HATTIESBURG, Miss. (Interstat) — Southern Mississippi used a 10-run second inning to overwhelm Georgia Southern 14-3 in a seven-inning Sun Belt Conference game Thursday night at Pete Taylor Park.

The Golden Eagles improved to 38-14 overall and remained atop the conference standings, while the Eagles fell to 16-38. The game ended after seven innings due to the league’s run-rule.

Grayden Harris earned the win for Southern Mississippi, striking out eight and allowing two hits over five scoreless innings. Harris had struggled in his previous start at James Madison, giving up four earned runs in 4 1/3 innings, but he rebounded sharply against Georgia Southern.

Drey Barrett led the Golden Eagles at the plate, going 3 for 3 with a grand slam and four runs batted in. Ben Higdon went 2 for 3 with a home run and three RBIs. Joey Urban, Kyle Morrison each homered and drove in two runs. Morrison finished 2 for 4, Urban 2 for 4. Logan Pratt threw a scoreless inning of relief, and Cole Richardson allowed one earned run in the seventh.

Georgia Southern starter Jansen Kenty took the loss, giving up two earned runs in two innings. Jax Lewis allowed four earned runs in 2 2/3 innings of relief.

The decisive inning came in the bottom of the second. With the game scoreless, Southern Mississippi sent 14 batters to the plate and collected seven hits, including Barrett’s grand slam. The rally began when Luke Russo was hit by a pitch. Barrett singled, and Higdon doubled to left-center to bring home Russo. Ty Long then singled to center to drive in Barrett and Higdon, tying the game at 2-2. After a mound visit, Nick Smith singled and Urban reached on an infield single to score Long. Morrison singled to drive in Smith, and Andrew Gillespie doubled to bring home Urban, making it 6-0. After a pitching change, Russo was hit again, and Barrett launched a grand slam to left field to stretch the lead to 10-0. Higdon walked and Stockman grounded out before Long lined out to end the inning.

Georgia Southern finally got on the board in the sixth. With one out, a single and an error put runners on second and third. A groundout by McCoy allowed a run to score, making it 10-1.

Southern Mississippi answered in the bottom of the fourth when Higdon homered to left-center, driving in Barrett to push the lead to 12-1. In the fifth, Urban and Morrison hit back-to-back solo homers to make it 14-1.

The Eagles scored twice in the seventh on a fielder’s choice and a single, both unearned, but could not complete the comeback.

The game was the first of a three-game series. Southern Mississippi had won five of its previous six games entering Thursday, while Georgia Southern had lost six of its last eight.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Southern Mississippi 7, Georgia Southern 4. The ELO-based model gave the Golden Eagles an 80.60 percent probability of victory. Southern Mississippi was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 5.5 runs.