Southern Miss Softball Hosts Hub City Classic Starting Friday

HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Southern Miss softball (8-8) will host the Hub City Classic at the Southern Miss Softball Complex beginning Friday, Feb. 27, and wrapping up March 1. The tournament features Lamar (7-8), Morehead State (0-9), Jackson State (7-5), and Chattanooga (8-7).

On opening day, the Golden Eagles face Chattanooga at 4:30 p.m. They will play two games on Saturday, against Lamar at 2 p.m. and Morehead State at 4:30 p.m. The team concludes the tournament with games against Chattanooga at 12:30 p.m. and Jackson State at 3 p.m. on Sunday.

Southern Miss enters the weekend after a 7-3 midweek victory over Nicholls in Thibodeaux, Louisiana. The team is tied with Louisiana for the lead in the Sun Belt Conference in triples with seven. They also rank second in the conference with 63 walks and lead in SAC flies with nine and SAC hits with 11. The Golden Eagles have a .981 fielding percentage, leading the Sun Belt in that category.

Nealy McManus is second in the conference and fourth nationally with 49 assists. Hannah Christian is tied for eighth in the Sun Belt with 20 hits, while Kayce Bennett ranks first in the conference and 59th nationally for catching three runners stealing.

Historically, Southern Miss has a 1-0 record against Chattanooga, winning 6-3 in 2018 at the Ole Miss Classic. The team is 2-0 against Lamar, with victories last year and in 2015. They also hold a 24-5 series lead over Jackson State, with a 9-1 record in their last 10 matchups. Their only previous game against Morehead State resulted in a 13-2 win in 2020 at the Michelle Short Memorial Classic.

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