University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Baseball Participates In Coca-Cola Classic This Weekend
2/20/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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Baseball Participates In Coca-Cola Classic This Weekend
Hattiesburg, Miss. - The Southern Miss baseball team, currently on a three-game winning streak, will look to extend its streak when it travels to Mobile, Ala., to participate in South Alabama's Coca-Cola Classic on Feb. 21-23. The Golden Eagles will face Northwestern on Fri., at 2:30 p.m., St. John's on Sat., at 6 p.m., and then South Alabama on Sun., at 2:30 p.m.
All three games will be broadcast on the radio with Jason Baker filling in for Lance Pittman and handling the play-by-play duties. Friday and Saturday's games will be on 107.1 FM as well as SoutherMiss.com. Because Sunday's game will be played the same time as the women's basketball game, the radio broadcast will air on 98.1, WXMI-FM and will not be on SouthernMIss.com.
The Golden Eagles are coming into the tournament after defeating UNO, 13-1, on Tuesday night at Privateer Park in New Orleans, La. Southern Miss scored 13 runs on 16 hits, both season-highs. Anthony Dewitt picked up his first win of the season, pitching 6.0 innings, giving up one unearned run on three hits and striking out two. Ray Antonelli came on in relief in the seventh inning, pitching the final three innings, giving up one walk and striking out two, earning his first save.
Northwestern, a member of the Big 10 Conference, enters Friday's game with Southern Miss with a 2-0 record. The Wildcats traveled to Phoenix, Ariz., last weekend and defeated Missouri, 5-3, and BYU, 1-0.
Northwestern will send right hander Dan Konecny to the mound to face Southern Miss' Cliff Russum. Konecny has a 1-0 record with an 0.00 ERA in 7.0 innings pitched. He struck out three batters and walked three. Russum pitched in the Golden Eagles' season-opener against McNeese State last Friday and dropped a 4-2 decision. He pitched five innings, gave up four runs on five hits, walked four and struck out four.
The Wildcats are hitting .173 as a team and have stolen one base. They have struck out 10 times, walked three times and have been hit by pitch four times. The pitching staff has a 1.00 ERA in 18 innings pitched, registering 14 strikeouts and walking 10 batters. Second baseman Eric Roeder, who is hitting .600 and has driven in a team-high two runs is the team's leading hitter. Designated hitter Mark Ori is hitting .333 with an RBI, and third baseman Josh Lieberman is hitting .200 with an RBI as well.
This weekend will mark the first games of the season for St. John's. The Red Storm, a member of the Big East Conference, finished with a 29-23 record last season, a 14-12 conference mark and returns 19 letterwinners, including six position starters and nine pitchers. St. John's will send senior right hander Greg Holmes to the mound. Holmes finished with a 5-4 record and a 5.93 ERA in 60.2 innings pitched last season. He struck out 27 and walked 40 batters. Southern Miss wlll send sophomore left hander Brent Leach to mound. Leach started game three of the McNeese State series last weekend. He pitched 1.2 innings, giving up three runs on four hits, walking two and striking out three.
The Red Storms top returning hitters include junior outfielder Anthony DeRosa, infielder Jim Martin, outfielder Ray Downs and outfielder Billy Graiser. DeRosa finished with a .337 batting average with 13 doubles, three triples, six homers and 30 RBIs. Martin hit .328 with eight doubles, a homer and 24 RBIs. Downs hit .298, and Graiser finished with a .290 batting average.
South Alabama has played five games this season and its record stands at 1-4, heading in the
weekend. The Jaguars dropped four games on a four-game western trip to San Diego State and USC. The Aztecs defeated South Alabama, 5-0, before USC swept the series, 10-2, 10-1 and 9-5. The Jaguars rebounded this Tuesday at Auburn, crushing the Tigers, 17-3.
First baseman Ben Nelson leads the Jaguars, hitting .500. Designated hitter Jason Gross is hitting .400 with a double and one RBI. Outfielder Craig Cole is hitting .389 with two doubles and two RBIs and third baseman Kevin Sytko is hitting .385 with three runs batted in.
South Alabama will send senior right hander Tony Neal to the mound for Sunday's game against the Golden Eagles. Neal is 1-1 with a 2.70 ERA in 10.0 innings pitched. He has struck out nine and walked four. In his last outing, Neal pitched six innings, picking up the victory, giving up two runs on six hits, striking out five and walking two in USA's 17-3 victory over Auburn. Southern Miss will counter with senior right hander Stephen Castleman. He is 0-0 with an 11.25 ERA in 4.0 innings pitched. He has five strikeouts and only walked two batters.
Southern Miss is led by outfielder Clint King, who is hitting .471 with two doubles, a home run and seven runs batted in. He has a .500 on-base percentage and a .765 slugging percentage. Catcher Brad Willcutt is second on the team with a .375 batting average. He has a team-leading three doubles and is second on the team with four RBIs. Second baseman Jarrett Hoffpauir is hitting .308 with an RBI, three walks and a stolen base. Outfielder Jeff Cook leads the team with two stolen bases.
Junior pitcher Ray Antonelli has made two appearances in relief and is leading the team with one save and seven strikeouts in seven innings pitched. He has given up three hits, two walks and opponents are hitting .136 off him. Anthony Dewitt made his first start of the season at UNO. He registered the win, pitching six strong innings, giving up one unearned run on three hits and striking out two batters. John Nicholas picked up a win in game three of the McNeese State series, pitching the final four innings, giving up one run on three hits, walking two and striking out three. Closer Austin Tubb has the team's third win of the season, picking it up in game two of the McNeese State series. He pitched the final 1.2 innings, giving up one walk and striking out one batter.
The Golden Eagles are hitting .312 as a team with 14 extra base hits. They have a .404 on-base percentage and a .433 slugging percentage. Southern Miss has stolen 5-of-7 bases this year and has committed five errors in 151 chances for a .967 fielding percentage.
After the Coca-Cola Classic, the Golden Eagles travel to Oxford, Miss., on Tuesday, Feb. 25, for a 6:30 p.m., start at Ole Miss, before coming home to host Louisiana Tech for a three-game series at Pete Taylor Park. Friday's game begins at 6:30 p.m., Saturday's at noon and Sunday's at 1 p.m.
