University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Baseball Announces Sixth Signee of Spring Period
5/13/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Baseball Announces Sixth Signee of Spring Period
Hattiesburg, Miss. - Southern Miss Baseball Coach Corky Palmer has announced the signing of Casey Summerlin, a 6-0, 190-pound infielder from Vancleave High School in Vancleave, Miss., to a national letter of intent for the 2003-04 academic year.
?I?m excited Casey has decided to attend Southern Miss,? Palmer said. ?He?s a complete player who hits the ball well and is a good infielder. He hits for power and has solid speed. If he continues to work hard, he will have an outstanding college career at Southern Miss.?
Summerlin led Vancleave High School to a 28-5 record and an appearance in the second round of the South State Tournament this past season. He hit .479 with six home runs and drove in 42 runs. As a pitcher, he finished with an 8-2 record, a 1.22 ERA and struck out 95 batters. He was named to the 2003 South Mississippi All-Star Classic and was also selected to play in the Mississippi High School All-Star Game.
A three-time 8-4A all-district performer, he was named all-area and the team's most valuable player as a junior and participated in the Mississippi State Games as a sophomore and junior.
This marks the sixth signee of the spring signing period and ninth overall. The Golden Eagles signed Drew Carson (OF/Neville HS/Monroe, La.), Mike Cashion (RHP/Clinton, Miss./Clinton, Miss.), Christopher Matesich (SS/Germantown, Tenn/Germantown HS), Brett Hoeflich (1B-OF/Petal HS/Petal, Miss.) and Trey Cuevas (C/Oak Grove HS/Oak Grove, Miss.) during the spring signing period, and Barry Bowden (RHP/Vidalia HS/Vidalia, La.), Patrick Ezell (P/Petal HS/Petal, Miss.) and Nathan Sanders (OF/Meridian CC/Meridian, Miss.) in the fall signing period.
Southern Miss is currently 39-13 overall and 21-6 in Conference USA action, good enough for first place in the standings. The Golden Eagles are ranked No. 17 in the Baseball America and the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Poll, No. 23 in the USA Today/Baseball Weekly Coaches Poll and No. 24 in Collegiate Baseball.
Southern Miss faces Houston in the final series of the regular season at Cougar Field (3,500) this weekend. Thursday and Friday's games begin at 7 p.m., CT, and the series finale begins at 1 p.m., on Saturday.
