Golden Eagles, under first-year coach Christian Ostrander, are hoping this can be the year they breakthrough to the College World Series for the first time since 2009.
But this season hasn't been an easy ride for Southern Miss (28-17, 12-9 Sun Belt Conference). They've won eight out of 11 weekend series but have only swept one of them and also have been run-ruled three times. Injuries lately have exposed a lack of pitching depth that needs to be addressed in the final month of the regular season.
Still, Southern Miss remains projected to make the NCAA Tournament for an eighth straight season. Here's a look at where the Golden Eagles sit in the latest field of 64 projections entering the weekend series against Coastal Carolina.
D1Baseball's NCAA Tournament projection for Southern Miss
D1Baseball has Southern Miss as a No. 3 seed in the Greenville Regional. It has East Carolina as the host as the No. 8 national seed, followed by Wake Forest at No. 2 and Samford at No. 4.
East Carolina and Southern Miss are former Conference USA rivals. Southern Miss holds a 21-16 all-time edge over the Pirates, but they haven't played each other since 2014. The Golden Eagles have never played Wake Forest, but they did face Samford twice in last season's Auburn Regional.
Baseball America's NCAA Tournament projection for Southern Miss
Baseball America has an interesting projection with Southern Miss and Mississippi State meeting in the same regional. It has Florida State as the host, Mississippi State at No. 2, Southern Miss at No. 3 and Florida A&M at No. 4.
The Golden Eagles lost 5-4 to Mississippi State in March in Pearl in a dramatic comeback. Then after the game, Southern Miss outfielder Billy Butler called out Mississippi State players for excessively celebrating the win.
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Southern Miss baseball schedule 2024
Next four opponents:
May 3-5: vs. Coastal Carolina
May 10-12: at Arkansas State
May 14: vs. Ole Miss
May 16-18: vs. Texas State
Sam Sklar is the Southern Miss beat reporter for the Hattiesburg American. Email him at ssklar@hattiesb.gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
This article originally appeared on Hattiesburg American: Southern Miss baseball NCAA Tournament 2024 bracket projections
