University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Baseball's Palmer Named Keith LeClair Coach of the Year
5/20/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Baseball's Palmer Named Keith LeClair Coach of the Year
Hattiesburg, Miss. - Southern Miss Baseball Coach Corky Palmer has been selected as the recipient of the Keith LeClair Baseball Coach of the Year Award. This award is given to the top coach in Conference USA for this year and is voted on by each school's head coach, sports information director and a member of the media. This is the first time that Palmer has been selected for this honor.
The award is named in honor of former East Carolina Head Coach Keith LeClair, who stepped down after five season as the Pirates' head coach, due to health reasons. The 35-year-old LeClair was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), better known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, in 2001.
Palmer guided the Golden Eagles to a 41-14 overall record and 23-7 mark in Conference USA play, good enough for the Conference USA regular-season championship, the first in school history. The Golden Eagles also received national rankings in all four college baseball polls and this week are ranked a school-record No. 15 in Baseball America.
This year's 41 victories improve his record at Southern Miss to 206-145 and his overall record to 615-305. In addition to his coach of the year award this year, he previously was selected for four Region 23 Coach of the Year Awards and twice was named the NJCAA Division I Diamond Sports/American Baseball Coaches Association Coach of the Year, while head coach at Meridian Community College.
The 41 wins represents the most regular-season wins in the school's history and third most wins overall. The 23 conference wins are the most by any school in the history of the league. Southern Miss won nine of 10 Conference USA series and 12 of 13 series for the overall season. The Golden Eagles had a 15-8 road record this season, setting a record for the most road wins in a season. The Golden Eagles were in first place from wire to wire.
Southern Miss led Conference USA in batting average, slugging percentage, runs, RBIs, home runs, total bases and walks in overall games. In conference only games, the Golden Eagles led in slugging percentage, on-base percentage, home runs and walks.
Southern Miss, No. 1 seed, will face No. 8 seed, Charlotte, at 12:30 p.m., at Turchin Stadium on the campus of Tulane University.
