University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Baseball Hosts Tulane For Three-Game Conference USA Series
3/27/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Baseball Hosts Tulane For Three-Game Conference USA Series
Hattiesburg, Miss. - The Southern Miss baseball team will host Tulane University for a three-game Conference USA series this weekend, Fri. - Sun., March 28-30, at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field (3,678). Friday's game will start at 6:30 p.m., Saturday's at 3 p.m., and Sunday's at 1 p.m.
All three games will be broadcast on 107.1 - FM, The ZOO and on SouthernMiss.com. Lance PIttman, "The Voice of Golden Eagle Baseball," will handle the play-by-play duties and will be joined in the booth by John Cox, "The Voice of the Golden Eagles."
Southern Miss (18-7, 5-1 C-USA) comes into the weekend series after splitting a pair of midweek games, winning 11-0 over Mississippi Valley State in Jackson, and dropping a 6-3 decision at Ole MIss on Wednesday. Tulane (19-7, 4-2 C-USA) enters the weekend series after dropping a 9-8 come from behind decision at Louisiana-Lafayette on Wednesday night. The Golden Eagles are tied for first place in the conference with TCU, and Tulane is tied for fourth place with East Carolina and Houston.
Tulane holds a 73-37-1 lead over Southern Miss in a series that began in 1949 and is the Golden Eagles' longest-running series. The Green Wave has won seven of the last eight meetings with the Golden Eagles, including three regular-season games last year in New Orleans and one at the Conference USA Tournament in Kinston, N.C.
Southern Miss will send junior righthander Anthony Dewitt to the mound on Friday night against Tulane's freshman righthander Matt Goebel. Dewitt is 4-1 with a 2.18 ERA in 33 innings pitched. He has 22 strikeouts, walked only four and opponents are hitting .248 against him. In his last outing, he pitched six innings, giving up two runs on nine hits and striking out one, earning his fifth win of the season, a 7-6 win at Louisville. Goebel is 3-1 with a 3.13 ERA in 37.1 innings pitched. He has struck out 25, walked out six and opponents are hitting .274 against him. In his last outing, he pitched six innings, giving up two runs on six hits and struck out five, earning his third win of the season in a 9-3 win over Memphis last Friday.
Saturday's game will feature Southern Miss' junior righthander Bob McCrory against Tulane's freshman lefthander J.R. Crowel. McCrory is 5-0 with a 5.24 ERA in 22.1 innings pitched. He has struck out 21, walked 14 and batters are hitting .315 against him. In his last outing, he pitched seven innings, giving up four runs, two earned, on four hits, walking three and striking out four in a 5-4 win at Louisville. Crowel is 4-0 with a 2.83 ERA in 35 innings pitched. He has struck out 26, walked nine and opponents are hitting .272 against him. In his last outing, he picked up his fourth win of the season, pitching eight innings, giving up three runs on nine hits and striking out four in Tulane's 12-3 win over Memphis last Saturday.
Sunday's matchup will be between Southern Miss' senior righthander Stephen Castleman and Tulane's junior righthander Cory Hahn. Castleman is 3-0 with a 4.89 ERA in 35 innings. He has struck out 30, walked 13 and opponents are hitting .310 against him. In his last outing, he pitched 4.2 innings, giving up six runs on eight hits and walking one, but received a no decision in Sunday's 9-6 loss at Louisville. Hahn is 5-1 with a 1.73 ERA in 36.1 innings. He has struck out 36, walked 11 and opponents are hitting .231 against him. In his last outing, he pitched 6.2 innings, giving up four hits, walking three and striking out eight.
Clint King continues to lead Southern Miss in hitting with a .398 batting average, along with a team-leading 31 runs, 39 hits, eight home runs and 32 RBIs. He has a .455 on-base percentage and a slugging percentage of .704. He also has stolen 6-of-7 bases and has hit six doubles. Jeff Cook is second on the team, hitting .349 with four doubles, two triples and five home runs. He has an on-base percentage of .412 and a slugging percentage of .566. Brad Willcutt is hitting .348 with a team-leading 13 doubles and also has four home runs and has driven in 21 runs. Jarrett Hoffpauir is hitting .347 with five doubles, one triple, three home runs and 18 RBIs.
Ray Antonelli is 0-0 with a 2.77 ERA in 26 innings pitched. He has struck out 29 and walked 11, while allowing opposing batters to hit .227 off of him. Austin Tubb is 2-0 with a 1.54 ERA in 11.2 innings pitch with one save and has struck out 11, while walking four. Cliff Russum is 2-4 with a 4.36 ERA in 33 innings pitched. After having his three-hit complete-game 13-strikeout shutout against Mississippi Valley State on Tuesday, he leads the team in strikeouts with 36.
The Golden Eagles are hitting .322 as a team with 93 extra base hits, including 57 doubles, eight triples and 28 home runs. They have a .405 on-base percentage and a .502 slugging percentage. Southern Miss has stolen 22-of-26 bases this year and has committed 37 errors in 974 chances for a .962 fielding percentage. The pitching staff has combined for a 4.09 ERA with 194 strikeouts to 99 walks. Opponents are hitting .266 off Golden Eagle pitchers.
Tulane enters the weekend series, hittiing .334 with 93 extra base hits, 63 doubles, eight triples and 22 home runs. The Green Wave has an on-base percentage of .416 and a slugging percentage of .494, has stolen 55-of-68 bases and committed 21 errors in 989 chances. The pitching staff has combined for a 3.35 ERA, struck out 218 batters and walked only 66. Opponents are hitting .273 against Tulane pitchers.
Junior first baseman Michael Aubrey leads the Green Wave in most offensive categories, batting .500 with 11 doubles, seven home runs and 41 RBIs. He has an on-base percentage of .559 and a slugging percentage of .814. Junior infielder Tony Giarratano is hitting .387 with eight doubles, two triples, three home runs and 23 RBIs. Senior outfielder Jon Kaplan is hitting .385 with 10 doubles, one triple, four homers, 25 RBIs and a team-leading 23 stolen bases. Sophomore infielder Tommy Manzella is hitting .360 with 10 doubles, two homers and 23 RBIs.
Freshman righthander Billy Mohl is 2-1 with a 5.10 ERA in 30 innings pitched. He has struck out 33 and walked three. Senior lefthanded closer Joey Charron is 2-3 with a 3.70 ERA in 24.1 innings pitched. He has struck out 31, walked 14 and has a team-high four saves.
Southern Miss travels for a midweek game at Southeastern Louisiana on Wednesday, Apr. 2, at 6:30 p.m., before moving on to Cincinnati for a three-game Conference USA weekend series, April 4-6. Friday's game begins at 2 p.m., Saturday's at Noon and Sunday's at 11:30 p.m.
