University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Bash Boys Named ABCA First-Team All-South Region
6/11/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Bash Boys Named ABCA First-Team All-South Region
Hattiesburg, Miss. - Southern Miss outfielders Jeff Cook and Clint King have been named First-Team All-South Region by the American Baseball Coaches Association, today. The duo, nicknamed Southern Miss' "Bash Boys" have collected first-team All-Conference USA honors, All-Conference USA Tournament honors (King was named MVP), All-NCAA Regional Tournament Honors and All-American honors from Collegiate Baseball (third team), USA Today/Baseball Weekley (first team) and the National Baseball Writers Association (King - first team, Cook - second team).
King, a Verizon Third-Team Academic All-American, and Cook, the Conference USA Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, were among three players from Conference USA that earned first-team honors, along with Tulane's Michael Aubrey. Tulane's Jon Kaplan, South Florida's Drew Ivaney and David Austen and Louisville's Carlos Fernandez were named second-team honorees.
King and Cook are the top two home run producers in Conference USA, with King smashing 23 homers, and Cook bashing 23 round-trippers after NCAA regional play. King has driven in 77 runs this season to rank fourth on USM?s single-season list, while Cook is one spot behind him with 76. King?s .394 batting average is second in C-USA, while Cook ranks fourth with a .374 average.
King leads the team in hits (100), total bases (196) and slugging percentage (.772). He has 35 multiple-hit games (24 with two hits, 10 with three hits, one with four hits) and 19 multiple-RBI games. Nationally, King currently ranks No. 8 in home runs, No. 30 in RBI and No. 43 in batting average. He took home Conference USA Tournament MVP honors after going 6-for-15 with two doubles, two home runs and five RBI to lead the Golden Eagles to the tournament title.
Cook leads the team in stolen bases (16) and runs scored (71), while posting a team-leading on-base percentage of .450 and a slugging percentage of .728. During the course of this season, he has become Southern Miss? all-time leader in hits (292), runs scored (200), home runs (50) and total bases (505), and finished second in career RBIs (201).
Southern Miss finished 47-16 overall and 23-7 in Conference USA, setting the school record for most wins in a season and the conference record for most conference wins in a season. The Golden Eagles won the Conference USA regular-season title, the tournament championship and hosted the NCAA Hattiesburg Regional Tournament this past weekend, finishing second. They also set the school record for the highest ranking (12) by Baseball America. The Golden Eagles led the conference in hitting (.318), RBIs (455), runs (497), hits (712), walks (255), sacrifice flies (34), on-base percentage (.396), slugging percentage (.516), doubles (142), home runs (89), total bases (455), saves (19) and ERA (3.56).
2003 American Baseball Coaches Association All-South Region
First Team
1B Michael Aubrey, Tulane
2B Justin Christian, SE Missouri State
SS Aaron Hill, LSU
3B Brian Buscher, South Carolina
OF Josh Anderson, Eastern Kentucky
OF Jeff Cook, Southern Miss
OF Clint King, Southern Miss
C Brian Rose, Florida
DH David Coffey, Georgia
SP David Marchbanks, South Carolina
SP Tim Alvarez, SE Missouri State
SP Paul Maholm, Mississippi State
RP Steven Register, Auburn
Second Team
1B Mike Breyman, Kentucky
2B Tug Hulett, Auburn
SS Zach Borowiak, SE Missouri State
3B Neil Sellers, Eastern Kentucky
OF Beau Hearod, Alabama
OF Jon Kaplan, Tulane
OF Ryan Patterson, LSU
C Devin Ivaney, South Florida
SP Jeremy Sowers, Vanderbilt
SP David Austen, South Florida
SP Nate Bumstead, LSU
RP Carlos Fernandez, Louisivlle
.jpg&height=340&type=webp)
