University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Baseball Hosts Southeast Missouri State For Weekend Series
3/6/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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Baseball Hosts Southeast Missouri State For Weekend Series
Hattiesburg, Miss. - The Southern Miss baseball team will host Southeast Missouri State University in a three-game weekend series on Mar. 7-9, at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field. Friday's game starts at 6:30 p.m., Saturday's game begins at 2 p.m., and Sunday's game will start at 1 p.m.
All three games will be broadcast on the radio with John Cox or Lance Pittman, handling the play-by-play duties. All three will be broadcast on 107.1 FM, The Zoo, unless a conflict with women's basketball forces them to be moved to 98.1 FM, WXMI. All three games also will be on SouthernMiss.com.
The Golden Eagles (9-3) enter the weekend series after splitting a two-game series at Louisiana-Monroe. The Indians won Tuesday's game, 8-1, and the Golden Eagles won Wednesday's game, 6-2. Southern Miss has won six of its last seven games and nine of the last 11 games.
The Indians (2-5) enter the weekend series after dropping three in a row, including a 7-3 loss at Arkansas State on Tuesday. Southeast Missouri State started its season with an 8-7 win at Alabama in the first game of a three-game series, before dropping the final two games, 16-1 and 9-4. The Indians defeated Memphis, 5-0 in the first game of the weekend series, before dropping the final two games
This will mark the seventh meeting between the two schools. Southern Miss leads the series that dates back to 1993, 4-2. The two schools split a pair of games played in Cape Giradeau, Mo., in 1993. The Indians won 4-3 in the first game and Southern Miss won the second game, 4-1. The Golden Eagles took 2-of-3 at Pete Taylor Park in 1994, winning the first two games, 13-5 and 12-4, and dropping the third game, 9-8. Southern Miss won the only game played in 1995, 11-2, at home.
Friday's game will match Southern Miss' Anthony Dewitt (Jr., RHP) against Southeast Missouri State's Tim Alvarez (Sr., LHP). Dewitt is 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA in 13 innings pitched. He has given up one earned run on nine hits, struck out 10 and only walked one. Opponents are hitting .184 against him. His last start was last Friday night against Louisiana Tech. He picked up his second win of the season, pitching seven innings, giving up two runs, one earned, on six hits, walking one and striking out eight in a 6-2 victory. Alvarez is 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA in 11 innings pitched. He has given up four runs, three earned, on seven hits, walked four and struck out five. In his last outing, Alvarez pitched seven innings, giving up four hits, walking two and striking out one in the Indian's 5-0 win at Memphis.
Saturday's game will match Southern Miss' Stephen Castleman (Sr., RHP) against Southeast Missouri State's Bill Clayton (Jr., RHP). Castleman is 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA in 18 innings pitched. He has giving up nine runs on 22 hits, walked eight and struck out a team-high 17 batters. His last outing was last Sunday against Louisiana Tech, where he received a no-decision after pitching seven innings, giving up four runs on eight hits, walking three and striking out six. Clayton is 0-1 with a 19.29 ERA in 2.1 innings pitched. He has giving up eight runs, five earned, on five hits, walked four and struck out four. His last outing was last Sunday in the Indians' 14-6 loss at Memphis. Clayton pitched two-thirds of an inning, giving up six runs, three earned, on four hits and walking one.
Southern Miss' starting pitcher for Sunday will be announced at a later date and the Indians will send Jon Nourie (So., LHP). Nourie is 0-1 with a 5.87 ERA in 7.2 innings pitched. He has giving up six runs, five earned, on five hits, walking seven and striking out three. His last outing was on Tuesday at Arkansas State. He pitched five innings, giving up one unearned run on two hits, walking three and striking out two.
Clint King continues to lead Southern Miss in hitting with a .413 batting average, along with a team-leading 15 runs scored, 19 hits and is tied for second in RBIs with 12. Brad Willcutt is hitting .367 with a team-leading nine doubles and three home runs and is tied for second on the team in RBIs with 12. Jarrett Hoffpauir is hitting .348 with three doubles and nine RBIs, and Jeff Cook (.288), is tied for second in home runs with two and leads the team in RBIs with 14.
Ray Antonelli leads the Golden Eagles pitching staff with an 0.00 ERA in 17 innings pitched. He has struck out 13 batters, walked seven and opponents are hitting only .145 against him. Austin Tubb, the team's closer, leads the team with two wins and a save, with a 3.38 ERA in 5.1 innings pitched. He has struck out seven and walked three. Bob McCrory is 2-0 with a 14.14 ERA in seven innings pitched. He has giving up 13 runs, 11 earned, on 16 hits, walked five and struck out five.
The Indians are hitting .233 with 16 extra base hits, 10 doubles, one triple and five home runs. They also have stolen 9-of-13. Justin Christian leads the Indians with a .320 batting average with a double, two home runs, four stolen bases and five RBIs. Brian Hopkins is second on the team with a .269 batting average. He has a double, a triple, a home run and has driven in five runs. Seth Moulton is hitting .259 with two RBIs and has stolen three bases.
The Golden Eagles are hitting .303 as a team with 46 extra base hits. They have a .385 on-base percentage and a .472 slugging percentage. Southern Miss has stolen 9-of-13 bases this year and has committed 18 errors in 459 chances for a .961 fielding percentage. The pitching staff has combined for a 4.54 ERA with 95 strikeouts to 50 walks. Opponents are hitting .275 off Golden Eagle pitchers.
