University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Baseball Hosts New Orleans On Tuesday
4/14/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Baseball Hosts New Orleans On Tuesday
Hattiesburg, Miss. - The Southern Miss baseball team will host UNO for a midweek contest at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field (3,678) on Tues., Apr. 15, at 6:30 p.m.
The game will be broadcast on Zoo 107.1-FM with Lance Pittman and John Cox handling the play-by-play duties. For those outside of Hattiesburg, the game can be heard by logging onto SouthernMiss.com.
The Golden Eagles (26-10) enters Tuesday's contest after winning 2-of-3 games against Charlotte this past weekend. Charlotte won Friday's game, 8-5, and Southern Miss won Saturday's, 6-2, and Sunday's 10-8. Southern Miss has won seven of its past 10 games and 17 of its last 24 games, dating back to the start of the Southeast Missouri State series on Mar. 7.
The Privateers (17-18) enter the contest after winning 2-of-3 games against New Mexico State in New Orleans last weekend. New Mexico State won Friday's game, 4-3, and UNO won both Saturday's game, 13-7, and Sunday's game 9-8. UNO has lost 12 of its past 18 games, dating back to a two-game midweek series with Mississippi State on Mar. 11.
This marks the 80th meeting between the two schools in a series that began in 1970. The Privateers hold a 45-34 series advantage over the Golden Eagles. Southern Miss Head Coach Corky Palmer is 8-6 against UNO and is 3-3 against Privateer Head Coach Randy Bush.
Southern Miss is hitting .316 with 78 doubles, nine triples and 44 home runs. The pitching staff has a 4.16 ERA in 318 innings, has struck out 281 batters, walked 135 and opponents are hitting .269 against the staff. New Orleans is hitting .282 with 56 doubles, 10 triples and 18 home runs. The pitching staff has a 4.96 ERA in 303 innings, has struck out 276, walked 137 and opponents are hitting .270 against them.
Southern Miss will send Cliff Russum (So., RHP) to the mound to face UNO's Josh Euper (Fr., LHP). Russum is 4-4 with a 3.48 ERA in 51.2 innings pitched. He has given up 22 runs, 20 earned, on 29 hits, walked 24 and struck out 56. Opponents are hitting only .161 against him. In his last outing, he pitched a complete-game victory against Ole Miss last Wednesday night. He gave up two runs on four hits, walked two and struck out 10. In his last three outings, he has pitched three complete games, giving up three runs on 10 hits, walking seven and striking out 32.
Euper is 1-1 with a 7.04 ERA in 23.0 innings pitched. He has given up 19 runs, 18 earned, on 24 hits, walked 16 and struck out 19. Opponents are hitting .289 against him. His last start was last Wednesday night against Tulane. He dropped his first decision against the Green Wave, pitching 2.2 innings, giving up four runs on three hits, walking three and striking three.
Sophomore outfielder Clint King continues to lead the Golden Eagles offense, hitting .399 with 11 doubles and is tied for the team lead with 12 home runs. He also has 40 RBIs and six stolen bases. Senior outfielder Jeff Cook is tied with King for the home run lead and leads the team in RBIs with 43. He is hitting .366, has five doubles and leads the team in stolen bases with 11. Sophomore catcher Brad Willcutt is hitting .328 with a team-leading 16 doubles and has seven home runs to his credit.
Sophomore outfielder Joe Pietro leads the Privateers, hitting .433 with six doubles, two triples, 10 RBIs and nine stolen bases. Senior outfielder Gabe Treviso is hitting .336 with seven doubles, seven home runs and 34 RBIs. Junior catcher Mike Nuckles is hitting .306 with four doubles, one triple, one home runs and 14 RBIs. Sophomore infielder Chris Adams is hitting .304 with five doubles, one home run and 13 RBIs.
After Tuesday's game, the Golden Eagles travels to Memphis for a three-game Conference USA weekend series. Friday's game starts at 7 p.m., Saturday's at 2 p.m., and Sunday's game at 1 p.m.
