University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
This Week in Southern Miss Baseball
4/6/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 6, 2009
This Week's Schedule:
Monday 4/6: Day Off/No Practice
Tuesday 4/7: Practice at Pete Taylor Park
Wednesday 4/8: Southern Miss at Mississippi State- 6:30 p.m. (CSS TV)
Thursday 4/9: Travel Day to Houston
Friday 4/10: Southern Miss at Houston -6:30 p.m.
Saturday 4/11: : Southern Miss at Houston -6:30 p.m.
Sunday 4/12: : Southern Miss at Houston -1:00 p.m.
*All practice dates and times are tentative and subject to change without prior notice
Last Week in Review:
Southern Miss traveled to Troy to play two games against the Trojans but after the scheduled Tuesday game was rained out the two teams were forced to play a doubleheader on Wednesday. In game one Southern Miss fell behind 4-1 but rallied with nine unanswered runs, all of which were scored with two outs to defeat Troy 10-4.
Sophomore Seth Hester pitched Southern Miss past Troy in game two, picking up his first win of the season, throwing a seven-inning complete game shutout. He worked seven shutout innings allowing only two hits while walking two and striking out two. He faced just three hitters over the minimum coaxing the Trojans into hitting two double plays. He allowed only five base runners on the afternoon, none of which reached as far as second base, for his effort he was named the C-USA Pitcher of the Week,
The two wins at Troy ran Southern Miss' road record to a perfect 7-0 on the season and 8-0 away from Pete Taylor park including a neutral site victory over Mississippi State at Trustmark Park in Pearl, Miss.
The Golden Eagles welcomed Marshall to Pete Taylor Park over the weekend for a three-game Conference USA Series. In Friday's opener Southern Miss won their sixth consecutive game behind a strong pitching performance from JR Ballinger and a Joey Archer three-run home run to defeat the Herd 4-2.
The Golden Eagles saw their winning streak come to an end on Saturday and Marshall edged the Golden Eagles 7-6. In the rubber game on Sunday, Southern Mess fell behind 6-4 before putting together a rally to tie the game and eventually win on Tyler Koelling's walk off single in the bottom of the ninth inning to take the series with an 8-7 victory.
Southern Miss improved to 20-10 and 6-3 in league play with the four victories last week.
TWIB Notes:
- Southern Miss won four games on the week taking a doubleheader at Troy on Wednesday and winning two-of-three over Marshall in the Weekend C-USA Series
- Brian Dozier collected his 300th career hit in Sunday's victory over Marshall, becoming only the second player in school history to accumulate 300 career hits
- Southern Miss has won seven of their last eight games and are a perfect 8-0 away from Pete Taylor Park this season, including a neutral site win over Mississippi State
- The Golden Eagles swept a double header at Troy on Wednesday. In game one USM came from behind with nine unanswered two-out runs for a 10-4 victory. In Game two sophomore Seth Hester threw a complete-game two-hit shutout leading USM to a 8-0 win
- Southern Miss took the weekend series from Marshal behind a 4-2 win on Friday night and 8-7 come from behind win with a walk off single in the bottom of the ninth on Sunday.
- Bo Davis set a new career triples record on Sunday vs. Marshall as he hit his 14th in his career, breaking the previous record set by Chad Herbert in 1992
Seth Hester Honored By C-USA
The sophomore from Stringer, Miss. had the best outing of his young career leading the Golden Eagles to a doubleheader sweep over Troy this past week.
In game two of the twin-bill against the Trojans, Hester was in completely dominate, throwing a complete-game shutout for his first win of the season.
He worked seven shutout innings allowing only two hits while walking two and striking out two. He faced just three hitters over the minimum coaxing the Trojans into hitting two double plays. He allowed only five base runners on the afternoon, none of which reached as far as second base.
C-USA Weekend in Review
It was a weekend of big innings and high scoring games around Conference USA. East Carolina and Rice both swept their series, keeping the Pirates one game up in the conference standings as the two teams prepare to meet next weekend in Greenville. Southern Miss took two-of-three from Marshall in a close series where four total runs separated the teams. UCF earned its first series victory of the season by winning the final two games at Memphis and Houston extended its winning streak to six games by sweeping a non-conference series against Texas-Pan American.
East Carolina was faced with a road trip to Birmingham to take on the high-scoring UAB Blazers. But, it was the productive Pirates bats that proved to be the difference as ECU rolled up 25 runs in a doubleheader sweep on Saturday after posting a 6-3 win on Friday night. East Carolina's lineup now features all seven starters hitting .319 or better.
Rice won all three games against Tulane at Reckling Park, sweeping the Green Wave for the second straight season. After scoring 11 and 12 runs, respectively in the first two wins, Rice used a five-run rally in the bottom of the seventh inning to ignite a rally and win 7-4, increasing the team's current winning streak to six games.
Southern Miss won its series with Marshall in Hattiesburg, two games to one. On Friday night, a strong pitching performance by JR Ballinger led to a 4-2 win. Saturday afternoon, Dan Straily earned the win for Marshall as the Herd earned an 8-7 victory. Then, for the second time in three weeks, Southern Miss won a conference home game on a walk-off single, as Tyler Koelling provided the big hit.
UCF posted its first C-USA series victory on the road since 2006 by taking two-of-three against Memphis at AutoZone Park. The Tigers took game one on Friday, 10-5 and UCF rebounded with a 12-7 victory on Saturday, but it was Sunday's memorable comeback that the Knights will remember for a long time. Trailing 3-0 with two out in the ninth inning, the Knights put together an unforgettable rally, as senior Kiko Vazquez, junior Chris Duffy and senior Colin Arnold all homered to hand the Black and Gold to a 5-3 win.
Houston increased its win streak to six games with three straight convincing wins over Texas-Pan American. The Cougars piled up 38 runs in the series, scoring 15 runs on Friday and Sunday. Houston has now won 10 of its last 13 games and this weekend's sweep was the first by UH at Cougar Field since March, 2007.
The Week's Opponents:
Southern Miss will travel to instate rival Mississippi State (16-15, 4-8 SEC) on Wednesday, the two teams met earlier this season in front of the second largest crowd in Trustmark Park (Home of the class AA Mississippi Braves) history. 7,947 fans saw the Golden Eagles win by a score 10-7. The Black and Gold took control early with a 10-1 lead after five innings and held off a late State rally for the third consecutive victory over the Bulldogs, including a two-game sweep last season in Hattiesburg.
In fact, Southern Miss has won five consecutive games over teams from the state of Mississippi (three over Miss. State and one each against Ole Miss and Mississippi Valley State) dating back to last season.
The Bulldogs blew a six run lead in the rubber game on Sunday to drop the Southeastern Conference weekend series at home vs. Auburn. The Dogs will play on Tuesday vs. UAB at Regions Park in Birmingham before hosting the Black and Gold on Wednesday.
Wednesday's game in Starkville will be televised regionally by CSS with Matt Stewart and Jay Powell on the call.
The Golden Eagles return to C-USA play this weekend as they travel to Houston (13-17, 4-2 C-USA) for a three game set with the Cougars. Southern Miss has controlled this series as of late winning the last seven meetings, including series sweeps the last two seasons.
The Cougars increased their winning streak to six games by sweeping a weekend series against Texas-Pan American. Houston reached the 15-run total twice, outscoring the Broncs 38-7 in the series. The sweep was the first for UH at Cougar Field since taking three straight games from Princeton, March 9-11, 2007.
Junior RHP Frank Corolla earned his first career win as a Cougar on Friday, pitching six innings, allowing eight hits, two runs and three strikeouts. In Saturday's 8-2 win over UT Pan Am, freshman RHP Michael Goodnight recorded his team-high fourth win of the season and tied a career high with six strikeouts in seven innings.
Despite missing 19 games with a face injury that required surgery, junior C Chris Wallace leads the team in home runs (5), is fourth in doubles (6) and third in RBI (16). Freshman IF Jake Runte hit his first career home run, a grand slam, in Saturday's win. Junior OF Caleb Ramsey finished off the Cougars impressive week with a home run and a career-high six RBI in Sunday's finale. He finished the weekend going 9-for-18 with nine RBI. Sophomore SS Blake Kelso also finished Sunday with a 5-for-6 performance. In just his second start at catcher, freshman Joey Cesario went 3-for-4 with two RBI on Sunday.
On the Tube This Week:
Southern Miss will travel to Mississippi State on Wednesday and it will be televised live through out the southeast on CSS. Matt Stewart and Jay Powell will handle the call. For more information and listings in your area check with your local cable or satellite provider.
Record Watch:
- Brian Dozier needs only 27 hits to break Trey Sutton's school career hit record of 327
- Dozier needs only one singles to break the school's single record of 224 held currently by Trey Sutton, he tied the record with his 300th career hit, a single up the middle in the sixth inning on Sunday vs. Marshall
- Dozier joins Sutton as the only Golden Eagle players in school history to accumulate 300 career hits
- 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 effect games.
