University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Baseball Faces Nationally Ranked Mississippi State in Midweek Series
4/23/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 23, 2007
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Southern Miss baseball team travels to Starkville, Miss., to face the (No. 17 Collegiate Baseball/No. 19 NCBWA/No. 21 USA Today-Coaches Poll/ No. 22 Baseball America) Mississippi State Bulldogs at Dudy-Noble Field (7,200) on Tuesday, April 24, and Wednesday, April 25. Both games will start at 6:30 p.m.
All Southern Miss games will be carried on the radio and on-line at www.SouthernMiss.com. Wednesday's game will be carried locally on WXHB-96.5 FM. Veteran broadcasters Lance Pittman and John Cox will broadcast the game. Fans can also follow the game via GameTracker on-line at www.SouthernMiss.com.
This marks the 103 and 104th meetings between the two schools, one of Southern Miss' longest-running rivalries. Even though the Golden Eagles won three-straight games over Mississippi State dating back to 2005, the Bulldogs hold an overall 69-33 series advantage over Southern Miss. Last year, Southern Miss won both games, 13-6 and 6-3, in Hattiesburg.
The Golden Eagles (25-16, 6-9 Conference USA) finished with a 3-1 week, including a midweek win against Louisiana-Monroe, 16-4, in Hattiesburg, and then won 2-of-3 against UAB in a three-week conference weekend series, losing Friday's game, 6-1, and then winning the series with victories on Saturday, 6-4, and Sunday, 8-4.
Mississippi State (25-10, 9-7 SEC) is coming off a 2-2 week, including a midweek 14-9 win against Ole Miss, then dropped 2-of-3 at LSU over the week. They won Friday's game, 12-3, before dropping Saturday's game, 3-1 and Sunday's contest, 6-5.
Southern Miss his hitting .277 with 60 doubles, five triples and 25 home runs, while Mississippi State is hitting .338 with 76 doubles, eight triples and 29 home runs. The Golden Eagle pitching staff has posted a 3.90 ERA with 290 strikeouts, only 120 walks and opponent hitters are batting .259 against them. The Bulldogs pitching staff has posted a 5.50 ERA with 301 strikeouts, 93 walks and opponent hitters are batting .308 against them.
On Tuesday, Southern Miss will send freshman right-hander Jared Cavenaugh to the mound to face Mississippi State freshman left-hander Tyler Whitney.
Cavenaugh has a 2-0 record with a 6.25 ERA in 31.2 innings pitched. He has struck out 25, walked 11 and opponents are hitting .318 against him. In his last outing against Tulane in game two of the Sunday doubleheader on April 15, he pitched two-thirds of an inning, giving up two runs on three hits. He pitched 2.0 innings of relief against Ole Miss on April 11, giving up one hit, two walks and striking out three batters.
Whitney has a 4-1 record with a 7.27 ERA in 31.1 innings on the mound. He has struck out 27, walked four and opponents are hitting .333 against him. In his last outing against Ole Miss last Wednesday, he earned his fourth win of the season, pitching four innings, giving up seven runs, five earned on 10 hits and striking out five batters.
On Wednesday, Southern Miss will use pitcher Mike Cashion against a pitcher to be named later by Mississippi State. Cashion is 2-0 with a 4.95 ERA in 20.0 innings this season. He has struck out nine, walked 12 and opponents are hitting .269 against him. In his last outing against Louisiana-Monroe last Wednesday, he pitched five innings, giving up three runs on eight hits, walking three and striking out four batters to earn his second-straight win in as many weeks.
The Golden Eagles are led offensively by junior first baseman Trey Sutton, who is hitting .345 with 12 doubles, two triples, four home runs, 27 walks and 30 RBIs. Sophomore shortstop Brian Dozier is hitting .309 with seven doubles and 14 RBIs, and redshirt junior designated hitter Trey Cuevas is hitting .300 with three doubles, a team-high eight homers, 15 hit by pitches and 27 RBIs. Sophomore outfielder Michael Ewing is hitting .273 with three doubles, two triples, four home runs, a team-leading 31 walks and is tied for the team lead in RBIs (30).
The Bulldogs are led by redshirt freshman second baseman Brandon Turner, who is hitting .444 with 10 doubles, one triple, one home run and 39 RBIs. Junior catcher Edward Easley is hitting .386 with nine doubles, eight home runs and 43 RBIs. Senior outfielder Joseph McCaskill is hitting .364 with seven doubles and 13 RBIs and junior first baseman Mitch Moreland is hitting .355 with 13 doubles, five home runs, 20 walks and 40 RBIs.
After Wednesday's game, Southern Miss travels to Greenville, N.C., for a three-game Conference USA weekend series at East Carolina on Friday-Sunday, April 27-29. Friday's game starts at 6 p.m., Saturday's at 5 p.m., and Sunday's game will begin at Noon.
