University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Baseball Begins Conference Play at TCU
3/13/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Southern Miss Baseball Begins Conference Play at TCU
HATTIESBURG, Miss. ? With a 12-4 record to start the season, the Southern Miss Golden Eagles open Conference USA play with a three-game series this weekend against conference-newcomer TCU in Fort Worth, Texas.
The opening game of the series is slated for 2:30 p.m., Friday, with Saturday and Sunday games taking place at 1 p.m. All three games can be heard locally on The Zoo 107.1, with Lance Pittman handling the play-by-play duties. Pregame shows begin approximately 15 minutes before the first pitch. The broadcasts can also be heard by logging on to SouthernMiss.com.
After wrapping up a nine-game homestand with two-of-three wins over Eastern Illinois last weekend, the Golden Eagles play in just their second road weekend of the year. In the team's previous road outing this season, Southern Miss went 2-1 in the Bank One Lake Area Classic in Lake Charles, La. The Horned Frogs (8-12) dropped a 5-1 contest to nationally-ranked Texas on Tuesday. Over the weekend, TCU split four games in the Express College Classic in Round Rock, Texas. The Horned Frogs fell to both Southern California, 8-3, and Texas-Pan American, 5-4, and defeated Southwest Texas, 4-3, and nationally-ranked Notre Dame, 7-3.
The Golden Eagles and the Horned Frogs have not played since 1996, with Southern Miss holding a 6-0 record in the overall series.
Junior outfielder Jeff Cook leads a Golden Eagle offense that has scored 132 runs this season. Cook is tops on the team in batting average (.429), runs (22), hits (27), and home runs (4). He also leads the league in runs scored. Sophomore outfielder Carlos Velasquez and senior shortstop Allen Winningham follow as both are batting .365 this season. Velasquez leads the team in at-bats (73) and stolen bases (5), while also ranking third in the conference in hits. Winningham has a team-high 10 extra-base hits, including eight doubles, which is also a C-USA high. The Golden Eagles rank in the top five of several categories, including batting average, on-base percentage, runs scored, hits and RBIs.
TCU's explosive offense is among the league-leaders in the C-USA. The Horned Frogs lead in several offensive categories including hits, runs scored, RBIs and home runs. Terry Trofholz leads the team with a .470 batting average and has 31 hits and 10 RBIs. Chris Meeks follows with a .387 batting average with 24 hits and 13 RBIs.
On the mound, Southern Miss opens with C-USA Pitcher of the Week Shea Douglas (LHP, 4-0, 1.04 ERA) in game one of the series. In his last outing, Douglas threw a complete-game, three-hit shutout against Eastern Illinois. In the game, he tied a career-high with 12 strikeouts. Against Douglas, TCU's Clayton Jerome (RHP, 1-2) takes the mound. Jerome leads the starters with a 2.65 ERA and has a team-high 18 strikeouts.
In the second game of the series, the Golden Eagles' Stephen Castleman (RHP, 2-1, 2.45 ERA) gets the nod. After beginning the season as the No. 4 starter, Castleman has moved up in the rotation. He is second among starters in ERA and has 14 strikeouts this season. Kyle Shoemaker (LHP, 2-1, 5.65 ERA) is scheduled to pitch for the Horned Frogs in game two. Shoemaker has allowed 19 runs, 18 earned in 28.2 innings this year and has 16 strikeouts.
Charlie Rogers (RHP, 3-1, 6.14 ERA) is the starter for the series finale. In his last outing, Rogers picked up his third win after allowing just two runs on five hits in seven innings against Eastern Illinois. Patrick Newburn (RHP, 1-0, 5.21 ERA) takes the mound for TCU on Sunday. Newburn has allowed 11 runs on 23 hits and has 15 strikeouts this season.
After the series at TCU, the Golden Eagles remain on the road as they travel to Ole Miss on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. and face New Orleans in a rescheduled game on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
