University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Baseball Hosts Nationally-Ranked Ole Miss Tuesday Night
3/22/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Baseball Hosts Nationally-Ranked Ole Miss Tuesday Night
HATTIESBURG, Miss. ? Winners of 14 of their last 16 games, the (No. 16 BA/No. 16 Coaches Poll/No. 17 NCBWA/No. 23 CB) Southern Miss Golden Eagles will take on (No. 5 CB/No. 8 BA/No. 9 Coaches Poll/No. 10 NCBWA) Ole Miss Rebels Tuesday night at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.
This marks the 103rd meeting between the two schools with Ole Miss leading the series, 66-36. The Rebels have won six of the last 10 meetings, dating back to 1999. The two teams have split the series every year since 1999 except for the 2001 season, where Ole Miss won both meetings. Last year, Ole Miss won the first meeting in Oxford, 6-3, on March 26, and Southern Miss won the game in Hattiesburg on April 9, 8-2.
Southern Miss, (17-3, 2-1 Conference USA), just completed a Conference USA three-game weekend series win over Houston (8-3, 10-6, 4-3), including Sunday's come-from-behind victory where the Golden Eagles scored a run in the eighth and one in the ninth inning to complete the comeback.
Ole Miss, (18-1), is coming off a Southeastern Conference weekend series sweep over Vanderbilt. The Rebels won Friday's game 5-4, Saturday's 6-5 and Sunday's 3-1 and currently are on a seven-game winning streak. Ole Miss opened its season with 11-straight wins, including series sweeps over Birmingham Southern, at South Alabama, Southeast Missouri State and Eastern Illinois. Arkansas State gave Ole Miss its first loss on March 10, and since that time the Rebels have won seven-straight, including a series sweep over Nicholls State, a midweek win at Memphis and the series sweep over Vanderbilt.
Ole Miss is scheduled to pitch sophomore lefthander Eric Fowler, who is 2-0 with a 6.41 ERA. In six appearances, (three starts), Fowler has pitched 19.2 innings, has given up 14 runs on 20 hits, struck out 18 and walked six. The Golden Eagles are scheduled to start sophomore righthander Daniel Best, who is 1-2 with an ERA of 6.88. In five appearances, (four starts), Best has given up 13 earned runs on 19 hits in 17 innings. He has struck out 13 and walked nine.
Jarrett Hoffpauir leads the Golden Eagles in hitting, posting a .442 batting average. In 86 at bats, the junior second baseman has 38 hits, including eight doubles, three home runs and 30 RBIs. He has 55 total bases for a slugging percentage of .640 and an on-base percentage of .465. Matt Shepherd is second on the team, posting a .435 batting average. In 85 at-bats, the junior shortstop has 37 hits, including eight doubles, five triples, and 10 RBIs. He has recorded 15 walks for an on-base percentage of .520. Marc Maddox has raised his batting average to .425. In 87 at bats, the sophomore first baseman has 37 hits, including six doubles, two triples, tied for the team lead in home runs with seven and leads the team with 34 RBIs. Maddox has a team-high .782 slugging percentage and a .505 on-base percentage. Senior right fielder Ryan Frith is tied with Maddox with seven home runs. He is hitting .405 in 74 at bats, including five doubles and 19 RBIs. Frith has 56 total bases for a slugging percentage of .757 and has an on-base percentage of .506.
Southern Miss is hitting .331 as a team with 42 doubles, 10 triples, 27 home runs and 162 RBIs. The pitching staff has a 3.30 ERA with opponents hitting .237 against the Golden Eagles. Junior catcher Barry Gunther leads the Rebels with a .442 batting average, including six doubles, one home runs and 12 RBIs. He has 28 total bases for a slugging percentage of .552 and a .494 on-base percentage. Sophomore first baseman Stephen Head is hitting .420 with five doubles, a team-leading eight home runs and a team-leading 32 RBIs. He also is leading the team with an .841 slugging percentage and has a .494 on-base percentage. Freshman outfielder Alex Presley is hitting .365 with six doubles, two triples, two home runs and 16 RBIs. Southern Miss returns to Conference USA action this weekend as they travel to Tampa, Fla., to face USF at Red McEwen Field. Friday's game starts at 6 p.m., Saturday's at Noon and Sunday's at 11 a.m.
