NEW ORLEANS &045; Those demons from last year? Or seasons before right about this time?

Consider them exorcised.

Southern Miss got over perhaps their biggest hump in the program of late not only with a 7-5 win over Tulane to win the Conference USA Tournament championship but also landed an NCAA Regional at Pete Taylor Park later this week.

The Golden Eagles (45-14) will host the regional along with Mississippi State and LSU.

&uot;Southern Miss has a good ball club, and they did the things they haven’t normally done at the end of the year,&uot; Tulane head coach Rick Jones said. &uot;They played well late in the season, and they didn’t fight among themselves. They’ve always had great talent. They did a great job.&uot;

The Golden Eagles erased last year’s swoon at the end of the year that included an eliminating loss to Tulane in the conference tournament and a sweep at New Orleans in the final weekend &045; a place where the Green Wave had won 23 straight.

&uot;They were focused on beating Tulane for this conference championship,&uot; USM head coach Corky Palmer said.

This time they mowed through the field with wins over Charlotte and Louisville to earn a shot in the finals.

And there it was plenty of back-and-forth drama before the Eagles rallied for two runs in the eighth off Tulane closer Joey Charron.

&uot;It was easy to get in that habit of winning,&uot; USM outfielder Jeff Cook said. &uot;We’ve got a confident team. You never heard anybody say (during the game), ‘We’ve got to score right now.’ All year long we’ve come through.

&uot;Another confidence issue was we knew we had a good team. We wanted a little revenge on them from last year. They got us over here last last year.&uot;

The drama almost ended when the Eagles scrapped for two in the bottom of the eight to break open a 5-5 game. Jarrett Hoffpauir was hit by a pitch to lead off, and Jason Lowery followed with a single before a walk to Matt Shepherd loaded the bases with one out.

Marc Maddox’s flyout to deep center scored Hoffpauir and moved Lowery to third, and Cook followed with a single up the middle to score Lowery for a 7-5 lead.

&uot;Those are the kinds of hits I enjoy most,&uot; Cook said, &uot;because you’ve got to fight for that. It wasn’t the best of hits, but it got the job done.&uot;

Tulane had a chance in its last at-bat against USM closer Austin Tubb with a runner on first when Michael Aubrey &045; who earlier homered &045; came up to bat with two outs in the ninth. His rope to center that got everyone’s attention turned out to be just a long out to end the game.

It was the only time Tulane didn’t answer Southern Miss all afternoon, but give the Green Wave credit for answering three straight times &045; including in the sixth where things fell apart.

Tulane led 4-3 before King reached on an error and went to third on a Griff Israel double before starter Brandon Gomes got yanked. Hoffpauir then lined one to left that Wes Swackhamer couldn’t handle to score King, and Israel scored on a Lowery groundout for a 5-4 lead.

But Tulane got a run in the seventh to tie it up. Nine-hole hitter Brian Bormaster &045; who homered earlier in the game &045; singled in Tommy Manzella with one out to tie the game up. The Green Wave put runners on second and first with two outs, but a shot by Aubrey to the left side plucked Bormaster for the third out of the inning and end the threat.

&uot;Had we played a little better, it might have been different,&uot; Jones said. &uot;I know the MVP usually goes to the winning team, but Bormaster had a MVP weekend.&uot;

Southern Miss got on the board first in the second inning when King blasted one over the right-field fence for a 1-0 lead, and Beau Griffin’s sacrifice fly scored Israel for a 2-0 lead.

Tulane then answered right back when Bormaster slammed a three-run homer off USM starter Anthony Dewitt for a 3-2 lead.

Southern Miss had a chance to tie it up in the third but left two on when Israel grounded out to first to end the inning. The Eagles then broke through in the fifth when Maddox lifted one just over the wall in right that was barely out of the reach of right fielder Aaron Feldman to tie the game at 3-3.

Tulane took the lead in the sixth when Aubrey clubbed a homer that cleared the right-field fence.