Baseball Set For Conference USA Weekend Series at Louisville

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Series Notes

Baseball Set For Conference USA Weekend Series at Louisville

HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- The No.34-ranked Southern Miss baseball team, coming off a midweek series against No. 26-ranked Mississippi State, will travel to Louisville, Ky., for a three-game Conference USA weekend series against the Louisville Cardinals at Patterson Stadium (2,500).

All three games will be broadcast on WMXI-98.1 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 from there. LiveStats will be available by clicking the LiveStats icon on the baseball homepage.

The series will mark the 60th meeting between the two teams, with Southern Miss leading the all-time series 41-18. The series will also be the final regular season meeting between the two teams, as Louisville will depart Conference USA and join the Big East Conference beginning in the fall. Last season, the Golden Eagles swept the Cardinals in a three-game series in Hattiesburg, Miss., winning 5-4 on Friday, 15-6 on Saturday, and 3-2 on Sunday.

Southern Miss Head Coach Corky Palmer is 14-9 in his career against the Cardinals, while Louisville Head Coach Lelo Prado is 11-17 against the Golden Eagles.

Southern Miss (29-12, 11-7 Conference USA) is coming off of a weekend that saw them go 1-2, dropping 2-of-3 to the No. 1 ranked Tulane Green Wave in a three-game Conference USA home series. The Golden Eagles fell in games one and two, 18-4 and 11-2, but bounced back on Sunday to a 10-0 win halted after seven innings due to the conference 10-run Sunday mercy rule. In Sunday?s victory, junior pitcher Brad Owen threw a complete game shutout, allowing only three hits in seven innings, handing the Green Wave their first shutout loss of the season and giving Southern Miss their first shutout victory of the year. The win also marked the first time since May 17, 1991, that the Golden Eagles have defeated a team that was ranked No. 1 in the nation (Florida State, 3-1). After the weekend series, Southern Miss sits at third place in the Conference USA standings.

The Golden Eagles then traveled to Starkville, Miss., to face the No. 26-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs in two midweek non-conference games, and split the series, losing on Tuesday night 5-4 then coming back on Wednesday with a 6-1 win.

Louisville (22-16, 9-8 C-USA) enters the weekend after going 4-1 over the last week. The Cardinals took 2-of-3 from Saint Louis over the weekend on the road, winning on Friday 19-4, then fell on Saturday 4-1 before jumping back to claim the series on Sunday with a 19-13 victory. On Monday night, Louisville defeated Western Kentucky 9-8 at home, and then grabbed another home win on Wednesday against Murray State, 6-3. The Cardinals sit tied for sixth place with Houston in the Conference USA standings.

Southern Miss is scheduled to send sophomore right-hander Patrick Ezell to the mound on Friday to face the Cardinals B.J. Rosenberg.

Ezell is 5-2 with a 6.22 ERA, having pitched 55 innings in 11 appearances and 10 starts for the Golden Eagles. He has allowed 44 runs (38 earned) on 77 hits, struck out 43 and walked 13, and opponents are batting .325 against him. In his last appearance against Tulane on Saturday, Ezell pitched six innings, giving up seven runs (five earned) on eight hits, striking out four and walking two.

Rosenberg is 4-2 on the season with a 4.08 ERA, throwing in 42.0 innings with 41 hits allowed, 23 runs, 19 earned, with 12 walks and 35 strikeouts. Opponents are hitting .252 against him on the year.

On Saturday, junior left-hander Brad Owen will take on Scott Jenkins.

Owen (2-0, 3.21), who is making his third start for the Golden Eagles, has pitched 33.2 innings in ten appearances, giving up 15 runs (12 earned) on 35 hits. He has struck out 25, walked eight, and opponents are batting .267 against him. In his last appearance against Tulane on Sunday, Owen pitched a seven-inning complete game shutout, giving up only three hits while striking out eight and walking three. Owen?s performance marked the season?s first shutout for the Southern Miss pitching staff and the first shutout loss for the No. 1-ranked Green Wave.

Jenkins has 10 appearances on the season and made one start, last Saturday against Saint Louis. He has a 4.81 ERA and a 1-1 record, pitching 33.2 innings and giving up 19 runs, 18 earned, on 38 hits with 18 walks and 22 strikeouts.

Sunday?s series closer will probably feature the Golden Eagles Matt Caire against Brian Halford.

Caire last pitched against Mississippi State on Tuesday, throwing 5.1 innings of no-decision work, allowing four runs on six hits with one walk and seven strikeouts. For the season, Caire is 5-3 with a 5.28 ERA in 10 appearances, six starts. He has 42 strikeouts to just 12 walks, and opponents are hitting .285 against him.

Halford also made the first start of the season against Saint Louis, but has 20 appearances on the year. He has a 2-1 record and a 5.06 ERA in 32.0 innings pitched, allowing 20 runs, 18 earned, on 34 hits with 19 walks and 24 strikeouts.

Southern Miss is currently batting .314 as a team with 92 doubles, six triples, 44 home runs and 295 RBIs. The pitching staff has an ERA of 4.93 with 315 strikeouts and 135 walks.

Junior first baseman Marc Maddox once again leads the offense for the Golden Eagles. Maddox is batting .364 with 60 hits, 11 doubles, 11 home runs and 41 RBIs. He also leads the team in stolen bases with 12, and leads Conference USA in runs scored with 51. Senior third baseman Beau Griffin is hitting .351 with a team-high 61 hits and 14 doubles, one triple, two home runs, and 39 RBIs, while senior catcher Brad Willcutt is batting .340 with 55 hits, 13 doubles, a team-high 12 home runs and 58 RBIs. Willcutt?s 12 homers and 58 RBIs also are currently the highest in Conference USA, and his career RBI total of 212 and career doubles total of 64 are the highest in Southern Miss baseball history. Freshman second baseman Trey Sutton is batting .339 from the plate with 57 hits, eight doubles, two triples, five home runs, and 30 RBIs, while senior centerfielder Jason Lowery is hitting .329 with 57 hits, 12 doubles, one triple, three home runs and 34 RBIs.

Louisville is currently batting .282 as a team with 72 doubles, eight triples, 21 home runs and 220 RBIs. The pitching staff has an ERA of 4.83 with 242 strikeouts and 137 walks.

J.T. LaFountain currently leads the Cardinals with a .357 average, while also ranking tops in hits (51), doubles (11), home runs (7) and RBIs (36). Logan Johnson follows with a .354 batting average, to go along with 35 hits, 11 doubles, two home runs and 25 RBIs. Boomer Whiting is batting .340 and has 50 hits, seven doubles, three home runs and 19 RBIs.

Following the weekend series at Louisville, the Golden Eagles will travel to Jackson, Miss., for two midweek non-conference games at Smith-Wills Stadium. Southern Miss will face Louisiana-Monroe on Tuesday night and Southeastern Louisiana on Wednesday night, with both contests scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. The Eagles will then return home to Hattiesburg to host the UAB Blazers for a three-game Conference USA weekend home series. Friday?s game will begin at 6:30 p.m., Saturday?s at 4 p.m., and Sunday?s at 1 p.m., and Sunday?s at 1 p.m.

University of Southern Mississippi Athletics

Baseball Set For Conference USA Weekend Series at Louisville

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