University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Baseball Hosts Saint Louis In First Conference USA Series
3/13/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Baseball Hosts Saint Louis In First Conference USA Series
Hattiesburg, Miss. - The Southern Miss baseball team will host Saint Louis University in a Conference USA weekend series on Fri. - Sun., March 14-16, Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field. Friday's game will start at 6:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday's game will start at 1 p.m.
All three games will be broadcast on 107.1 FM - The Zoo and on SouthernMiss.com. Lance Pittman will handle the play-by-play duties.
The Golden Eagles (12-4) enter the weekend series after winning its only game of the week, 23-9, on Tues., Mar. 11, against Temple. Wednesday's game was cancelled because of rain. Southern Miss won two-of-three games against Southeast Missouri State last weekend.
Saint Louis (1-1) enters this weekend series after dropping a 9-4 decision at Southeast Missouri State on Wednesday. The Billikens swept Illinois-Chicago at home last weekend, winning 4-3 on Friday, 16-14 on Saturday and 11-10 on Sunday.
Southern Miss holds a 13-5 series advantage over Saint Louis in a series that started in 1996 with the formation of Conference USA. The two teams split a pair of games last year in St. Louis. Southern Miss won the first game, 5-0, before dropping the second game in the bottom of the ninth inning, 6-5. The third game was rained out.
Friday's game will feature Southern Miss' Anthony Dewitt (Jr., RHP) and Saint Louis' Corey Lawson (Sr., RHP). Dewitt is 2-0 with a 2.37 ERA in 19.0 innings pitched. He has struck out 15, walked only three and opponents are batting .233 against him. In his last outing, he dropped his first decision of the season, pitching six innings against Southeast Missouri State, giving up seven runs, four earned, on eight hits, walking two and striking out five. Lawson is 1-1 with a 1.65 ERA in 16.1 innings pitched. He has struck out 11, walked five and opponents are hitting .233 against him. In his last outing, he picked up his first win of the season against Illinois-Chicago. He pitched 8.1 innings, giving up four runs, three earned, on eight hits, walking three and striking out four.
Bob McCrory (Jr., RHP) will pitch for Southern Miss on Saturday against Saint Louis' Ben Hutton (Sr., RHP). McCrory is 3-0 with a 11.00 ERA in nine innings pitched. He has struck out 11 and walked six. In his last outing, McCrory pitched two innings against Temple, giving up two unearned runs on four hits, walking one and striking out three. Hutton is 0-1 with a 4.09 ERA in 11.0 innings pitched. He has struck out 12, walked three and opponents are hitting .304 against him. In his last outing, he received a no-decision, pitching seven innings, giving up six runs, two earned, on six hits, walking two and striking out seven.
Sunday's game will feature Southern Miss' Stephen Castleman (Sr., RHP) against Saint Louis' Jake Baumgartner (Sr., LHP). Castleman is 2-0 with a 4.50 ERA in 24.0 innings pitched. He has struck out 22 and walked nine. In his last outing, he picked up his second victory of the season, pitching six innings, giving up three runs on 10 hits, walking one and striking out five. Baumgartner is 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA in 14.0 innings pitched. He has struck out 10, walked three and opponents are hitting .278 against him. In his last outing, he pitched seven innings, giving up eight runs, six earned, on 10 hits, walking three and striking out four.
Clint King continues to lead Southern Miss in hitting with a .443 batting average, along with a team-leading 21 runs, 27 hits, five home runs and 22 RBIs. He has a .507 on-base percentage and a slugging percentage of .754. He also has stolen 3-of-4 bases and hit four doubles. Jarrett Hoffpauir is second on the team in hitting with a .397 batting average. He has three doubles, three home runs and 14 RBIs. Jeff Cook is hitting .333 with four doubles, four homers and has 20 RBIs, and Brad Willcutt is hitting .323 with 10 doubles, three home runs and 13 RBIs.
Ray Antonelli leads the Golden Eagles pitching staff with an 0.00 ERA in 20 innings pitched. He has four saves, struck out 16 batters, walked seven and opponents are hitting only .188 against him. Austin Tubb has a 2-0 record and a save, with a 2.37 ERA in 8.2 innings pitched. He has struck out nine and walked four.
The Billikens are hitting .259 with 22 extra base hits, 12 doubles, two triples and eight home runs. They have stolen 7-of-9 bases. Junior infielder Don Rogers leads Saint Louis, hitting .385 with a triple and two homers. Senior infielder Jake Frederich is hitting .333 with two doubles and a triple. Senior infielder Corey Lawson is hitting .310 with four doubles and three home runs.
The Golden Eagles are hitting .320 as a team with 62 extra base hits. They have a .405 on-base percentage and a .506 slugging percentage. Southern Miss has stolen 11-of-15 bases this year and has committed 29 errors in 626 chances for a .954 fielding percentage. The pitching staff has combined for a 4.40 ERA with 126 strikeouts to 63 walks. Opponents are hitting .279 off Golden Eagle pitchers.
