University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
This Week in Southern Miss Baseball
4/20/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 20, 2009
This Week's Schedule:
Monday 4/20: Practice at Pete Taylor Park
Tuesday 4/21: Mississippi Valley State at Southern Miss- 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday 4/22: No. 11 Ole Miss at Southern Miss - 6:30 p.m.
Thursday 4/23: Travel day to East Carolina
Friday 4/24: Southern Miss at No. 24East Carolina -6:00 p.m. (CST)
Saturday 4/25: Doubleheader -Southern Miss at No. 24 East Carolina - 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. (CST)
Both Games will be televised live on CBS College Sports
Sunday 4/26: Travel day back to Hattiesburg
*All practice dates and times are tentative and subject to change without prior notice
Schedule Change Reminder
The Ole Miss game that was rained out on March 25 will be played on 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 scored 12 runs in the first two innings and cruised to a 16-2 victory over Jackson State Tuesday evening, though the biggest blow was losing shortstop Brian Dozier for the season.
The Golden Eagles returned to Conference USA play as they hosted UAB for a three-game weekend series. On Friday Bo Davis led the offensive charge with two home runs and five RBI as Southern Miss defeated UAB, 7-4.
JR Ballinger moved to 4-0 on the season, working 6.1 innings allowing only one earned run on four hits. Collin Cargill picked up his sixth save of the season for working 1.2 innings allowing only one hit and striking out two.
Saturday Southern Miss played their fourth unscheduled doubleheader of the season due to weather and dropped both games to UAB, 11-5 in game one and 5-1 in the nightcap
Southern Miss is now 24-14 and 9-4 in C-USA play.
Leading the Nation:
Southern Miss currently leads the nation in total double plays with 46 and are second in the nation in double plays per game, averaging 1.36
The Golden Eagles also rank fourteenth nationally with 172 base on balls this season.
Bo Davis is seventh in the nation in on-base percentage at .584, and 14th in both batting average at .446 and runs per game at 1.44.
** All stats are for games completed though April 12th, the last time the NCAA posted national statistics which are usually posted each Tuesday to include the previous weekend.
TWIB Notes:
· Southern Miss played their fourth unscheduled double header of the season least weekend. Weather has forced the black and gold to play eight twin bill games this season and Southern Miss has won five of the eight games, sweeping double headers at Troy and UCF in the same week and splitting a DH with Houston before dropping a DH to UAB. The Golden Eagles and ECU have a scheduled doubleheader on April 25 to accommodate the television needs of CBS College Sports
· The Golden Eagles have scored 10 runs or more in 14 different games this season
· Southern Miss is 9-2 away from Pete Taylor Park this season, including 8-2 on the opponent's home field and a neutral site win over Mississippi State.
· The Golden Eagle offense has scored 321 runs on 416 hits through 38 games this season, averaging 8.4 runs per game and 10.9 hits per game on the season
· In C-USA play the Golden Eagles have tallied 152 hits and scored 113 runs in 16 C-USA Games against Rice, Marshal, UAB and at UCF and Houston for an average of 9.5 hits per game and 7.1 runs per game this season
· Southern Miss is 151-8 over the last five seasons when they have a lead after the sixth innings, they are 19-1 this season
· Southern Miss will be forced to play the remainder of the season without shortstop Brian Dozier, who injured his shoulder vs. Jackson State on Tuesday.
· 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
All four weekend series' ended up two-of-three as no one swept three in a row for the first time in league play this season. Houston and UAB won their series on the road, while Rice and Tulane took their victories at home. When the dust cleared, the top four teams in the conference standings remained unchanged with Rice in first place, followed by East Carolina, Southern Miss and Houston.
Like it has much of the conference season, Houston received outstanding pitching in the first two days of its series at Memphis, though it had to settle for a split of the first two outings. Jared Ray and Donnie Joseph combined for the 1-0 victory on Friday, as the dup allowed just five hits. Brennon Martin was the hard-luck loser for the Tigers, allowing one run over 7.1 innings. Game two on Saturday saw starters Michael Goodnight of UH and Heath Hatfield of Memphis duel scoreless into the seventh inning. A two-run triple by Chris Newsom in the seventh scored two runs and chased Goodnight out of the game. On Sunday, Houston took advantage of a pair of eight inning Memphis errors to post an 8-5 victory and its third C-USA series win of the year.
League-leading Rice stayed on top of the league standings after battling the rain and Marshall to earn a series victory over the Thundering Herd. In Friday's 7-5 win, Owls closer Jordan Rogers, who was named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year midseason watch list on Thursday, showed why by striking out five in 2.1 innings. On Saturday night, Rick Hague hit two of Rice's six home runs in a 10-3 victory. Marshall closed out the series with its first-ever victory on Sunday, 11-7. The Thundering Herd had a pair of four-run innings and was led by Victor Gomez's two home runs in posting its third win over a ranked opponent this season.
Tulane notched its second straight conference series victory by taking two-of-three from No. 17 East Carolina. The Green Wave rallied from a 4-0 deficit to win game one, 7-4, with Jeremy Schaffer providing the big hit with a two-run home run that proved to be the game-winner in the seventh. On Saturday, East Carolina posted a pair of four-run innings and had three players hit home runs in a 12-7 win. Tulane took the finale on Sunday as Conrad Flynn struck out a career-high eight over 7.1 innings to lead the way.
The Week's Opponents:
Southern Miss will host Mississippi Valley on Tuesday. The Delta Devils are currently 18-17 on the season
Last time out on Sunday, the Rebels came up with the key plays when they needed them as No. 16 Ole Miss (28-11, 11-7 SEC) defeated No. 20 Florida (26-14, 10-8 SEC) by a score of 5-3 in a game shortened by travel curfew.
The Rebels picked up the win in eight innings behind the pitching of Scott Bittle and Jake Morgan and some key at bats.
Bittle (4-2) picked up the win as he worked 6.0 innings and allowed three runs on six hits with six walks and eight strikeouts, while Morgan picked up his fifth save of the season. Morgan worked the final 2.0 innings and held the Gators to two hits with one walk and three strikeouts.
Kyle Henson was big for the Rebels at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a run scored and three RBI as he came up with a two-run home run in the third inning to tie the game. Jordan Henry went 1-for-1 at the plate, but drew four walks on the afternoon and scored two runs. Henry also stole three bases on the afternoon as the Rebels stole six bases.
The Pirates dropped two-of-three at Tulane over the weekend, but ECU's 10-5 league ledger is its best conference mark after 15 games since a 12-3 record in 2004.
Sophomore SS Dustin Harrington batted .333 on the week including four home runs. He recorded his first career multi-HR game after belting a pair of home runs (solo, two-run) against Campbell last Tuesday. Harrington also hit a pair of solo home runs against Tulane over the weekend.
Senior IF Ryan Wood became the school's all-time leader in walks after receiving three free passes against Campbell on Apr. 14. In consecutive at bats in the fourth and sixth frames, Wood tied and then set the record passing former Pirate great John Williamson (1998-2001). For his career, Wood has 134 walks. On the week, he batted .389 (7-for-18) with two home runs, two doubles, five RBI, six runs scored and drew six walks.
Junior DH Kyle Roller hit a pair of home runs on the week pushing his season total to 10 and career total to 33, which is eighth all-time on the schools charts. He was plunked by one pitch on the week as well, moving his all-time school record of hit by pitches to 31 and his single-season record to 17.
Sophomore RHP Seth Maness improved to 5-0 on the season after notching his fourth C-USA win over the weekend against Tulane, 12-5. He retired 15 of his first 17 batters through five innings. With the win, Maness improves to 14-2 in his career in 24 starts.
This Week at "The Pete":
Tuesday vs. Mississippi Valley is one dollar hot dog night, available at the concession stands.
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.
