University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Baseball Eagles Set For Three-Game ECU Series
5/1/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Baseball Eagles Set For Three-Game ECU Series
HATTIESBURG, Miss. ? Southern Miss tries to protect its No. 19 (Baseball America) ranking when the Golden Eagles travel to Greenville, N.C., for a three-game, Conference USA series against East Carolina.
The two teams play Friday night at 6, Saturday at noon and Sunday at 11:30 a.m.
The Golden Eagles and Pirates have a short baseball history. ECU joined Conference USA as an all-sport member only last year, and the two teams have played only three times. Southern Miss took two of three games from the Pirates in Hattiesburg last season, winning 12-7 and 5-1, before dropping the final game of the series, 11-7.
East Carolina has compiled a 26-19-1 overall record and is 12-9 in league play. The Pirates are coming off a 6-5 loss at North Carolina State, but took two-of-three games from Louisville last weekend. Prior to the two victories at Louisville though, ECU had lost six straight times.
Southern Miss, coming off Wednesday's 11-4 victory over Southeastern Louisiana, is 35-11 and in first place in C-USA with a 17-4 mark. The Eagles now have won five in a row, and 11 of their last 12 games.
Clint King continues to lead Southern Miss at the plate with a .394 batting average. He also tops the slugging percentage category at .739. He has 71 hits in 180 at bats, including 15 doubles, one triple and 15 home runs. Teammate Jeff Cook is close behind as he continues to close in on a variety of school and conference records. Cook is currently on an 18-game hitting streak, matching his career longest, and is hitting a solid .383, with a team-best 17 home runs, 10 doubles and three triples in his team-best 72 hits. No fewer than six USM players are batting .300-plus, and, as a team, the Eagles show a .323 batting average while Southern Miss pitching is limiting opponents to a .263 average.
On the mound, eight different players have at least one victory each, while six of those have three or more. Anthony Dewitt, with a sparkling 3.34 ERA, leads the group with a 7-1 record. Bob McCrory (4.97) is close behind at 7-2, Stephen Castleman (4.61) is at 5-1 and Ray Antonelli (1.90) is unbeaten at 3-0.
The Eagles are scheduled to start McCrory in the Friday night game, DeWitt in the Saturday contest and Castleman in the weekend finale.
Darryl Lawhorn leads the Pirates at the plate with a .326 average, and ECU shows only three regular players with .300-plus averages. East Carolina is hitting .267 as a team, and opponents are at .368 through 46 games. Davey Penny leads the Pirate pitching staff with a 2.38 ERA, and his four victories (4-3) are the most on the team. That staff has put together a respectable 3.71 ERA, and seven hurlers have won multiple games.
The weekend also could be a memorable one for Southern Miss' Cook. He's currently just one hit away from tying the Eagle record for career hits. He is at 269 hits and trails only Todd Nace. He also is just one home run behind Fred Cooley (45-to-44) in career home runs, and is within striking distance in the career runs, career RBIs and total bases categories. In his last 10 games, Cook is hitting .442, with five doubles, five home runs and 15 RBIs. His slugging percentage in those 10 games is at .953, and his on-base stands at .500. He also is first in home runs, RBIs, total bases and slugging percentage in C-USA.
Following the ECU series, the Eagles will host South Florida (April 9-11) for three games and then close the regular season with a three-game series at Houston, April 15-17.
