University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
This Week in Southern Miss Baseball - March 2nd Edition
3/2/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 2, 2009
This Week's Schedule:
Monday 3/2: Team is off/No practice
Tuesday 3/3: Practice at Pete Taylor Park
Wednesday 3/4: No. 27 Southern Miss at Louisiana Monroe -6:30 p.m.
Thursday 3/5: Practice at Pete Taylor Park
Friday 3/6: No. 7 Cal State Fullerton at No. 27 Southern Miss -6:30 p.m.
Saturday 3/7: No. 7 Cal State Fullerton at No. 27 Southern Miss- 3:00 p.m.
Sunday 3/8: No. 7 Cal State Fullerton at No. 27 Southern Miss- 1:00 p.m.
*All practice dates and times are tentative and subject to change without prior notice
Last Week in Review:
The Southern Miss baseball team proved to be one of the hottest teams in the country stretching their winning streak to seven games before falling Sunday to Louisiana Lafayette 7-5.
The week started on Tuesday as Southern Miss defeated UNO 13-5, behind JR Ballinger's first career start after working the previous two seasons out of the bullpen. The Golden Eagles scored 13 runs on 11 hits to improve to 4-0.
Perennial power South Alabama rolled into town on Wednesday at Kyle Lindsey made his presence known by throwing a complete-game four-hit shutout while striking out 10 Jaguars in his first start of the season.
Lindsey faced three batters over the minimum using 95 pitches while allowing only five base runners all game, none of which reached as far as second base after the first inning. Included in his masterful performance was a stretch from the fourth through the seventh in which he retired 10 consecutive hitters.
The offense stayed hot with 18 hits and scored 12 runs in the 12-0 victory.
The Golden Eagle offense carried the team to victories over Louisiana Lafayette on Friday and Saturday irrupting for early runs in both games.
Friday Night Southern Miss put the game away early with eight runs in the first two innings on the way to a 10-1 victory. Saturday was much the same as Southern Miss scored 11 runs in the first five frames for a 13-6 win.
Sunday the Golden Eagles suffered their first defeat of the season but went down fighting scoring four runs in the final two innings and leaving the bases loaded in bottom of the ninth but ultimately falling for the first time this season, 7-5
On the week the team hit .357 with seven home runs, 12 doubles and a triple for 100 total bases. They were also a perfect 12-12 on stolen bases. The pitching staff was 4-1 with a 3.00 ERA while striking out 39 and walking only 11 in 45 innings of work. They held opposing hitters to a .242 average,
TWIB Notes:
- Bo Davis earned C-USA Hitter of the week honors this week (3/2). He hit .500 (8-16) with three home runs, eight runs scored and six RBI from his leadoff spot. He totaled 17 total bases including three walks for an on base percentage of .579 while slugging 1.063.
- The Golden Eagles returned to the national rankings with a No. 27 ranking by the Collegiate Baseball Writers this week
- Southern Miss is outscoring their opponents 56-4 in the first four innings this season and 96-22 overall
· The Golden Eagle bats have been red hot this season with 110 hits, including 31 for extra bases, and 96 runs. Southern Miss is hitting .370 as a team with a .482 on base percentage and a .556 slugging percentage
· Southern Miss has recorded at least 10 hits in every game this season and double digit runs in seven of the teams eight games
· The Golden Eagles have been equally impressive on the mound as well, allowing only 16 earned runs in 72 innings of work.
· Southern Miss started the season by either leading or tied for 65 consecutive innings before ULL took a lead in the third innings of the eighth game.
- The Golden Eagles are a perfect 17-17 stealing bases this season, leading C-USA
The Week's Opponents:
Southern Miss will travel to Louisiana Monroe on Wednesday for their first road game of the season. The Warhawks (6-1) have won six straight contests averaging 10.7 runs per game in the process while hitting .324 as a team.
After smashing the school home run record last season, the Warhawks are once again sending the ball out of the park on a regular basis. ULM has already hit seven home runs this season.
The Golden Eagles will return home for a weekend series with No. 7 Cal State Fullerton (5-2). The four-time national champions come to Hattiesburg after a weekend series sweep of No. 14 Stanford. The Titans are currently hitting .259 as a team with 55 total hits, including 16 for extra bases.
The Cal State pitchers post an ERA of 5.57 while striking out 57 hitters and walking 27
Record Watch:
- Brian Dozier needs only 41 hits to break Trey Sutton's school career hit record of 312
- Dozier needs only 19 singles to break the school's single record of 224 held currently by Trey Sutton
- With 29 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
Leading C-USA:
Conference USA released the stats for the entire conference for the first time this week and Southern Miss was at or near the top of virtually every category:
OFFENSIVE:
Batting Average(.370) - second, slugging percentage(.556) - second, on base percentage(.482) - first, runs scored(96)- first, hits(110)- first, RBI(88)- first, doubles(17) -second, triples(4) -second, home runs(10)- first, total bases(165)- first, total plate appearances(372) -first, at bats(297)- first, walks(60)- first, hit by pitch(8)- second, Sacrifice bunts(3) -third, sacrifice flies(4)- second, stolen bases(17)- first, steal attempts(17) -first
PITCHING:
ERA(2.00)- first, Opposing Batting Average(.214) - first, innings pitched(72)- first, batters truck out(58) -second, batters struck out looking(19)- fourth, wins(7)-first,
losses(1)- first, hits allowed (55)-third, sacrifice bunts allowed (2)- first, runs allowed(22) -first, earned runs allowed(16)-second, walks allowed(18) -third, doubles allowed(7) -second, triples allowed(1)- fifth, home runs allowed(2)- third, wild pitches(2)- second, hit batters (4)- fourth
Awards and Honors:
Conference USA Hitter of the Week
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
This Week at "The Pete":
Saturday, March 7 at noon the Southern Miss Baseball program will rededicate the Stephen Hatten Memorial Grove at Pete Taylor Park. The Hatten Grove was rebuilt as a part of the construction last season with the addition of the new suites and press box. The Grove stands as a memorial to former Golden Eagle Stephen Hatten who lost his battle to cancer on May 2, 1998.
Receive half off basketball admission for Saturday's game with UTEP with your baseball ticket from Saturday's game with Cal State Fullerton. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m.
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.
Also, season tickets packages are still available in the reserved bleacher and general admission sections but the reserved chair back seats have already been sold out.
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.
