University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Baseball Hosts Nationally-Ranked Houston
3/27/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Southern Miss Baseball Hosts Nationally-Ranked Houston
HATTIESBURG, Miss. ? Southern Miss Baseball plays host to nationally-ranked Houston in a Conference USA series, Friday through Sunday, March 29-31, at Pete Taylor Park.
The series is a meeting of two of the top teams in conference play, as both Southern Miss and Houston, along with Charlotte, share second place in C-USA, each having 5-1 league marks. The Golden Eagles (17-8, 5-1) are coming off a 6-5, extra-inning loss to South Alabama, but have reeled off five-straight conference victories, including a three-game sweep over Cincinnati last weekend. The Cougars, ranked No. 9 in the Collegiate Baseball Poll, No. 5 in the Baseball America Poll, and No. 10 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll, are coming off four-straight wins, including a three game sweep over Tulane and an 11-0 victory over Fresno State on Tuesday.
Game one of the series is slated for 6:30 p.m., Friday, with Saturday and Sunday games taking place at 2 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively. 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.
Houston is the third nationally-ranked team Southern Miss has played this season, and the three-game series will be the first weekend series for the Golden Eagles against a ranked foe. Southern Miss is currently 2-1 on the season against ranked opponents, winning games against No. 8 Nebraska and No. 15 Ole Miss.
The two teams have played each other 18 times since 1990, and the Cougars hold a 14-4 series lead. However, while Houston has won more series games, it was Southern Miss who won the last meeting, with a 6-2 victory in the opening round of the 2001 Conference USA Tournament.
The Golden Eagles look to continue the success it has had at the plate in recent weeks. In the series against Cincinnati, Southern Miss outscored the visitors 27-3 and belted 41 hits. The team is among the league leaders in a number of offensive statistics. Southern Miss is second in batting average (.316), fifth in slugging percentage (.463) and leads the league in on-base percentage (.413). The Golden Eagles are second in runs scored (198), hits (279), and RBIs (173), while also leading in doubles (63).
Junior outfielder Jeff Cook continues to lead Southern Miss in several offensive categories, including batting average (.385), runs (33), hits (40), home runs (8), RBIs (29), total bases (68) and slugging percentage (.654). His numbers also rank him the top five in a number of C-USA stats, including slugging percentage, runs scored, hits, RBIs, home runs, and total bases.
Carlos Velasquez follows Cook in batting with a .364 average, while Allen Winningham is third with a .357 average. Velasquez ranks among the league leaders in hits (40), runs scored (28), doubles (8) and at-bats (110). Winningham leads the league in doubles (12) and is second in runs scored (31). He has a team-high 17 extra-base hits.
That offensive production will be put to the test as it goes against one of the top pitching staffs in the conference. The Houston pitchers lead the league in ERA (3.16), opposing batting average (.236), strikeouts (230), wins (19) and saves (7).
While pitching is the team's strongpoint, the Cougars have also been able to come up with strong offensive play. Houston sports a .302 team batting average, while scoring 161 runs off 276 hits. Jesse Crain leads the pack with a .351 batting average, including a team-high 39 hits and eight doubles. Anthony Scalise is batting .349 with 37 hits and 18 RBIs.
Game one features two of the top pitchers in the conference, with Shea Douglas (LHP, 5-1, 2.23 ERA) starting for Southern Miss, and Brad Sullivan (RHP, 5-0, 1.01 ERA). Sullivan has allowed just five earned runs this season, and his ERA is the best in C-USA. He also leads in opposing batting average (.155), strikeouts (59) and batters struck out looking (22). Not to be outdone, Douglas ranks in the top five in every major pitching category. He is third in ERA and is second in opposing batting average (.188) and strikeouts (52). Both pitchers had career outings last weekend as Sullivan set a career high with 15 strikeouts against Tulane, while Douglas tied his career best with 12 strikeouts against Cincinnati. The pair currently shares Conference USA Pitcher of the Week honors, and Sullivan was named National Pitcher of the Week.
Bob McCrory (RHP, 2-1, 0.79 ERA) gets his first weekend start of the season in game two, facing Houston's Keith Whatley (LHP, 6-1, 3.35 ERA) on Saturday. McCrory is tops on the team in ERA, has allowed just two earned runs in 22.2 innings pitched and has the third-highest strikeout total (24). Whatley is the league leader in wins and has given up 15 earned runs on 37 hits this season.
In the final game of the series, Charlie Rogers (RHP, 5-1, 4.26 ERA) gets the start for the Golden Eagles, while Gene Flores (RHP, 2-2, 5.59 ERA) gets the nod for the Cougars. In his last outing, Rogers threw his first complete game of his career, as well as his first solo shutout, in an 8-0 win over Cincinnati. He is currently third among starters in ERA, while allowing 18 runs on 32 hits this year. Flores follows just Sullivan in strikeouts (35) for Houston and has allowed 23 earned runs on 45 hits.
After the series, Southern Miss travels to Alabama to face the Crimson Tide on Tuesday. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m.
