University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Travels To Alabama on Tuesday
4/1/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Southern Miss Travels To Alabama on Tuesday
Hattiesburg, Miss. - Southern Miss (18-10) looks to get back on the winning track on Tuesday, April 2, as it travels to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for a non-conference contest against Alabama (23-5), at Sewell-Thomas Stadium (6,200) at 6:30 p.m.
The game will be broadcast on 107.1 FM, The Zoo, in Hattiesburg, and on www.SouthernMiss.com for fans outside the Hattiesburg area. Lance Pittman will handle the play-by-play duties with the pregame show, beginning 15 minutes prior to the first pitch.
Under the direction of Corky Palmer, Southern Miss is 0-7 against the Crimson Tide, 0-6 in Tuscaloosa and 0-1 in Hattiesburg. Alabama owns an overall record of 65-21 against Southern Miss, including having won nine straight. The last Golden Eagle victory in the series occurred in 1987, as USM defeated the Tide twice.
Southern Miss enters Tuesday's game after dropping two-of-three in the Conference USA weekend series against Houston and three-of-four last week. The three losses were all extra inning games, losing 6-5, in 10 innings, at South Alabama last Tuesday, 3-2, in 10 innings to nationally-ranked Houston on Friday and 7-6 in 13 innings to Houston on Sunday. The Golden Eagles defeated Houston, 8-4, on Saturday.
Alabama enters the game after dropping two-of-three at nationally-ranked South Carolina in a Southeastern Conference weekend series, winning Friday's game, 10-6 and dropping Saturday's and Sunday's games, 9-6 and 4-3.
Southern Miss is hitting .307 as a team with 94 extra base hits, 67 doubles, three triples and 24 home runs. The pitching staff has a 3.71 ERA, has given up 86 walks and struck out 199 batters. Alabama is hitting .312 as a team with 93 extra base hits, 56 doubles, eight triples and 29 homers. The pitching staff displays a 3.05 ERA, giving up 61 walks and striking out 216 batters.
Southern Miss sends Daniel Stewart to the mound as the starter. He is 1-2 with a 5.82 ERA in 34.0 innings pitched. He has given up 28 runs, 22 earned, on 50 hits, walked only seven and struck out 30. Last Tuesday at South Alabama, he finished with a no-decision after pitching five innings, giving up two runs on seven hits, walking one and striking out one. When he left the game, the Golden Eagles had a 4-2 lead.
Jeff Cook leads the Golden Eagles, hitting .358 with 12 extra base hits (two doubles, one triple and nine homers). He leads the team in RBIs (33), runs (36), slugging percentage (.617), is second in stolen bases (6) and third in on-base percentage (.434). Carlos Velasquez is second on the team, hitting .352 with nine doubles, one triple, three homers and 19 RBIs. He leads the team in stolen bases with nine and is third on the team in runs scored with 29. Allen Winningham leads the team in doubles with 12 and is third on the team in batting with a .342 average. He also has one triple, four homers and 14 RBIs.
At this time, the Alabama oaching staff isn't sure who will be throwing for the Tide, but it possibly could either be Eric Mennen or Landon Brazell. Mennen is 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA in 10 innings pitched and Brazell is 0-0 with a 7.36 ERA in 3.2 innings pitched. Mennen has given up nine runs, five earned, on 13 hits, walked four and struck out four. Brazell has given up three runs on four hits, walked four and struck out two.
Peter Stonard, sophomore outfielder, leads the Crimson Tide with a .425 batting average and has six doubles, two triples, three homers and 15 RBIs. Junior outfielder Travis Garner is hitting .344 with two doubles, three homers and nine RBIs, and junior designated hitter Beau Herrod is hitting .333 with seven doubles, one triple, six homers and 29 RBIs. Senior catcher Jeremy Brown leads the team in homers with eight and in RBIs with 35.Senior outfielder Scott McClanahan leads the team in doubles with 11, triples with three and is third in RBIs with 24.
