University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
This Week in Southern Miss Baseball
3/30/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 30, 2009
This Week's Schedule:
Monday 3/303: Day Off/No Practice
Tuesday 3/31: Southern Miss at Troy
Wednesday 4/1: Southern Miss at Troy
Thursday 4/2: Practice at Pete Taylor Park
Friday 4/3: Marshall at Southern Miss- 6:30 p.m.
Saturday 4/4: Marshall at Southern Miss - 3:00 p.m.
Sunday 4/5: Marshall at Southern Miss - 11:00 a.m.
*All practice dates and times are tentative and subject to change without prior notice
Last Week in Review:
Southern Miss traveled to Orlando and swept the Knights of UCF in a three game weekend series to improve to 16-9 overall and 4-2 in Conference USA
The Golden Eagles scored three runs in the eighth and ninth innings to win the Friday night game 6-3, the late inning rally was keyed by Brian Dozier and Travis Graves solo home runs and a Corey Stevens RBI single in the final two frames.
Weather forced the scheduled Sunday game to move up a day to and the two teams played a double header on Saturday. In game one Southern Miss set a new school runs record in the 26-10 victory. The Golden Eagles were six-for-six with the bases loaded including two grand slams, one each by Brian Dozier and Corey Stevens.
The bats were nearly as hot in the second game of the twin bill as Southern Miss erupted for 19 runs, including four home runs. Southern Miss hammered nine long balls in the three game series.
Both games on Saturday was stopped in the seventh innings due to the mercy rule.
In midweek action Southern Miss fell to La. Monroe on Tuesday, 9-2 and the Ole Miss game scheduled for Wednesday was postponed until April 22 at Pete Taylor Park. Anyone who holds a ticket for the March 25th game can use that ticket for the April 22 contest. For any further ticket issues contact the Southern Miss ticket office.
TWIB Notes:
· Southern Miss swept a three game weekend series at UCF scoring 51 runs in the three games, with two games being cut short due to the mercy rule
· Southern Miss hit nine home runs in the three game series at UCF including two grand slams
· In Saturday's double header the Golden Eagles loaded the bases nine times and delivered a hit eight times, including two grand slams in game one.
· The Golden Eagle offense has scored 231 runs on 288 hits through 25 games this season, averaging 9.2 runs per game and 11.5 hits per game on the season
· Southern Miss is 142-8 over the last five seasons when they have a lead after the sixth innings, they are 10-1 this season
· In C-USA play the Golden Eagles have tallied 70 hits and scored 63 runs in six C-USA Games against Rice and at UCF for an average of 11.7 hits per game and 10.5 runs
- In game one of Saturday's doubleheader the Golden Eagles scored 26 runs ( in only seven innings) which broke the previous school record for runs in a of 25
- Brian Dozier needs five hits to join Trey Sutton as the only members of the Golden Eagle300 Hit Club, he currently has 295 career hits. Sutton holds the school record with 312 hits which he set last season
- For the second time this season a Southern Miss player has hit a home run in three straight games, Bo Davis accomplished the feat earlier this season and Brian Dozier hit a home run in all three games of the UCF series
Dozier Honored By C-USA
Shortstop Brian Dozier had one of the best C-USA weekends in his brilliant four-year career, as Southern Miss won three straight at UCF. The senior shortstop blasted a home run in all three games, including a grand slam in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader.
In the two games on Saturday, Dozier hit .667 (6-for-9) with seven runs scored, nine RBI, 12 total bases and drew two walks. On the week, he was 7-for-17 (.412) with eight runs scored, three home runs, including a grand slam, 10 RBI, 16 total bases two walks and a sacrifice fly, while slugging .941.
C-USA Weekend in Review
Southern Miss was the only team to post a series sweep in Conference USA play this weekend as the Golden Eagles took three in a row at UCF. After posting a 6-2 win in the opener on Friday, the Golden Eagles broke out the bats in a big way during a Saturday doubleheader, scoring 45 total runs. The 26 runs scored in game one established a new USM school record. Senior SS Brian Dozier led the way in the twin-bill, combining to go six-for-nine with two home runs, seven runs, nine RBI, 12 total bases, two walks and a sacrifice fly.
First place East Carolina retained its conference lead by taking two-of-three at Marshall. The Pirates won the opener on Friday, 7-6, on a Ryan Wood RBI single, played six more innings in a tie ball game that day but had to wait until Sunday morning to finish the series. ECU won the resumed game two, 5-1, as Brad Mincey earned his fifth win of the season with three innings of solid relief. Marshall avoided the sweep with a 6-2 victory in Sunday's second game. Freshman DH Thor Meeks hit a two-out, three-run home run to spark the Herd's victory.
Memphis surprised Rice in game one on Friday night, 10-7, as junior C Shawn Ablett reached base five times, going 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. It was just the Tigers second win over the Owls in the four-year history of the series. Rice bounced back to take the final two games of the series, 1204 and 9-5. Sophomore SS Rick Hague had a pair of hits in each contest and freshman Taylor Wall, starting in place of Mike Ojala, earned a win with a career-long seven innings with six strikeouts.
Tulane opened its series with Houston by posting a 6-2 victory, as Conrad Flynn threw eight solid innings and Seth Henry went 3-for-4 with a home run and seven RBI. The Cougars rebounded with back-to-back victories for their second straight series victory. Houston posted 4-1 and 4-3 victories, as Cougar pitcher combined for 21 strikeouts in the two victories.
In non-conference action, UAB posted a convincing three-game sweep of Savannah State to improve to 14-10 on the season. The Blazers reached double-digit runs in the two of the wins, including 20 in Saturday's win. UAB has now scored 10 or more runs in all but two of its victories, notching eight or more runs in all of them.
The Week's Opponents:
Troy recorded their first Sun Belt Conference series win of the year by taking a 19-8 victory over New Orleans on Sunday in a game stopped after eight innings because of the 10-run rule. The Trojans improved to 15-10 overall and 4-5 in league play.
Marshall (11-14 overall, 3-3 Conference USA) enters midweek action fresh off its impressive 6-2 victory over No. 19 East Carolina in this weekend's C-USA series finale at Appalachian Power Park in Charleston, W.Va. The victory was the Thundering Herd's first over a ranked opponent since the 2007 season when Marshall took a 12-11 decision over 28-th ranked Houston on April 27. The win was also the first over the Pirates under head coach Jeff Waggoner.
The Marshall University baseball team begins a seven-game road trip, starting with a pair of midweek non-conference tilts at Kentucky on Tuesday, March 31, and at Ohio State on Wednesday, April 1 before traveling to Southern Miss for the weekend series.
Record Watch:
- Brian Dozier needs only 17 hits to break Trey Sutton's school career hit record of 312
- Dozier needs only 2 singles to break the school's single record of 224 held currently by Trey Sutton
- With 15 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)
Brian Dozier (3/30)
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.
Game Day Weather Hotline
For the latest information on weather related issues concerning Southern Miss home events call the Southern Miss gameday hotline at 601.266.7411. The number will be updated constantly in situations where weather could effect games.
