Fans at Trustmark Park could figure out one thing pretty quickly on a perfect night for baseball Tuesday.

After a big 10-7 victory over Mississippi State, it was obvious this year’s Southern Miss team can really hit.

But the trend has been an upward one for the Golden Eagles since the season started. USM (12-5) has been in double figures in runs nine times since the season started. Just 17 games into the season, USM has hung an eye-popping 159 runs on the board, good for a 9.35 runs per game average.

As a club, the Golden Eagles are hitting a blazing .328 and are now 9-0 when they score 10 or more runs.

Against some quality non-conference opponents (Louisiana-Lafayette, South Alabama, UNO), the Golden Eagles have still put up big numbers.

One thing that makes USM so hard to stop at the plate is that the numbers aren’t hitched to one particular player. They’ve gotten contributions from up and down the order.

Five different Golden Eagles have at least 10 RBIs this season, led by Brian Dozier and freshman sensation Kameron Brunty with 19 each.

But there is one blip on the radar screen.

There was the poor series to Cal State-Fullerton, one of college baseball’s premier powers. The Titans made USM look like a mid-major pretender, not an Omaha contender. USM got embarrassed, outscored 37-11 in the confines of Pete Taylor Park.

However, Tuesday’s game showed that this was an aberration, not an indication.

When people think of good hitting, naturally, the casual fan thinks of moonshot home runs. However, USM showed that just “hitting the ball where they ain’t” works pretty well, too.

Take the Southern Miss half of the first inning. MSU pitcher Ricky Bowen seemed to be trouble out of the gate, as the Golden Eagles took advantage of every mistake. With runners on second and third and one out, USM came through in a big way as Bo Davis picked up RBIs 14 and 15 on the season with a clutch double. Another walk and an RBI single by Joey Archer broomed Bowen out of the game..

Porters Chapel product Michael Busby pitched well, but still USM capped off a four-run inning with a Travis Graves’ RBI single.

None of them were chart-topping shots that made onlookers gasp. All of the hits were little dinkers and solidly hit line drives that found a hole.

The Golden Eagles kept the momentum rolling, capped by Josh Fields’ three-run shot down the left field line.

It was a simple formula. Be patient. Work the count. Take advantage of mistakes. And just worry about making good, simple contact.

It’s one thing to do it on a Friday night series opener against a directional school.

It’s quite another to do it in front of the second-largest crowd in Trustmark Park history against a team that has a great chance of likely playing deep into the SEC Tournament at Hoover, Ala., in a few months.

Steve Wilson is sports editor of The Vicksburg Post. Write to him at Box 821668, Vicksburg, MS 39182, or e-mail swilson@vicksburgpost.com..