As the 2027 college baseball season creeps closer, it is hard to find a better pitcher in the Sun Belt Conference than Southern Miss left-hander Grayden Harris.

In 2026, Harris won the Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year award in his sophomore season while also being first-team All-Conference.

He was an anchor of Southern Miss' starting rotation and helped the team that won 44 games, won Sun Belt regular season and tournament titles, and hosted a regional at Pete Taylor Park in Hattiesburg.

Harris finished the 2026 college baseball season with a 4.02 ERA in 87 1/3 innings of work. Despite his ERA going up from his freshman season, the southpaw was hunting more strikeouts. He had 107 last season.

Harris also did not walk a ton of hitters. He only had 19 a year ago compared to 25 during his freshman season. The Central, Louisiana native was able to cut down on his walk numbers despite pitching in 29 more innings.

The lefty boasted a solid record of 8-1 as well. His most impressive win came on March 7 against the North Alabama Lions. Harris had 13 strikeouts in that game while allowing just one earned run and three hits in seven innings of work.

Harris and his time playing for Team USA

During the offseason, Harris spent some time playing for the USA Collegiate National Team.

He took part in training camp with Team USA, which ran from June 27 to July 4 at different ballparks across North Carolina and Virginia. Harris, along with the rest of the USA training camp invitees, played teams from the MLB Draft Appalachian League. The invitees also played in a five-game series against each other called the "Stars and Stripes" series.

Harris made the team after training camp. Therefore, he was the lone representative from the Sun Belt that was in the inaugural World Collegiate Baseball Championship in Taiwan.

Harris did not play in any of the four games for Team USA at Intercontinental Stadium in Taichung City. The team ended up losing to Japan in the gold medal game by a score of 6-3 in 11 innings.

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