University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Baseball Travels To Alabama For Wednesday Game
3/9/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Baseball Travels To Alabama For Wednesday Game
HATTIESBURG, Miss. ?
Southern Miss enters the Alabama game with an 11-1 record after posting a 5-0 record over the past week. In the Cox Communications/Lake Area Classic, the Golden Eagles defeated Indiana State 3-1 on Friday, Oklahoma State 21-5 on Saturday and 6-5 in 10 innings over McNeese State on Sunday.
Alabama enters Wednesday's game with a 10-4 record after dropping 2-of-3 at the Centenary Gent Classic. The Crimson Tide lost Friday's contest to Louisiana Tech, 6-1, defeated Centenary on Saturday, 12-0, and lost 2-1 on Sunday to Kansas State.
Alabama leads the overall series with Southern Miss, 65-22, and have won the last 10 straight, dating back to 1987 when the Golden Eagles won 6-2 at Pete Taylor Park. The Golden Eagles last win in Tuscaloosa was also in 1987 when Southern Miss defeated the Tide, 12-11. Alabama Head Coach Jim Wells is 10-0 against Southern Miss, and Golden Eagle Head Coach Corky Palmer is 0-8 against Alabama.
The Golden Eagles will send sophomore righthander Daniel Best (1-1, 5.40 ERA) to the mound to face either junior righthander Andrew Walker (0-0, 4.66 ERA) or senior lefthander Jeffrey Norris (1-0, 3.18 ERA). In his last performance, Best gave up two runs, one earned on five hits in 6.2 innings in Southern Miss' 10-3 win over Louisiana-Monroe last Tuesday, walking four and striking out three. In his last outing against Southeastern Louisiana on Feb. 29, Walker pitched one-third of an inning, gave up two runs on two hits and walked two. Norris' last outing came against UAB last Tuesday. He pitched five innings, gave up two runs on three hits, walked three and struck out three in Alabama's 5-3 victory.
Southern Miss is hitting .337 with 25 doubles, five triples and 16 home runs. They have collected 229 total bases for a slugging percentage of .529 and have an on-base percentage of .424. The Golden Eagles have a .980 fielding percentage and have stolen 9-of-16 bases.
Junior shortstop Matt Shepherd leads the Golden Eagles offensively, hitting .571 with five doubles, three triples and seven RBIs. He has nine walks and has stolen five bases. Junior second baseman Jarrett Hoffpauir is second on the team with a .510 batting average, has five doubles, two home runs and a team-high 21 RBIs. Senior outfielder Ryan Frith, the Conference USA Hitter of the Week, is hitting .409 with four doubles, a team-leading five home runs and 14 RBIs. Sophomore first baseman Marc Maddox's batting average has climbed to .340 and he has three doubles, one triple, one home run and has driven in 14 runs. Freshman Jody Blount is second on the team with four home runs in 32 at bats and is second on the team with 15 RBIs.
The pitching staff is led by junior righthander Cliff Russum, who has a 3-0 record with a 0.95 ERA in 19 innings. He is tied for the team-high with 16 strikeouts, has only walked five and opponents are hitting .172 against him. Senior righthander Anthony DeWitt is 2-0 with a 2.37 ERA in 19 innings. He has struck out 16, walked six and opponents are hitting .239 against him. Freshman relief pitcher Mike Cashion has struck out 12 in 7.2 innings and opponents are hitting .043 against him. Senior relief pitcher Ray Antonelli is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA, and senior closer Austin Tubb is 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA in 7.0 innings of work, struck out 12, has one save and opponents are hitting .269 against him.
Alabama is hitting .284 with 27 doubles, two triples and 10 home runs. They have collected 192 bases for a slugging percentage of .416 and an on-base percentage of .371. The Tide has a .971 fielding percentage and has stolen 15-of-21 bases this season. Offensively, Alabama is led by junior third baseman Allen Rice, who is hitting .421 with three doubles, one triple, one home run and has a team-high 15 RBIs. Sophomore outfielder Evan Bush is hitting .366 with four doubles, three home runs and has driven in seven runs. Junior first baseman Zac Welch is hitting .333 with four doubles, one home run and has driven in eight runs. Freshman Wade LeBlanc leads the pitching staff with a 3-1 record with a 1.19 ERA in 30.1 innings pitched. He has struck out 25, walked five and opponents are hitting .150 against him. Junior Brent Carter is 3-1 with a 3.75 ERA in 24.0 innings pitched. He has struck out 18, walked four and opponents are hitting .239 against him. Senior closer Seth Johnson has earned three saves this season, has struck out 16, walked only two and opponents are hitting .167 against him. After Wednesday's game, the Golden Eagles return home for a three-game series against Eastern Illinois at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field. Friday's game starts at 6:30 p.m., Saturday's game will begin at 3 p.m., and Sunday's will start at 1 p.m.
