CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Returning to the weekend swing helped Southern Miss get its groove back.

Taylor Braley hit two home runs — a solo shot in the fifth inning and a three-run blast in the sixth — and Southern Miss beat Charlotte 9-6 in the opener of their Conference USA series on Friday.

Southern Miss fell to 3-5 in midweek games with a loss to Mississippi State on Tuesday, but is 17-2 this season in games played on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The Golden Eagles (20-7, 6-1 C-USA) also remained in a tie for first place in Conference USA with Florida Atlantic. FAU beat Old Dominion 10-7 on Friday.

Charlotte (12-14, 3-4) took a 1-0 lead Friday on an RBI groundout by Brett Netzer in the first inning, and held it until USM’s Storme Cooper hit his own run-scoring grounder in the fourth to tie it.

Braley’s first home run in the fifth inning gave the Golden Eagles the lead, and then they opened the floodgates in the sixth.

A walk and a hit batsman set the stage for Nick Dawson, who drove in both runners with a double down the left field line. Dawson scored on a single by Tracy Hadley, and two batters later Braley hit his second home run of the game — and 10th of the season — to make it 8-1.

Netzer doubled and scored a run in the bottom of the sixth inning and again in the eighth as the 49ers clawed back to within two runs, at 8-6.

Southern Miss closer Nick Sandlin got out of the eighth-inning jam with a pair of strikeouts, however, and retired the side in order in the ninth for his third save of the season.

Cord Cockrell (5-0) got the win for USM by pitching 7 1/3 innings. He allowed five runs on nine hits, but only walked one batter.

Braley finished 2-for-3 with four RBIs. Hadley was 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored, and Dawson was 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Jake Sandlin also had two hits and scored twice.

Netzer was 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored for Charlotte. Logan Sherer had two RBIs, while Zach Jarrett doubled twice and drove in a run.

Southern Miss and Charlotte will continue their three-game series Saturday at 1 p.m. The finale is scheduled for Sunday at 10 a.m.