HATTIESBURG- Connor Barron grew up just a few miles from Southern Mississippi, watching in high school as the Golden Eagles went to the NCAA Tournament year after year and even advanced to the College World Series in 2009.

By the time he arrived on campus, he figured making the postseason was a birthright in Hattiesburg.

Turns out it’s not that easy.

But the Golden Eagles (35-16-1) are on their way to reclaiming their status as one of the nation’s best mid-major programs – and make an NCAA regional for the first time since 2011 – after a 13-game winning streak that’s stretched into this week’s Conference USA tournament in Hattiesburg.

“That was one of my main goals when I came here – to play in a regional,” Barron said. “I haven’t done that yet unfortunately, but it feels really good to be back in the talks.”

Barron, a 6-foot-2, 193-pound senior, has been one of the team’s best players all spring, hitting .299 with eight homers, 30 runs batted in and 13 stolen bases, all while playing a solid center field.

It’s been a satisfying final season for Barron after three difficult years. He came to Southern Miss despite being selected by the Miami Marlins in the third round of the 2011 draft, but had just a .237 career average with the Golden Eagles before this spring.

“It’s huge for me,” Barron said. “I felt like I had a responsibility, along with the other seniors, to get this team back to postseason play. We’ve really put a lot of work into this.”

Southern Miss has long been a respected program, routinely playing – and beating – schools from the power conferences. They have a 4-0 record against the SEC the season, including two wins over Mississippi and one each over Alabama and Mississippi State.

But the Golden Eagles still looked like they were going to scuffle to another ho-hum season until late April, when a 10-7 victory over Texas-San Antonio sparked the current 13-game winning streak, which ties a school record set in 1995.

The streak – which has lasted nearly a month – has included wins of all varieties, including four shutouts, four games where the offense has scored 10-plus runs and one game that lasted a school-record 17 innings.

“When you look at the big picture, the chemistry is there,” Southern Miss coach Scott Berry said. “Chemistry is such a huge part of success. Very few teams who don’t have chemistry have success – they fall apart.”

The Golden Eagles are led on the mound by James McMahon, whose senior year success has mirrored Barron’s.

McMahon was a reliever who had a 6.04 career ERA before he was moved into the starting rotation this spring. The 6-foot-1, 212-pounder responded by being named the Conference USA pitcher of the year on Tuesday after a regular season that included an 11-1 record and 1.72 ERA.

It’s a big reason the Golden Eagles have a 3.17 ERA, which is tied for the league lead with Rice.

“People have just accepted their roles,” McMahon said. “A lot of guys don’t get much credit … They don’t get the awards, but they’re able to come in during crunch time and they get those big outs with runners on base.”

 DAVID BRANDT, AP Sports Writer