HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The Southern Miss baseball team has a big hole to fill at first base in 2027, given that Golden Eagle legend Matthew 'Bull' Russo has gradu
. Through four seasons at Southern Miss, Russo finished with a .302 batting average, 35 home runs and 152 RBI while always seeming to pull through in the game's biggest moments.
Despite the challenge the Golden Eagles have when it comes to finding a suitable replacement for Russo, it appears that they will have good competition at that first base position this offseason, especially with thePeery was the only GCU player to start in all 51 games in 2026. The first baseman had a successful junior year, finishing with 54 hits, including 12 doubles, nine home runs and 32 RBI.
With a team-leading 188 at-bats on the season, Peery posted a .287 batting average, .505 slugging percentage and .907 OPS. Peery recorded 398 outs on 432 chances while playing at first base through 51 games with a .986 fielding percentage and just six errors as a junior in 2026. By comparison, Russo recorded 460 outs on 476 chances with a .994 fielding percentage and just three errors as a senior in 2026.
Judging from those stats, plus what we've watched on film, it appears that USM head coach Christian Ostrander and his staff have utilized the transfer portal well yet again. Southern Miss will never be too reliant on the transfer portal, as it loves to develop as much talent from within as it can, but when done correctly, it can be a great tool used to fill holes in the roster while also allowing new players from different places to experience what it means to be a Golden Eagle.
After losing Nick Monistere to the MLB Draft following the 2025 season, Coach Oz and company were able to fill that void nicely by bringing in Kyle Morrison from South Alabama. Morrison went on to lead the Golden Eagles with 17 home runs in 2026. Needless to say, that signing worked out well for both parties, and Southern Miss will hope for similar results in the infield with Peery in 2027.
Stay tuned to Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI for more offseason coverage of USM baseball, basketball and football in the coming weeks. Dalton Trigg is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Southern Miss Golden Eagles on SI and the lead host of the Nasty Bunch & Beyond podcast. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016.
Trigg entered the sports journalism industry in 2017, covering the Dallas Mavericks for 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, where he continued to cover the Mavs until 2024. He also owns and hosts the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which has been going strong since 2019. You can find Trigg on all social media platforms, including X : @dalton_trigg.
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