University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Golden Eagle Baseball Begins 2004 Practice
1/26/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Golden Eagle Baseball Begins 2004 Practice
Hattiesburg, Miss. - The 2004 baseball season officially opened today as the Golden Eagles practiced for about three hours at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field in preparation for the Feb. 20, season opener against Northwestern (La.) at 3 p.m. This week, practice will run from 2:30 - 5:30 p.m., each day at "The Pete" and will be open to the public.
"We are excited about the start of practice," Head Coach Corky Palmer, the 2003 Keith LeClair Conference USA Coach of the Year, said. "The players worked hard during the conditioning period and now everyone is ready to get started.
"Last year, the team won the conference regular season and tournament titles, we hosted the regional and enjoyed a successful season. The players know what it takes to be successful and now want to repeat as champions and advance to their second-straight NCAA Regional.
"In order for us to take our program to the level we all want, we have to consistently win conference championships and go to the NCAA Regionals."
Southern Miss returns 17 letterwinners from last year?s team (47-16), including six position starters (Marc Maddox - 1B, Jarrett Hoffpauir - 2B, Matt Shepherd - SS, Beau Griffin - 3B, Brad Willcutt - C, Jason Lowery - LF), two starting pitchers (Anthony DeWitt, Cliff Russum) and the entire bullpen (John Nicholas, Ray Antonelli, Austin Tubb, Noah Tritz, Daniel Best). Seven redshirt freshman and reserves from last year?s team will try to break into the lineup, along with 13 newcomers.
"We are really excited about being out here," Willcutt, a 2004 preseason All-American said. "We have been working out all fall and getting our system put in place. We have almost a month until the season starts so we are excited. We should have a good year this year due to us having a lot of veterans back from last year's champioship team."
Leading the Golden Eagles into the 2004 season will be Willcutt (.325, 20 2b, 12 HR, 61 RBIs), Hoffpauir (.307, 13 2b, 10 HR, 53 RBIs), Shepherd (.296, 10 2b, 4 3b, 3 HR, 32 RBIs), Griffin (.253, 4 2B, 1 HR, 20 RBIs), Maddox (.336, 12 2b, 5 HR, 23 RBIs) and Lowery (.322, 11 2B, 2 HR, 28 RBIs).
The pitching staff will be led by senior starter DeWitt (8-2, 3.31 ERA, 89.2IP, 50K, 19 BB), Tubb (3-2, 1.45 ERA, 31 IP, 30K, 9 BB, .196 opponents BA), Antonelli (4-0, 2.14 ERA, 59IP, 60K, 23 BB, .201 opponents BA), Russum (8-5, 3.31 ERA, 87IP, 50K, 19BB, .192 opponent?s BA) and Nicholas (4-1, 2.45 ERA, 33 IP, 23K, 12BB).
For Golden Eagle baseball ticket information, call the Southern Miss Ticket Office at 1-800-844-TICK.
