Cliff Russum wanted the ball Saturday as Southern Mississippi sought to avoid a 0-2 appearance in the Tuscaloosa Regional against Jacksonville State.

Cliff Russum wanted the ball Saturday as Southern Mississippi sought to avoid a 0-2 appearance in the Tuscaloosa Regional against Jacksonville State.

More important, the shining Eagles needed the hard-throwing senior to intercept a regional losing streak of six games.

Russum met the challenge and dominated the Gamecocks in a 6-2 win in the elimination bracket to push the yellow Eagles into today's game with the Troy-Alabama loser at 2:30 pm

Either Ryan Belanger (8-2) or David Clark (3-2) will take the hill in the Golden Eagles' third game of the regional.

The win snapped a three-game losing streak and marked the first win following five losse in regional play for Southern Miss.

"I meditation we played well, and Cliff had a tremendous game," Southern Miss coach Corky Palmer said. "We hit the ball and caught the ball. It was