Ben Grisham struggled early for the Tigers, but two relievers limited Southern Miss to 1 runs over the final seven frames to win the second elimination game on Friday. Earlier in the afternoon, Tulane knocked East Carolina out of the tournament 2-1 in 10 innings.

Dusty Davis (4-1) got the win for Memphis, allowing a single run over 4 1/3 innings after taking over for Grisham. He scattered six hits against a potent Golden Eagle offense and struck out four. Matt Yokley pitched the final three innings to pick up his second save of the season, shutting Southern Miss out on two hits. Cliff Russum (7-6) was spotted an early lead but was unable to hold on for Southern Miss.

This is a game that could have been different by a matter of inches -- Toddric Johnson hit a ball down the rightfield line that narrowly missed staying fair. That hit would have given the Golden Eagles an 8-6 lead and shifted the momentum firmly in their favor. Memphis collected twelve hits to eleven for Southern Miss, as both teams bats were hot on the third day of the tournament.

Memphis improves to 32-27 on the season, and will need to beat Rice (48-10) twice tomorrow to advance to the championship game on Sunday. Southern Miss finishes the tournament at 38-21, and will await their NCAA Tournament fate on Monday morning.

In Saturday's other matchup, Tulane (41-18) will face Houston (38-19) with the Green Wave needing two wins to reach Sunday's finale.