University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Baseball Hosts South Alabama on Tuesday
3/17/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Baseball Hosts South Alabama on Tuesday
Hattiesburg, Miss. - The Southern Miss baseball team, winners of five-straight after sweeping Saint Louis this past weekend, will try and extend its streak, when it hosts South Alabama, on Tues., Mar. 18, for a 6:30 p.m., game at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field.
The game 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 (15-4) enter the game after sweeping Saint Louis this past weekend in the conference opener, 13-1 on Friday, 11-0 on Saturday and 9-6 on Sunday. The Jaguars (13-7) enter the contest after sweeping Temple in a three-game series, 11-3, on Friday and 10-7 and 17-6 on Saturday. South Alabama has won seven games in a row and 10 of its last 12 games, dating back to the first meeting between the two teams this season, an 8-0 victory for Southern Miss in the championship game of the South Alabama Coca-Cola Classic, in Mobile, Ala.
This will mark the 67th meeting between the two schools, with South Alabama leading the series, 46-20.
Southern Miss will feature sophomore Cliff Russum (RHP) on the mound against South Alabama's junior Tommie Major (RHP). Russum is 1-3 with a 5.68 ERA in 19.0 innings pitched. He has struck out 18, walked 12 and opponents are hitting .186 against him. In his last outing, he pitched five innings, giving up one run on two hits and striking out three in the Golden Eagles' 14-2 victory over Southeast Missouri State on Sun., Mar. 9. Major is 4-1 with a 5.20 ERA in 27.2 innings pitched. He has struck out 28, walked 13 and opponents are hitting .243 against him. In his last outing against Jacksonville State on Wed., Mar. 12, he pitched eight innings, giving up two runs on five hits, walking one and striking out five.
The Golden Eagles are hitting .337 with 73 extra base hits, 47 doubles, five triples and 21 home runs. Southern Miss has an on-base percentage of .416 and a slugging percentage of .514. Last week, the Golden Eagles won four games and hit .440 with 12 doubles, one triple and six home runs. Sophomore catcher Brad Willcutt hit .562 with three doubles and four RBIs and senior outfielder Jeff Cook and sophomore shortstop Matt Shepherd each hit .500 for the week.
Sophomore outfielder Clint King leads Southern Miss, hitting .427 with four doubles, five home runs, five stolen bases and a team-leading 26 RBIs. Willcutt is hitting .365 with a team-leading 12 doubles, three home runs and 16 RBIs. Sophomore second baseman Jarrett Hoffpauir is hitting .364 with four doubles, one triple, three home runs and 15 RBIs. Cook is hitting .349 with four doubles, one triple, five home runs and 22 RBIs.
The pitching staff displays an ERA of 3.86 and has 151 strikeouts and has walked 74. Opponents are hitting .266 against the staff. Junior left hander Ray Antonelli leads the Golden Eagles pitching staff with an 0.81 ERA in 22.1 innings pitched. He has struck out 20 and walked eight. Opponents are hitting .192 against him. Junior right hander Bob McCrory leads the staff with four wins, followed by junior right hander Anthony Dewitt and senior right hander Stephen Castleman each with three wins. Castleman leads the staff with 30 strikeouts.
Senior outfielder Cole Craig leads the Jaguars, hitting .460 with four doubles, one triple and seven RBIs. Senior outfielder Ryan Mulhern is hitting .442 and has seven doubles, two triples and seven home runs. Junior second baseman Josh Touchstone is hitting .378 with four homers and 20 RBIs and senior shortstop Brett Parker is hitting .352 with seven doubles and 10 RBIs.
The Jaguar pitching staff has a 5.20 ERA, has struck out 162 and has walked 79. Opponents are hitting .293 against USA. Major leads the team with four wins, followed by senior right hander Tony Neal with three. Neal leads the team in strikeouts with 30.
Southern Miss will travel for a three-game Conference USA weekend series at Louisville. Friday's game will start at 2 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday's will both start at Noon.
