University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Baseball Hosts Southeastern Louisiana Tuesday Night
3/15/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Baseball Hosts Southeastern Louisiana Tuesday Night HATTIESBURG, Miss. ?
Southern Miss, (14-2), just completed a three-game weekend sweep of Eastern Illinois (10-3, 12-0, 11-0), including Saturday?s dramatic nine-inning no-hitter fired by Golden Eagle junior pitcher Cliff Russum, a Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week.
Southeastern Louisiana, (5-8), is coming off two losses at top-ranked LSU (7-1, 5-1) on Friday and Saturday. Its five wins have come against Indiana (three-game sweep), and Southern University (two games). Its eight losses have come against Alabama (three games), Middle Tennessee (three games), and LSU (two games).
The Lions are scheduled to pitch freshman righthander Bernard Robert, who is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA. In four appearances, (one start), Robert has pitched nine innings, has given up three earned runs on six hits, struck out six and walked six. The Golden Eagles are scheduled to start sophomore righthander Daniel Best, who is 1-2 with an ERA of 8.18. In four appearances, (three starts), Best has given up 10 earned runs on 14 hits in 11 innings. He has struck out four and walked eight.
Matt Shepherd leads the Golden Eagles in hitting, posting a .485 batting average. In 68 at-bats, the junior shortstop has 33 hits, including seven doubles, four triples, and nine RBIs. He has recorded 12 walks for an on-base percentage of .561 and has struck out only eight times. Junior second baseman Jarrett Hoffpauir is second on the team in batting average at .478. In 67 at-bats, Hoffpauir has 32 hits, including six doubles, two home runs, and 26 RBIs. He has an on-base percentage of .494, having walked six times and struck out three times. Senior right fielder Ryan Frith leads the team in home runs with six. He is hitting .414 in 58 at-bats, including four doubles and 16 RBIs. Southern Miss is hitting .337 as a team with 33 doubles, eight triples, 22 home runs and 139 RBI?s. The pitching staff has a 3.06 ERA with opponents hitting .231 against the Golden Eagles.
Junior first baseman Trent Hebert leads the Lions with a .417 batting average. In 48 at-bats, Hebert has recorded five doubles, one home run and 12 RBIs. Freshman designated hitter Colby Tyler is hitting .340 with six doubles, one home run, and seven RBIs. Senior third baseman Anthony Garibaldi is hitting .321 with three doubles, two home runs and three RBIs. The Lions are hitting .271 as a team with 27 doubles, four triples, four home runs and 57 RBI?s. Southeastern Louisiana has a team ERA of 5.65 and has posted two saves.
Southern Miss will open Conference USA play when it hosts Houston for a three-game weekend series. Friday?s game begins at 6:30 p.m., while Saturday?s and Sunday?s games will begin at 3 p.m., and 1 p.m., respectively.
