HATTIESBURG – After earning a day of rest, Southern Miss will have quite the crowded agenda come the weekend.

With Thursday night’s 9-3 victory over second-seeded Marshall at Pete Taylor Park, the third-seeded Golden Eagles will vie for one win on Saturday that would give them a spot in Sunday’s championship game of the 2016 Conference USA Baseball Tournament.

“We got put in a great position (Thursday) night by getting that,” said center fielder Jake Sandlin, whose mammoth grand slam was the centerpiece of a five-run, third inning.

No. 20 Southern Miss (38-18) will move unbeaten into Saturday’s semifinals, where the Golden Eagles await the winner of Friday’s 6:30 p.m. elimination rematch between the Thundering Herd (33-20) and seventh-seeded Florida International (29-28).

Southern Miss coach Scott Berry said the Golden Eagles won’t change their approach for the weekend ahead.

“It is the next game, and that’s what we’re going to stay with,” Berry said. “That’s what we’ve done all spring, take it one game at a time, and the next one is Saturday. That’s our next opportunity to win a baseball game, so we’ll lock in on that one.”

Catcher Chuckie Robinson also homered as the 20th-ranked Golden Eagles spotted the Herd a 2-0 lead before roaring back.

Kirk McCarty (7-1) allowed two runs on three hits in the first inning, including a run-scoring single by second baseman Aaron Bossi. Third baseman Tyler Ratliff collected the first of his two RBIs with a sacrifice fly.

McCarty settled in after that, allowing four hits over the next 4 1/3 innings, striking out three while walking just one. Marshall’s lone run after the first came on a leadoff home run by Ratliff, his 11th of the season.

But that came not after Southern Miss answered with a three-run first inning of its own, but the five-run third inning that put an exclamation point on the second day of the tournament.

A run-scoring fielder’s choice by third baseman Tracy Hadley scored Southern Miss’ first run, and Robinson followed two batters later with a two-run single off Marshall starter Parker Danciu (5-4) that put the Golden Eagles ahead for good.

“I thought both starters came out and were overthrowing,” Marshall coach Jeff Waggoner said. “They had some pitches up in the zone. Five runs were scored in the first inning, but their guy settled in and they put some good swings on the ball.”

In the third, Hadley tripled and left fielder Hunter Slater followed with a single for a 4-2 lead. Robinson walked, and after a sacrifice bunt moved both runners up a base, shortstop Nick Dawson walked off reliever JD Hammer to load the bases.

Dylan Burdeaux, who saw a 10-game hitting streak snapped, struck out, bringing Sandlin to the plate. Sandlin fell behind 0-2 in the count, worked Hammer for three consecutive balls to a full count before fouling off a pitch.

Sandlin didn’t miss on Hammer’s seventh offering, crushing the ball over the wall in right-center field.

It was Sandlin’s second home run in as many games, his sixth on the season, and was Southern Miss’ second grand slam of the tournament.

First baseman Tim Lynch, who extended his hitting streak to a career-high-tying 11 games, hit a grand slam Wednesday in a 17-5 win over Old Dominion.

“One-hundred-percent, I knew I got it,” said Sandlin, who has driven in five runs and scored five run in two tournament games. “On a scale of one to 10, I hit it about a 12. I don’t think I’m going to hit any better anytime soon.”

Robinson, who also has driven in five runs and scored three in the tournament, led off the fifth inning with his sixth home run of the year.

Nick Johnson followed McCarty with 2 2/3 innings of hitless ball, while Nick Sandlin allowed a hit in the ninth.

Sandlin, Robinson and designated hitter Daniel Keating each had two hits for the Golden Eagles, while center fielder Corey Bird had three of Marshall’s eight hits and reached a fourth time on an error.

Southern Miss Sports Information