University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Russum Named SEBaseball.com's Pitcher of the Week
3/17/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Russum Named SEBaseball.com's Pitcher of the Week
HATTIESBURG, Miss. ?
Southern Miss junior pitcher Cliff Russum has been named the Pitcher of the Week by Southeastern Baseball.com, a website designed specifically for coverage of college baseball.Russum was named a Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball, National Pitcher of the Week by NCBWA and the Conference USA Pitcher of the Week. Because of these honors, Russum has been added to the Roger Clemens Award "Watch List", honoring the best pitcher in the nation.
Russum threw the first nine-inning no-hitter in Conference USA history and sixth no-hitter in Southern Miss history on Saturday against Eastern Illinois. He struck out a career-high 15 batters and walked just three. Russum struck out 13 consecutive batters from the third inning through one out in the seventh. After giving up a walk in the seventh inning, he closed out the game by retiring the final eight batters. It was the the first nine-inning no-hitter since former Oakland Raider all-pro punter Ray Guy accomplished the feat in 1972.
In Conference USA statistics, Russum is tied for No. 1 in wins (4), No. 2 in opposing batting average (.122), No. 3 in ERA (0.64), No. 4 in batters struck out (31) and No. 8 in innings pitched (28.2).
Southern Miss start the defense of its Conference USA regular season and tournament titles this weekend with a three-game series against Houston. Friday's game starts at 6:30 p.m., Saturday's at 3 p.m., and Sunday's at 1 p.m.
