Three Golden Eagles Selected In Major League Baseball Draft
6/7/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Three Golden Eagles Selected In Major League Baseball Draft
Jarrett Hoffpauir |
Matt Shepherd |
Ryan Frith |
HATTIESBURG, Miss. ? Southern Miss' Jarrett Hoffpauir (6th round), Matt Shepherd (8th round) and Ryan Frith (17th round) were selected today, during the first day of the Major League Baseball draft. Hoffpauir (Pick No. 180) and Shepherd (Pick No. 240) were selected by the St. Louis Cardinals, and Frith (Pick No. 512) was picked by the Philadelphia Phillies.
Hoffpauir had one of the finest if not the finest season ever by a Golden Eagle. He has been named first-team All-Conference USA, the C-USA all-tournament team, the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional All-Tournament team, second-team All-American by USA Today/Sports Weekly and third-team All-American by TPX/Louisville Slugger. He was a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy and the Golden Spikes Award, given to the top collegiate player in the nation.
He had a team-leading .405 batting average, scored 62 runs, had a school-record 109 hits, tied for the team lead with 27 doubles, hit two triples, 11 home runs, a school-record 92 RBIs, a school-record 12 sacrifice flies and was walked 20 times. In the field, he finished with only six errors for the season in 332 fielding chances (.982) and helped turn 52 double plays.
Hoffpauir only struck out eight times for the season, which equates to one strikeout every 38.25 plate appearances. He produced a run every 3.3 plate appearances and committed an error in the field once in every 55.3 chances.
Shepherd, a third-team TPX Louisville Slugger All-American, hit .378 with 104 hits, 27 doubles, six triples, scored 74 runs and drove in 41 runs. He finished with 149 total bases for the year for a .542 slugging percentage and had a .449 on-base percentage. He finished with 32 multiple-hit games and nine multiple-RBI games. He had 89 putouts, 191 assists and helped turn 50 double plays. Shepherd was named a first-team All-Conference USA honoree and was selected to the Conference USA All-Tournament team. He had a long hitting streak of 12 games and was named Conference USA Hitter of the Week once. His top performance came against TCU when he went 6-for-6 with two doubles, three runs scored and five RBIs
Frith, a second-team USA Today/Sports Weekly and TPX/Louisville Slugger All-American, hit .341 for the year with 85 hits, 15 doubles, 22 home runs, scored 59 runs and drove in 63 runs.He finished with 166 total bases for a .667 slugging percentage and had a .419 on-base percentage. He finished with 111 putouts, six assists and had a fielding percentage of .967.
Frith had 22 multiple-hit games and 16 multiple-RBI games. His top performance was against then-No. 28 Oklahoma State, when he finished with four hits, including a double, a home run, four runs scored and drove in four runs. He also was a first-team All-Conference USA performer and was named to the Conference USA All-Tournament team. He was named Conference USA and National Hitter of the Week once and was listed as a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy, signifying the top collegiate baseball player.