University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Baseball Hosts Arkansas State For Three-Game Weekend Series
3/9/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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Arkansas State Notes
Baseball Hosts Arkansas State For Three-Game Weekend Series
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The University of Southern Mississippi (9-3) baseball team will host the Arkansas State Indians (13-3) for a three-game series, this weekend, at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field (3,678). Friday?s game will start at 6:30 p.m., while the Saturday and Sunday contests will both begin at 1 p.m.
All three games will be broadcast on WKNZ-107.1 FM, with Lance Pittman and John Cox providing the play-by-play. The broadcast also will be available online by going to SouthernMiss.com, clicking on the Audio/Video link, and going to the baseball schedule. LiveStats also will be available by clicking the LiveStats icon on the baseball homepage.
Southern Miss (9-3) lost 9-1 on Tuesday to intrastate foe and nationally-ranked Ole Miss in Oxford. Last weekend, the Golden Eagles participated in Lamar?s Cardinal Classic and faired better, claiming the championship after defeating UNC Wilmington, 16-4, on Friday, Indiana State, 2-1, on Saturday, and Lamar, 5-2, on Sunday, in Beaumont, Texas.
Arkansas State is on a three-game winning streak after grabbing two of three against Wisconsin-Milwaukee this past weekend, and blasting South Dakota State, 14-1, on Tuesday. The two other losses for the Indians this season have been against Ole Miss, 10-0, and Louisiana-Monroe, 11-3. This weekend?s games, the last non-conference weekend series for the Golden Eagles, will mark the first time the two schools have met.
Southern Miss is led offensively by senior third baseman Beau Griffin. Griffin is batting .347 with 17 hits, three doubles, one triple, one home run, and 10 RBIs. Redshirt freshman leftfielder Drew Carson is .341 from the plate, with 15 hits, one double, one home run, and seven RBIs, while freshman second baseman Trey Sutton is hitting .333 with 16 hits, two doubles, a team-high two triples, four RBIs, and three stolen bases.
The offense for Arkansas State is currently led by junior second baseman Brett Kinning, who is batting .441 with 26 hits, four doubles, one triple, one home run, and 11 RBIs. Kinning also leads the team in stolen bases with seven. Senior first baseman Geoff Desmond is hitting .391 with 25 hits, four doubles, and has a team-high four home runs and 22 RBIs. Senior shortstop Chris Rich is .302 from the plate, with 19 hits, a team-high six doubles, one home run, and 15 RBIs.
Friday?s pitching matchup will pit Golden Eagle sophomore righthander Patrick Ezell against Indian junior righthander Tyler Goodwin. Ezell is 2-0 with a 3.20 ERA. He has pitched 19.2 innings, given up 11 runs (seven earned) on 26 hits, struck out 16, and walked three. Opponents are batting .310 against him. In his last outing against UNC Wilmington last Friday, he picked up his second win of the season, pitching six innings, giving up four runs, two earned, on eight hits, walked two and struck out six batters.
Goodwin is 2-1 with a 1.57 ERA, having given up five runs (four earned) on 19 hits in 23 innings of play. He has struck out 15, walked four, and opponents are hitting .224 against him. In his last outing against Louisiana-Monroe on Feb. 27, he pitched a complete-game seven hitter. He didn?t walk any and struck out seven batters.
Junior lefthander Cole Basinger will take the mound on Saturday against Arkansas State junior lefthander Taylor Fowler. Basinger (1-0, 5.30) has pitched 18.2 innings, giving up 11 earned runs on 24 hits, and has struck out 17 and walked six. Opponents are batting .316 against him. He had his best performance of the season against Indiana State last Saturday. He picked up his first win of the season, pitching eight innings, giving up one run on seven hits, walking three and striking out eight.
Fowler (2-1, 4.32) has thrown 25 innings in three appearances for the Indians. He has given up 16 runs (12 earned) on 21 hits, struck out 18, walked 13, and opponents are hitting .233 against him. In Fowler?s last outing against Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Saturday, he pitched 6.2 innings and gave up three runs, two earned on seven hits, walked two and struck out four.
Sunday?s contest will feature sophomore righthander Mike Cashion against Indian senior righthander Blake Ring. Cashion is 1-1 with a 3.43 ERA, having given up eight runs on 18 hits in 21 innings of play. He leads the team in strikeouts with 22, has walked three, and opponents are batting .240 against him. Cashion?s last outing was against Lamar on Sunday, where he received a no-decision, after pitching seven innings, giving up two runs on six hits, walking two and striking out four.
Ring is 2-1 with a 3.42 ERA, having given up 12 runs (nine earned) on 28 hits in 23.2 innings. He has struck out 16, walked five, and opponents are batting .283 against him. His last outing was against Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Sunday. He dropped his first decision of the season, pitching 7.1 innings, giving up five runs, two earned, on 10 hits and struck out eight batters.
Following the weekend series, The Eagles travel to Monroe, La., for a midweek contest against Louisiana-Monroe. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Southern Miss will then travel to Forth Worth, Texas, to face TCU in the first weekend series of conference play. Friday?s game will begin at 7 p.m., Saturday?s at 2 p.m., and Sunday?s contest will start at 1 p.m.
