Bash Boys Named ABCA All-Americans
6/16/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Bash Boys Named ABCA All-Americans
Hattiesburg, Miss. - Southern Miss outfielders Jeff Cook and Clint King have been named All-Americans by the American Baseball Coaches Association, today. The duo, nicknamed the Southern Miss "Bash Boys", has collected first-team All-Conference USA honors, All-Conference USA Tournament honors (King was named MVP), All-NCAA Regional Tournament Honors, ABCA All-South Region First-Team 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 first team selection, joined Cook, a third team choice, to form USM?s version of the ?Bash Brothers.? King and Cook were the top two home run producers in Conference USA, with both players matching the school record with 23 homers this season. King closed out his 203 campaign ranked in the school?s single-season Top 10 in batting average (6th at .394), slugging percentage (3rd at .772), doubles (tied for 5th at 23) and RBI (4th with 77). Cook batted .374 for the season with 76 RBI and a .728 slugging percentage (both fifth on USM?s single-season charts).
King, a Verizon Third-Team Academic All-American, was among three players from Conference USA that earned first-team honors, along with Tulane's Michael Aubrey and Houston's Ryan Wagner. Cook, the Conference USA Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, was the only other selection from Conference USA.
King and Cook were 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 led 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 led 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).