University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Baseball Travels To Jackson To Face Ole Miss Tuesday Night
4/26/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Baseball Travels To Jackson To Face Ole Miss Tuesday Night HATTIESBURG, Miss. ? The (No. 20 BA/No. 20 SW-ESPN Coaches Poll) Southern Miss Golden Eagles will travel to Jackson, Miss., to face the (No. 9 BA/No. 12 SW-ESPN Coaches Poll/No. 16 CB) Ole Miss Rebels Tuesday night at Smith-Wills Stadium (5,200), as part of the Entergy Magnolia Classic. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. Tonight's third meeting between Ole Miss and Southern Miss in 2003 marks the 105th meeting between the two schools. Southern Miss has won both meetings this season, 8-7, on March 23 in Hattiesburg and April 20, in Oxford, 8-4. However, Ole Miss still leads the series, 66-38. The Golden Eagles (30-11, 12-6) are coming off a three-game Conference USA series sweep at Tulane (17-1, 17-5 and 9-7), and the Rebels (31-11, 11-7) have lost five- consecutive games, including a SEC weekend series sweep at Georgia (7-3, 9-4 and 7-3). 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. After losing the game at Southern Miss, Ole Miss has defeated Alabama (2/3) and Mississippi State (2/3), defeated Memphis in a midweek game, before dropping two-of-three to Auburn (6-1, 1-2, 2-3). The Rebels claimed midweek wins over Mississippi State and Arkansas State, before sweeping Tennessee. Last week, Ole Miss dropped a Tuesday game against Southern Miss, Wednesday game at Arkansas State before the weekend series at Georgia. Southern Miss is scheduled to pitch senior right-hander Anthony DeWitt. DeWitt is 6-2 with an ERA of 4.89. In 49.2 innings pitched, he has given up 27 earned runs on 64 hits, struck out 38 and walked 18. Opponents are hitting .311 against him. Ole Miss will send sophomore right-hander Anthony Cupps to the mound. Cupps is 2-0 with a 3.63 ERA. He has pitched 34.2 innings this season, given up 14 earned runs on 34 hits, struck out 27 and walked 15. Opponents are hitting .248 against him. The Golden Eagles are led offensively by junior shortstop Matt Shepherd. He is hitting .411 with 18 doubles, six triples, two home runs and 31 RBIs. Junior second baseman Jarrett Hoffpauir is hitting .408 with 18 doubles, one triple, seven home runs and 61 RBIs. Senior left fielder Carlos Velasquez is hitting .344 with seven doubles, one triple, six home runs and 27 RBIs. Senior right fielder Ryan Frith is hitting .335 with 10 doubles, a team-high 15 home runs and 40 RBIs. Southern Miss, as a team, is hitting .323 with 90 doubles, 14 triples, 60 home runs and 316 RBIs. Ole Miss is led offensively by sophomore first baseman Stephen Head. He is hitting .391 with 12 doubles, one triple, 10 home runs and 46 RBIs. Catcher junior Barry Gunther is hitting .373 with nine doubles, one triple, one home run and 24 RBIs. Junior right fielder Seth Smith is hitting .316 with six doubles, one triple, five home runs and 34 RBIs. The Rebels, as a team, are hitting .311 with 89 doubles, 11 triples, 38 home runs and 277 RBIs. Tickets can be bought by calling the Smith-Wills Stadium Ticket Office at 601.362.2294. Tickets are $13 for reserved and $9 for general admission. After Tuesday night?s game, the Golden Eagles will travel to Birmingham, Ala., to face UAB in the Conference USA weekend series. Friday?s game starts at 7 p.m., Saturday?s at 2 p.m., and Sunday?s at 1 p.m.
