University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
This Week in Southern Miss Baseball
4/13/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 13, 2009
This Week's Schedule:
Monday 4/13: Practice at Pete Taylor Park
Tuesday 4/14: Jackson State at Southern Miss- 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday 4/15: Day off/No practice
Thursday 4/16: Practice at Pete Taylor Park
Friday 4/17: UAB at Southern Miss -6:20 p.m.
Saturday 4/18: UAB at Southern Miss - 2:00 p.m.
Sunday 4/19: UAB at Southern Miss - 1:00 p.m.
*All practice dates and times are tentative and subject to change without prior notice
Schedule Change Reminder
Saturday's game vs. UAB will be played at 2:00 p.m., the original schedule called for a 4:00 p.m. start but with the annual Black and Gold Football scrimmage scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. the baseball game with UAB has been moved to a 2:00 p.m. first pitch.
The Ole Miss game that was rained out on March 25 will be played on April 22 (next Wednesday) at "The Pete" Anyone who holds tickets from March 25 will be able to use those tickets for the make up game on April 22 vs. Rebels. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.
Last Week in Review:
Southern Miss dropped their first road contest of the season at Mississippi State on Wednesday on a ninth inning walk-off home run by the Bulldogs to defeat the black and Gold 7-6. The win was Mississippi State's first over Southern Miss since the 2007 season.
The Golden Eagles traveled to Houston to resume C-USA action with a three game set vs. the Cougars. On Friday night Southern Miss jumped out to a 10-0 lead and held on for a 13-8 victory.
Wade Weathers picked up his second win of the season working the longest outing in his career, five innings in relief scattering five hits and allowing one run while striking out two. The first three hitters in the lineup (Walker, Dozier and Davis) were a combined 7-11 including five walks with eight runs and four RBI.
Weather forced Southern Miss to play their third doubleheader of the season on Saturday as thunderstorms were forecast for the Houston area.
Todd McInnis pitched Southern Miss over Houston in game one, leading the black and gold to a 3-1 victory, their ninth consecutive over the Cougars.
McInnis was nearly able to fire a compete game shutout, just two outs shy of the feat. He started the ninth inning with a routine fly ball and a strikeout, but the third strike went to the backstop allowing the Houston hitter to reach base. Two batters later a Ty Stucky RBI single broke up the shutout and ended the day for McInnis.
McInnis worked 8.1 innings allowing only seven hits and the one late run while striking out five to pick up his fifth win of the season. In five of his eight complete innings he faced the minimum three hitters, including a stretch from the fourth until the eighth where only two of 18 hitters recorded a hit.
The Golden Eagles fell in the nightcap 3-2 to move their record to 22-12 overall and 8-4 in C-USA.
Leading the Nation:
Southern Miss currently leads the nation in double plays turned per game with a 1.4 per game average and total double plays with 42.
The Golden Eagles also rank in the top 10 in walks, placing ninth with 158 base on balls this season and Bo Davis in ninth in the nation in runs pre game, averaging 1.57.
** All stats are for games completed though April 5th, the last time the NCAA posted national statistics which are usually posted each Tuesday to include the previous weekend.
TWIB Notes:
· Southern Miss is 9-2 away from Pete Taylor Park this season, including 8-2 on the opponents home field and a neutral site win over Mississippi State.
· The Golden Eagle offense has scored 292 runs on 385 hits through 34 games this season, averaging 8.6 runs per game and 11.3 hits per game on the season
· In C-USA play the Golden Eagles have tallied 136 hits and scored 100 runs in 12 C-USA Games against Rice, Marshall and at UCF and Houston for an average of 11.3 hits per game and 8.3 runs per game this season
· Southern Miss is 149-8 over the last five seasons when they have a lead after the sixth innings, they are 17-1 this season
· Brian Dozier joined Trey Sutton as the only members of the Golden Eagle 300 Hit Club, he picked up his 300th career hit with a sixth inning single up the middle on Sunday vs. Marshall. Sutton holds the school record with 327 hits, which he set last season
- The Golden Eagles have won three games this season in their final at bat, most recently behind Tyler Koelling's two-out walk off single in the bottom of the ninth Sunday against Marshall. Joey Archer had a walk-off single vs. Rice (3/22) and the Golden Eagles scored two in the top of the tenth at La. Monroe (3/4)
C-USA Weekend in Review
The showdown series of the weekend occurred in Greenville, where No. 3 Rice visited No. 15 East Carolina. After Rice won a wild offensive show on Friday night, 15-11, Seth Maness pitched a gem for ECU on Saturday, firing a complete-game, three-hitter to lead the Pirates to a 4-1 win. That set the stage for Sunday's showdown for the series victory and first place in the conference standings. Mike Ojala returned to the mound after missing his previous two starts and led the Owls to a 5-4 victory with 10 strikeouts in five innings pitched.
The third and fourth place teams in the C-USA standings also squared off against each other as Southern Miss traveled to Houston. The Golden Eagles grabbed game one of the series, jumping out to a 10-0 lead before winning, 13-8. Weather forced the teams to play a doubleheader on Saturday and solid pitching ruled the day as Southern Miss grabbed game one, 3-1, while Houston took game two, 4-3. Todd McInnis led the Golden Eagles in game one with eight strong innings, while Wes Musick and Donnie Joseph combined for a strong effort in leading the Cougars in game two.
UAB made the trip up north to face Marshall. As has been the case most of the season, the Blazer bats were able to give UAB a series victory, two games to one. After the teams traded 6-4 victories in the first two games, the Blazers earned the series victory on Sunday with a 13-6 decision, the 14th time this season that UAB has scored double-digit runs.
UCF defeated Tulane on Friday night, 4-2, as Shane Brown and Kiko Vazquez provided big hits for the Knights. Tulane rebounded in a big way on Saturday, scoring a season-high 20 runs in a 20-5 triumph, as the Green wave rolled up 23 hits, the fourth-highest total in school history. The Green Wave took the series on Sunday with a 5-4 victory, as Tulane touched the UCF bullpen after started Kyle Sweat threw seven strong innings.
Memphis was the lone team to step out of conference play, hosting Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, a first-year Division I independent. The Tigers received a strong pitching performance from Brennon Martin in a 6-4 game one victory and posted a 3-1 win on Saturday. Memphis dropped the series finale on Sunday, 3-2 in a rain-shortened game.
The Week's Opponents:
Southern Miss will host Jackson State for the first time since the 2001 season on Tuesday. The Tigers are currently 24-12 and second in the SWAC Eastern Division, behind Mississippi Valley State, with a 9-5 SWAC record
The Tigers and Southern University split a pair of games in a non-conference matchup, with each team winning on their home field this past weekend.
Jackson State won at home on Saturday 4-1. Marquise Zachery picked up the win for Jackson State. He pitched nine innings, for a complete game. He gave up only one run on three hits and struck out eight batters.
Fred Atkins led JSU's offensive efforts, as he recorded three hits and one home run. Chad Hall finished with two hits, a run and an RBI. Toddrick Stevenson led the Jags with two hits and a run.
The Tigers come into "the Pete" with a lofty .334 team batting average, collecting 365 hits and 298 runs this season with a .431 on base percentage and a .457 slugging percentage. JSU has pitched well this season as well with a team batting average of 3.78 while striking out 214 hitters on the season.
The Blazers (18-15, 3-6 C-USA) won their first C-USA series of the season last weekend , taking two-of-three at Marshall over the weekend. Through the first two days of the weekend series with Marshall, the UAB offense managed just 13 hits as the teams split a pair of 6-4 contests.
In Sunday's rubber game, the Blazer offense came to life, collecting 13 hits by the seventh inning and finishing the game with 16. UAB out-hit Marshall, 16-9, marking the first time in eight games the team collected more hits than its opponents. Prior to that stretch, the Blazers had out-hit their opponents in 17 straight games. Sunday's win marked the 13th time this season that UAB has scored 10 or more runs in a game.
Senior OF Brint Hardy tallied his 31st stolen base of the season on Sunday against Marshall to move into third place by himself on UAB's all-time steals list with 73 in his Blazer career. The NCAA steals leader has now swiped 20 straight without being caught. Next up on UAB's career list is Kyle Towner (1991-94), who sits in second place with 76 steals.
The UAB pitching staff gave the Blazers a chance to win every game this weekend at Marshall, holding the Thundering Herd to a total of 16 runs in the series. In Sunday's game, UAB pitchers struck out 14 batters, matching a season-high for the team. Starter Kyle Roberson fanned a career best eight batters through six innings and then handed the ball over to junior RHP Nick Graffeo, who recorded six of the final nine outs via strikeout.
Record Watch:
- Brian Dozier needs only 23 hits to break Trey Sutton's school career hit record of 327
- Dozier needs only 10 singles to break the school's single record of 238 held currently by Trey Sutton
- Dozier joined Sutton as the only Golden Eagle players in school history to accumulate 300 career hits, as Dozier collected his 300th against Marshall on Sunday, April 5
- Dozier needs only 82 at bats to break the school's career at bat record, he is currently in sixth place with 860 at bats. Brad Willcutt (2002-05) holds the career mark at 942
- Bo Davis has recorded three triples this season to break the school's career triple record giving him 14 in his career. The previous record of 13 was set by Chad Herbert from 1989-92
Awards and Honors:
Conference USA Hitter of the Week
Bo Davis (3/2)
Brian Dozier (3/30)
Conference USA Pitcher of the Week
Seth Hester (4/6)
College Baseball Insiders Central Region Player of the Week
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 affect games.
