University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
This Week in Southern Miss Baseball
3/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 16, 2009
This Week's Schedule:
Monday 3/16: Practice at Pete Taylor Park
Tuesday 3/17: No. 25 Mississippi State vs. Southern Miss at Trustmark Park - 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday 3/18: Northern Colorado at Southern Miss -6:30 p.m.
Thursday 3/19: Practice at Pete Taylor Park
Friday 3/20: No. 7 Rice at Southern Miss -6:30 p.m.
Saturday 3/21: No. 7 Rice at Southern Miss - 3:00 p.m.
Sunday 3/22: No. 7 Rice at Southern Miss - 1:00 p.m.
*All practice dates and times are tentative and subject to change without prior notice
Last Week in Review:
Southern Miss won three games including a come from behind win at UNO and two wins over La. Tech in a weekend series.
The Golden Eagles scored four runs in the eighth inning to come from behind and defeat UNO 5-2 Tuesday at Maestri Field in New Orleans. James Ewing picked up his third RBI of the game and gave Southern Miss the lead with a two RBI double to right center. Joey Archer plated Ewing with an RBI single through the right side to make the score 5-2 and cap the four run eighth inning.
Cody Schlagel picked up his third win of the season, working 2.1 scoreless innings allowing only one hit and striking out five, including the first three hitters he faced.
Collin Cargill picked up the first save of the season for the Golden Eagles working two innings without allowing a run, in the eighth inning he only needed 10 pitches, nine of which were strikes to retire the side. In the ninth he allowed one hit and walked one but left the trying run at the plate to end the game.
The weekend series vs. La Tech saw a little over everything. Southern Miss won a tight game by a score of 5-4 on Friday night behind a four run second inning and a solo home run by Kameron Brunty in the fourth inning.
On Saturday Southern Miss scored 24 runs in a 24-3 victory, just one run shy of the school record of 25 runs in a game. Southern Miss scored at least one run in every inning and Freshman Kameron Brunty led the offensive barrage with a five-for-five game including a triple, a double, three runs scored and four RBI on the afternoon.
The Golden Eagles fell in the series finale to La. Tech 11-4 on Sunday
TWIB Notes:
· Southern Miss won a road game at 2008 NCAA Regional Participant UNO on Tuesday and took two games from Louisiana Tech over the weekend
· The Golden Eagle offense has scored 149 runs on 189 hits through 16 games this season, averaging 9.3 runs per game and 11.8 hits per game on the season
· The Golden Eagles have been equally impressive on the mound as well, allowing 61 earned runs in 145 innings of work while striking out 109 hitters and walking only 44
· Brian Dozier extended his hitting streak to 16 games with two hits Sunday, hitting safely in every game this season. He has actually hit in 18 straight going back to the NCAA Regional in 2008. Taylor Walker has hit in 13 straight games including seven multi hit games.
· Southern Miss scored 24 runs in Saturday's victory over Louisiana Tech, the most runs scored in a game since the Golden Eagles set the school record of 25 runs in 1999 vs. St Louis.
- Southern Miss is 141-7 over the last five seasons when they have a lead after the sixth inning, they are 9-0 this season
The Week's Opponents:
Mississippi State jumped into the national polls this week with a No. 25 ranking after taking two games at home vs. South Carolina this past weekend. The Diamond Dogs are 12-5 on the season and 2-1 in the SEC. State is hitting .294 as a team with 46 of their 158 hits this season for extra bases. On the mound they have allowed 84 runs in 148.2 innings of work this season while striking out 137 hitters and walking 69, while opponents are hitting .251 on the season.
Northern Colorado will visit "The Pete" with a 6-11 record including a 2-10 mark on the road. The Bears are hitting .330 as a team with 204 hits and a team ERA of 9.93
Southern Miss opens the C-USA season with the Rice Owls on Friday, a team just a year removed from the College World Series. The Owls picked up a pair of wins over No. 20 San Diego, before dropping the series finale on Sunday. For the first time in four games, junior 2B Brock Holt returned to the starting lineup. He was sidelined from starting duty, but returned to face San Diego. Holt had a pair of hits, including a double, in his most-recent outing against the Toreros.
True freshman Anthony Rendon is quickly making name for himself on offense and as a third baseman. The young star from nearby Lamar High School leads the team in hitting (.356), home runs (4) and RBI (18).
Junior RHP Ryan Berry's outings the last three weeks have been impressive, but one of the most notable things is that he's done it all without that much offensive support. In Berry's last three starts, the Owls have hit a composite .208 and averaged an otherwise dangerously-low 5.0 runs per game.
The team's top hitter in each of his last three starts has been his newly designated catcher, Craig Manuel. The freshman receiver from Satellite Beach, Fla., has caught each of Berry's last three gems, where he has hit a team-best .364 (4-of-11) with a double, walk and three runs scored.
Junior RHP Mike Ojala has moved into the Friday night starting slot for each of the past three weekend games. In his four starts Ojala has averaged 6.2 innings per outing, maintained a 1.67 ERA and averaged 11 strikeouts per nine innings. His strikeouts-to-walks ratio is 4.1-to-1.
Record Watch:
- Brian Dozier needs only 29 hits to break Trey Sutton's school career hit record of 312
- Dozier needs only 10 singles to break the school's single record of 224 held currently by Trey Sutton
- With 17 hits Dozier will join Sutton as the only Golden Eagle players in school history to accumulate 300 career hits
- Bo Davis recorded two triples already this season to tie the school's career triple record of 13 set by Chad Herbert from 1989-92
Awards and Honors:
Conference USA Hitter of the Week
Bo Davis (3/2)
College Baseball Insiders National "All-Star Lineup"
Bo Davis (3/2)
Brooks Wallace Award Watch List
(National Player of the Year)
Preseason All-Conference USA
(Selected by C-USA Coaches)
Preseason Baseball America All-Conference Team
Preseason SEBaseball.com All-Conference First Team
Preseason SEBaseball.com All-Conference Second Team
Preseason Rivals.com All-Conference Team
Brain Dozier
Following the Golden Eagles:
WXHB The Hub, 96.5 will once again serve as the flagship radio station for Golden Eagles baseball in 2008. John Cox is in his 27th year calling Golden Eagles baseball. He will be joined in the booth this season by Jack Duggan and Jason Baker.
Southernmiss.com will once again stream live stats of all 52 games on a real time basis and live video will be available for all home games and selected road games through Southern Miss All-Access
Tickets:
Individual game tickets can be purchased through the Pat Ferlise Athletic Ticket Office on West 4th St., from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday, over the phone at 1-800-844-TICK (8425) or online at SouthernMiss.com. The Pete Taylor Park ticket office will open approximately two hours prior to first pitch.
Discounted group tickets are also available for groups of 15 or more. For more information on bringing your group to "The Pete" contact Brain Morrison at 601.266.6866
Conference USA Tournament:
The 2009 Conference USA Tournament will be held this season at Pete Taylor Park from May 20-24. Tournament Ticket books are now on sale at the Southern Miss ticket office.
