University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Golden Eagles Host East Carolina in Final Home Series
5/8/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Golden Eagles Host East Carolina in Final Home Series
HATTIESBURG, Miss. ? Southern Miss hosts its final home series of the season with a three-game series against nationally-ranked, Conference USA foe East Carolina, Friday through Sunday, at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field.
The Golden Eagles (33-16,16-7 in C-USA) look to maintain their conference-best record. Southern Miss currently shares the league's top spot with Houston. Both teams have clinched berths in the postseason league tournament and are one half game ahead of Louisville and TCU, who stand at 16-8 in league play and have also clinched tourney berths. With four spots of the postseason Conference USA Tournament already claimed, East Carolina (35-13-1, 14-9-1) is one of the teams battling for the four final spots. The Pirates, ranked 22nd in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll and 24th in the Baseball America Poll, are in fifth place in the league. The series marks the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
The three games will be the final home appearances for four Golden Eagles seniors, including third baseman Allen Winningham, pitcher Charlie Rogers, pitcher Daniel Stewart, and outfielder Clint Stoy. Winningham, who suffered a broken bone after being hit by a pitch against Memphis, will not play in the series.
Due to graduation ceremonies on the Southern Miss campus, game one of the series will be played at 8 p.m., Friday. Saturday and Sunday games are set for 3 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 also can be heard by logging on to SouthernMiss.com.
Without Winningham in the lineup, the Southern Miss offensive attack loses a team leader in batting average, doubles and slugging percentage. Griff Israel will be among the players hoping to pick up the slack, as he holds the second-best batting average on the team (.354). Jeff Cook remains one of the top hitters on the teams, leading in hits (72), runs (62), home runs (13) and RBIs (55). Matt Shepherd ranks among the team leaders with a .342 average.
Darryl Lawhorn leads East Carolina's offense in a number of categories, including batting average (.415), runs (43), hits (81), doubles (11) and home runs (14). He also has a team-high 48 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. Jedd Sorenson follows with a .322 batting average, while Clayton McCullough is hitting .309.
Southern Miss sends ace pitcher Shea Douglas (9-1, 2.30 ERA) to the mound in game one, while the Pirates will start Davey Penny (7-2, 3.28 ERA). Douglas, who is third on the school's career strikeout chart, leads the team with 93 strikeouts this season. Opponents are hitting just .222 off him. Penny is among the East Carolina leaders with 81 strikeouts.
Golden Eagle Bob McCrory (5-2, 2.49 ERA) gets the nod in game two of the series, and Will Brinson (4-3, 3.39 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Pirates. McCrory is tied for second on the team with 50 strikeouts and has allowed just 18 earned runs this season. Brinson has fanned 40 batters this season, good for fourth on the team.
Stewart (5-2, 3.86 ERA) is Southern Miss' scheduled starter for game three of the series, while Jason Mandryk (5-2, 3.86 ERA) will go for East Carolina. Stewart has been among the team's best pitchers in recent weeks and is tied for second with 50 strikeouts. He has walked just 14 batters this season, which is tops among starters. Mandryk is fourth among Pirate starters in ERA and has struck out 37 batters.
Following the three-game series, the Golden Eagles travel to New Orleans to battle Tulane in both teams' final conference series of the season. The opening game is scheduled for Thursday, May 16, at 6:30 p.m. After the Tulane series, Southern Miss will travel to Kinston, N.C., to participate in the 2002 Conference USA Baseball Tournament, which begins Tuesday, May 21.
