University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Baseball Hosts UAB For Three-Game Conference USA Weekend
4/25/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Baseball Hosts UAB For Three-Game Conference USA Weekend
Hattiesburg, Miss. -The Southern Miss baseball team will host UAB in a weekend Conference USA series (April 25-27) at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field (3,678). Friday?s game is set for 6:30 p.m., while the Saturday and Sunday games are set for 4 p.m. and 1 p.m. respectively.
The game will be broadcast on Zoo 107.1-FM with Lance Pittman handling the play-by-play duties. For those outside of Hattiesburg, the game can be heard by logging onto SouthernMiss.com.
The (No. 21 BA/No. 22 NCBWA/No. 22 Collegiate Baseball/No. 27 Coaches Poll) Golden Eagles (31-11, 14-4 Conference USA) enter the weekend series after splitting two games at Mississippi State this past Tuesday and Wednesday. Mississippi State won the opener on Tuesday night by a score of 6-4. Southern Miss rebounded the next night taking the series finale 5-2. The Golden Eagles have won seven out of their last eight games. The Golden Eagles have also won 17 of the past 21 games and 22 of the last 29 games. Southern Miss reached the 30-win plateau in only 40 games, a school-record, and has won 30 or more games in 17 of the past 18 years.
The Blazers enter the weekend series after dropping their last 12-straight games. Their last win came on March 30, against Memphis. UAB suffered a 12-1 loss this past Wednesday night at Alabama.
This marks the 54th meeting between the two schools in a series that began in 1980. The Eagles lead the series, 32-21, with Southern Miss winning 10 of the previous 13 contests. The Golden Eagles hold a 12-1 series advantage over the Blazers at Pete Taylor Park. Southern Miss Head Coach Corky Palmer is 11-6 against UAB in his tenure at Southern Miss.
On Friday, Southern Miss will send junior righthander Bob McCrory to face UAB righthander Lucas Trotter. McCrory is 6-2 with a 5.13 ERA in 47.1 innings pitched. He has struck out 51 batters, walked 29 and opponents are hitting .307 against him. In his last outing against Memphis last Friday, he pitched seven innings, giving up three runs (one earned) on six hits, walking four and striking out 12. Trotter is 3-2 with a 3.51 ERA in 47.1 innings pitched. He has struck out 68, walked 17 and opponents are hitting .209 against him. In his last outing, he pitched one inning in an 11-8 loss to the Tulane Green Wave, giving up seven runs (six earned) on six hits and striking out one.
On Saturday, Southern Miss will send junior righthander Anthony Dewitt to the mound to face UAB senior lefthander Jon Burgett. Dewitt has a record of 6-1 on the year. His last outing came last Saturday at Memphis, where he gave up four runs, while striking out one and walked four in 5.1 innings of work. Burgett has a record of 4-2 on the year with an ERA of 3.99. He has 26 strikeouts and walked 19. Burgett?s last outing came last Saturday against Tulane, where he gave up five runs (four earned) in 4.2 innings of work.
Sunday?s game features the Golden Eagles? senior righthander Stephen Castleman and UAB Senior righthander Scott Gibson. Castleman is 4-1 with 5.06 ERA in 58.2 innings of work. He has struck out 47, while walking 19. In his last outing Sunday against Memphis, he pitched 5.2 innings, giving up three earned runs and striking out six, while walking one. Gibson is 5-1 on the season with a team leading 2.17 ERA. He has walked nine and struck out 35 batters. Gibson?s last outing was last Sunday against Tulane. He pitched 4.2 innings, giving up two earned runs and striking out two, while walking one.
The Golden Eagles are hitting .323 with 93 doubles, 11 triples and 54 home runs. Southern Miss has a .398 on-base percentage and a .511 slugging percentage. The Golden Eagles pitching staff has combined for a 4.03 ERA in 371 innings pitched. They have struck out 321 batters, walked 156 and opponents are hitting .267 off of the staff. They also have collected 13 saves this season, surpassing last year's mark of nine.
Sophomore outfielder Clint King, currently on an 10-game hitting streak, is leading the Golden Eagles, hitting .410 with 14 doubles, one triple, 14 home runs and 45 RBIs. He is second on the team with seven stolen bases, has an on-base percentage of .460 and a slugging percentage of .759. Senior outfielder Jeff Cook, currently on a 14-game hitting streak, is second on the team with a .376 batting average. He has hit a team-high 17 home runs, 56 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. He also has eight doubles, three triples, an on-base percentage of .442 and a slugging percentage of .751. Sophomore outfielder Sophomore catcher Brad Willcutt is hitting .350 with a team-leading 17 doubles, seven home runs and 36 RBIs. Jason Lowery is hitting .333 with five doubles, two home runs and 19 RBIs.
Juniors Anthony DeWitt and Bob McCrory lead the Golden Eagles with six wins. Juniors Ray Antonelli and Austin Tubb lead the team with five saves each. Antonelli is 3-0 with a 1.97 ERA, and Tubb is 2-0 with a 1.42 ERA. McCrory is second on the team with 51 strikeouts, senior Stephen Castleman has 47 and Antonelli has 47. Opponents are only hitting .164 off of Tubb and .206 off of Antonelli.
The Blazers are hitting .284 with 46 doubles, 3 triples and 30 home runs. They have stolen 70-of-92 bases, have an on-base percentage of .371 and a slugging percentage of .394. The pitching staff has displayed a 4.18 ERA in 342.1 innings. They have struck out 297 and walked 154. Opponents are hitting .246 off of the staff.
Senior leftfielder Mitch Jones leads the Blazers with a .370 batting average with four doubles, three home runs and 23 RBIs. Senior right fielder Kyle Leon is hitting .367 with four doubles, one triple, eight home runs and a team-leading 41 RBI?s. Junior first baseman Daniel Hill is hitting .355 with eight doubles, one triple, one homerun and 35 RBI?s. Junior centerfielder Steve Martin is hitting .304 with seven doubles, one homerun and 13 RBI?s.
Senior righthander Scott Gibson leads the Blazer pitching staff with a 5-1 record and a 2.17 ERA in 54 innings. He has struck out 35, walked nine and opponents are hitting .218 against him. Relief pitcher Jeff Brown is 3-2, and has a 3.62 ERA in 32.1 innings. He has struck out 21, walked 17 and opponents are hitting .312 against him.
After the weekend series, the Golden Eagles host Southeastern Louisiana on Wednesday. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m.
