BECKLEY, W.Va. — Southern Miss will enter the Conference USA tournament with momentum on their side after sweeping Marshall in the final regular season series of the season.

The No. 18 Golden Eagles (36-15, 22-6 Conference USA) jumped in front of the Thundering Herd (19-31, 7-22) in the first with a two-run shot by Luke Reynolds, his 15^th of the season, on their way to an 18-9 win to close out the regular season.  

Marshall scored one run in the bottom of the first, but an eight run top of the second for Southern Miss gave them the cushion they would need to withstand a Marshall comeback attempt. The Golden Eagles recorded seven hits in the inning including a three run shot to left by LeeMarcus Boyd, his seventh.

Marshall tried to work their way back in, eventually cutting the lead to 10-8 with a run in the seventh, as Southern Miss’s offense was held without a run from the third through eighth innings.

The Herd loaded the bases with one out in the eight, but USM escaped with an inning ending double play.

Any hopes the Herd had of a ninth inning rally were quickly dashed as Southern Miss’s bats came back alive bringing across eight runs in the top of the final frame to lock up the sweep.

The Golden Eagles with enter the C-USA tournament with the top seed for the second straight season. The Golden Eagles will start the tournament, which is being held at MGM Park in Biloxi, at 4 p.m. Wednesday against the eight seed University of Alabama- Birmingham.

Two-seed Louisiana Tech will face seven-seed Rice in the first round, three-seed Florida Atlantic will face six-seed Florida International and four-seed Charlotte will face five-seed Texas-San Antonio.

Last season, the Golden Eagles were upset by Rice in the C-USA title game, but their 48 wins proved to be enough as they were chosen to host a regional where they were eliminated by Mississippi State.