University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Baseball Hosts Southeastern Louisiana On Wednesday
4/29/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Baseball Hosts Southeastern Louisiana On Wednesday
Hattiesburg, Miss. - The (No. 19 BA/No. 20 NCBWA/No. 21 CB/No. 25 Coaches Poll) Southern Miss baseball team, winners of four games in a row, will look to extend its streak to five games when Southeastern Louisiana comes to Hattiesburg, Miss., for a midweek contest at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field (3,678) on Wed., Apr. 30, 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 (34-11) enter Wednesday's contest after sweeping UAB this past weekend at home. Southern Miss won Friday's game, 6-3, Saturday's game, 6-3, and Sunday's 2-1. Southern Miss has won 10 of its last 11 games, 16 of 20 and 25 of 33, dating back to the start of the Southeast Missouri State series on Mar. 7.
The Lions (14-27) enter the contest after splitting their last 10 games, including dropping 2-of-3 games to McNeese State this past weekend. McNeese State won Friday's game, 3-1, and Saturday's game, 10-3, and Southeastern Louisiana won Sunday's game, 7-6. Since the two schools met on Apr. 2, the Lions have won seven of 16 games during that time.
This marks the 105th meeting between the two schools in a series that began in 1948. Southern MIss holds a 63-41 series advantage, having won three in a row. Southern Miss Head Coach Corky Palmer is 5-3 against the Lions.
Southern Miss is hitting .320 with 99 doubles, 11 triples and 55 home runs. The pitching staff has a 3.84 ERA in 398 innings, has struck out 340 batters, walked 170 and opponents are hitting .263 against the staff. Southeastern Louisiana is hitting .275 with 78 doubles, 10 triples and 29 home runs. The pitching staff has a 7.26 ERA in 346 innings, has struck out 227, walked 128 and opponents are hitting .335 against them.
Southern Miss will send Cliff Russum (So., RHP) to the mound to face Southeastern Louisiana's Mark Weinmunson (Jr., LHP). Russum is 5-5 with a 3.53 ERA in 63.2 innings pitched. He has given up 28 runs, 25 earned, on 41 hits, walked 30 and struck out 62. Opponents are hitting only .181 against him. In his last outing, he pitched five innings, giving up four runs, three earned, on six hits, walking three and striking out three. Russum picked up the win at Southeastern Louisiana on Apr. 2, pitching a complete game, giving up one run on three hits, walking three and striking out nine.
Weinmunson is 3-5 with a 7.35 ERA in 52.2 innings pitched. He has given up 50 runs, 43 earned, on 81 hits, walking 22 and striking out 26. Opponents are hitting .352 against him. In his last outing, he pitched four innings at McNeese State, giving up six runs on nine hits and walking one.
Sophomore outfielder Clint King continues to lead the Golden Eagles offense, hitting .398 with 15 doubles, one triple and 15 home runs. He also has 50 RBIs and seven stolen bases. Senior outfielder Jeff Cook leads the team in home runs (17), RBIs (58) and stolen bases (12). He is hitting .377, has nine doubles and leads the team in runs scored with 48. Sophomore outfielder Jason Lowery is hitting .358 with seven doubles, two home runs and 20 RBIs, and sophomore catcher Brad Willcutt is hitting .345 with a team-leading 18 doubles and has seven home runs to his credit.
Junior infielder Anthony Garibaldi leads the Lions, hitting 375 with nine doubles, three triples, 13 home runs and has 40 RBIs. Junior outfielder Jeff Janzen is hitting .344 with 17 doubles, two triples, four home runs and 35 RBIs. Senior outfielder Robert Larsen is hitting .327 with eight doubles, two home runs and 22 RBIs.
After Wednesday's game, the Golden Eagles travel to Greenville, N.C., for a three-game Conference USA weekend series against East Carolina. Friday's game starts at 6 p.m., Saturday's at Noon, and Sunday's at 11:30 a.m.
