University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Baseball Opens C-USA Play With Weekend Series At UAB
3/23/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 23, 2006
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Southern Miss (17-6) travels to Birmingham, Ala., for its Conference USA opening weekend series against UAB (13-8), Friday through Sunday, March 24-26. Friday's game will be at 7 p.m., Saturday's at 2 p.m., and Sunday's at 1 p.m.
Friday's game will be broadcast on WXRR, 104.5 FM "Rock 104", while Saturday's and Sunday's game can be heard on WXHB, 96.5 FM "The Hub." All broadcasts will be anchored by veteran broadcasters John Cox and Lance Pittman.
All three Southern Miss games will feature live stats, which will be available through SouthernMiss.com by clicking the "Gametracker" link on the front page under the events section.
The weekend series marks the 65th meeting between the two teams, with Southern Miss holding the all-time edge with a 41-23 record against UAB. Southern Miss took two out of three games in 2005 against UAB in Hattiesburg. After winning Friday's game, 4-3, UAB won Saturday's game, 8-6, but Southern Miss won the series with their 8-7 victory on Sunday.
The Golden Eagles posted a 20-10 conference record last season, and are 148-163 all-time against teams currently in C-USA.
Southern Miss played two midweek games this week, defeating South Alabama on Tuesday in Hattiesburg, 7-4, and falling to Louisiana-Monroe in Monroe, La., on Wednesday, 2-1. The Golden Eagles swept Troy last weekend, winning 5-1 on Friday, 3-2 on Saturday and 6-1 on Sunday.
UAB is 1-3 in its last four games, falling most recently to No. 1 Mississippi State on Tuesday in Starkville, 10-3. In last weekend's series against North Carolina A&T, the Blazers fell in the first two games, 6-2 on Friday, and 6-5 on Saturday, before winning Sunday's game, 12-1.
Junior outfielder Toddric Johnson leads the Southern Miss offense, batting a team-best .352 with 32 hits, a team-high eight doubles, two triples, four home runs and 19 RBIs. Johnson also leads the team in total bases with 56, has stolen four bases, carries a .615 slugging percentage and has a team-best .449 on-base percentage. Sophomore Trey Sutton is batting .351 with a team-high 33 hits, four doubles, three stolen bases, one home run and eight RBIs. Freshman shortstop Brian Dozier is batting .338 with 25 hits, two doubles, a team-high four triples, six stolen bases, one home run and 16 RBIs.
UAB junior infielder Zac Ward leads the Blazer offense in batting average (.360), hits (31), RBIs (24) and total bases (43). Ward also has one double, one triple and three home runs. Junior outfielder John Wayne Donahue is batting .337 with 29 hits, seven doubles, a team-best four home runs, 22 RBIs and a team-high 48 total bases. Junior catcher Danny Sawyer is batting .318 with 27 hits, seven doubles, three stolen bases, two home runs and 21 RBIs.
Senior right-hander Scott Massey (4-0) opens the series Friday night against sophomore right-hander Heath Tapscott (2-1).
Massey holds a 4-0 record with a 2.80 ERA, pitching 35.1 innings with 19 strikeouts and nine walks. He has given up 14 runs, 11 earned, on 32 hits and opponents are hitting .241 against him. In his last start against Troy in game one of the weekend series, Massey pitched eight innings, giving up one run on six hits, striking out five and walking one to collect his fourth win of the season.
Tapscott carries a 2-1 record with a 1.61 ERA, pitching 28 innings with 21 strikeouts and 16 walks. He has given up 10 runs, five earned, on 27 hits, and opponents are hitting .260 against him. In his last start on Friday against North Carolina A&T, Tapscott pitched five innings, giving up six runs, three earned, on nine hits, striking out six and walking three to receive his first loss of the season.
Sophomore right-hander David Clark (2-0) will start against senior left-hander Lyle Northington (1-1) on Saturday.
Clark boasts a 2-0 record with a 1.59 ERA, pitching 17 innings with 21 strikeouts and four walks. He has given up three runs on 15 hits, and opponents are batting .227 against him. In Clark's last outing in the second game against Troy, he pitched five innings, giving up one run on seven hits, striking out seven and walking one.
Northington has a 1-1 record with a 5.14 ERA, pitching 28 innings with 11 strikeouts and five walks. He has given up 21 runs, 16 earned, on 43 hits, and opponents are batting .358 against him. In his last game against North Carolina A&T in game one of the doubleheader on Saturday, Northington pitched 4.1 innings, giving up six runs on 10 hits and struck out three en route to his first loss of the season.
Redshirt senior right-hander Cliff Russum (3-2) closes out the series with his start on Sunday against sophomore right-hander Jim Crew (3-0). Russum holds a 3-2 record with a 3.26 ERA, pitching 30.1 innings with 20 strikeouts and 15 walks. He has given up 11 runs on 28 hits, and opponents are hitting .243 against him. In his last appearance on Sunday against Troy, Russum pitched seven innings, allowing six hits, striking out three and walking two.
Crew has a 3-0 record with a 1.33 ERA, pitching 27 innings with 24 strikeouts and 21 walks. He has given up five runs, four earned, on 17 hits, and opponents are hitting .187 against him. In his last start against North Carolina A&T in game two of Saturday's doubleheader, Crew pitched six innings, giving up one run on two hits, striking out five and walking five.
After the weekend series against UAB, Southern Miss travels to Oxford, Miss., on Tuesday March 28 to face intrastate rival Ole Miss at 6:30 p.m., before returning home to host Memphis for a weekend series, March 31- April 2 at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field.
