University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
This Week In Southern Miss Baseball
3/22/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
This Week in Southern Miss Baseball
March 22, 2010
This Week's Schedule
Monday 3/22: Day Off/No Practice
Tuesday 3/23: No. 17 Ole Miss vs. Southern Miss (Trustmark Park) - 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday 3/24: Practice at Pete Taylor Park
Thursday 3/25: Practice at Pete Taylor Park
Friday 3/26: Southern Miss at UAB- 6:30 p.m.
Saturday 3/27: Southern Miss at UAB - 2:00 p.m.
Sunday 3/28: Southern Miss at UAB 1:00 p.m.
*All practice dates and times are tentative and subject to change without prior notice
TWIB Notes
· Southern Miss has won nine of their last 11 games, including a series sweep over Missouri State and a series win at Louisiana-Lafayette
· The Golden Eagles improved to 5-0 in midweek games with a 11-2 victory over UNO on Tuesday and a 8-7 win at Monroe on Wed.
· Southern Miss hit a season high five home runs in Saturday's win at LA. Tech
· Also in Saturday's Game Scott Copeland started the game with five shutout innings, bringing his consecutive scoreless inning streak to 16 before it was snapped in the sixth inning.
· Southern Miss has scored 10 runs or more in eight of the teams 18 games while they have 10 or more hits in 13 games
· The black and gold have already turned 29 double plays through the first 18 games of 2010. The Golden Eagles have had four or more twin killing in three different games this year.
· They led the nation last year with 83 twin-killings.
· The Golden Eagles have scored 156 runs on 206 hits, 67 for extra bases, in the first 18 games
· The pitching staff has recorded 136 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .256 average and a .353 slugging percentage
- Southern Miss turned two triple plays this season, the second triple play in school history was turned vs. La.- Monroe on March 3 as B.A Vollmuth fielded a ground ball at shortstop, tagged the runner going to third, stepped on second base and threw to first base.
The Third Triple play in school history was once again turned by Vollmuth as he caught a line drive with runner moving on the pitch, stepped on second and threw over to first base at La. Tech on March 20
Last week in review
Southern Miss (13-5) stayed perfect in midweek action as the defeated UNO at home on Tuesday and went on the road to defeat La. Monroe on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Southern Miss scored seven runs in the fourth inning and freshman Geoffrey Thomas gave the Golden Eagles a quality start as Southern Miss defeated UNO 11-2 at Pete Taylor Park.
Thomas (1-1) had the best outing of his young career, working 6.2 innings while allowing only one run. He scattered eight hits while striking out six and walking only two.
Southern Miss put up two runs in the second to give Thomas an early lead to pitch with, then blew the game open in the fourth inning with seven runs, making the score 9-0.
At Monroe Southern Miss scored all eight runs with two outs in an 8-7 win. The Golden Eagles had 10 hits in the game, five for extra bases while drawing 11 walks
In the series opener at La. Tech Southern Miss rallied back to tie the game in the eighth inning, but La. Tech scored the winning run in the bottom of the ninth to take the series opener 4-3.
Down 3-1, the Golden Eagles scored single runs in both the seventh and eighth inning to tie the game at three in the eighth inning.
Southern Miss closer Collin Cargill surrendered two singles to start the ninth and with runners at the corners, Tech's Devon Dageford hit a line drive off of Cargill's leg to plate the winning run.
Game two of the LA. Tech series saw Southern Miss blast five home runs and score seven runs in the first inning. The Golden Eagles turned four double plays in the game and turned their second triple play of the season.
The Sunday game was canceled due to snow in Ruston that morning.
The Week's Opponents
Southern Miss will travel to Trustmark Park for their annual game with the Ole Miss Rebels at the home of the Mississippi Braves. The Rebels enter the contest ranked No. 17 with a 15-5 record. They went on the road last weekend to open SEC play by taking two-of -three at No. 20 Kentucky.
The Rebels are currently hitting .294 with 64 extra base hits, including 20 home runs on the season while the pitching staff post a 3.33 ERA, striking out 188 hitters and walking 64.
The Golden Eagles will travel to UAB for a three game weekend set to open C-USA play on Friday, The Blazers are 10-7 on the young season with a .280 team batting average. They have hit 25 doubles, nine triples and 11 home runs.
The UAB pitching staff posts a 5.15 ERA with 132 strikeouts and 62 walks on the season. The Blazers snapped a four game losing streak with a weekend sweep of Western Illinois this past weekend.
Games at Trustmark Park
With wins last year over Mississippi State and Ole Miss at Trustmark Park the Golden Eagles improved to 7-1 all time at the stadium. Six of the seven wins have been over SEC opponents including Alabama (2), Ole Miss (3) and Mississippi State (1). The Golden Eagles also defeated La. Monroe there and lost to Ole Miss in the 2007 season.
For Tickets
In The Polls
After spending the first to weeks of the season in the top 25 Southern Miss fell from the polls in week three. The Golden Eagles have been ranked as high as No. 21 this season.
Southern Miss has been listed in the "Others Receiving Votes" category the last four weeks in the NCBWA Poll
RPI Watch
According to Boydsworld.com Southern Miss is currently No. 35 in the latest RPI. Here is a look at where some of the Golden Eagles opponents that are in the top 100 with the Golden Eagles record against them in parenthesis
12- Ole Miss
17- LSU
18- Mississippi State
21- Northwestern State (2-1)
32- Rice
39- La. Lafayette (2-1)
50- East Carolina
57- Houston
61- South Alabama
67- La. Monroe (2-0)
Around Conference USA
EAST CAROLINA
The Pirates won their series with Monmouth over the weekend, hitting 13 home runs in the three games. Junior OF Devin Harris batted an impressive .524 (11-for-21) on the week with five home runs, 12 RBI, laced four doubles and slugged 1.429 (all team bests). He recorded four multi-hit and four multi-RBI games and has homered in four straight games - an active streak that started on Mar. 17 vs. High Point. Junior SS Dustin Harrington had a career day in the series finale against Monmouth, going 6-for-6 with two home runs, six
RBI and scored five runs - all career-highs (the most hits since Jamie Paige's seven hits against Cincinnati on 4/17/04). With his six-hit performance, Harrington raised his batting average from .373 to .420 in just one day. Senior DH Kyle Roller smacked three home runs on the week to up his career total to 45, which is third all-time at ECU. On the week he batted .316 (6-for-19) with a double, four runs scored, seven walks and nine RBI
moving him into fifth place on the school's all-time RBI charts with 174. Sophomore C Zach Wright belted three home runs on the week, including a two-HR performance against Monmouth on Sunday. Sophomore RHP Mike Wright picked up his second career win in his third career start after working 5.1 innings with a career-best eight
strikeouts against Monmouth. He carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning before giving up single.
HOUSTON
The Cougars knocked off California on Wednesday, before dropping all three games at No. 1-ranked Arizona State over the weekend. Junior OF Caleb Ramsey finished with a .312 batting average in five games last week. He hit a solo home run that scored the Cougars' lone run against ASU on Friday night and followed that up with a 3-for-5 performance against the Sun Devils on Sunday, including two doubles with two RBI. Ramsey recorded a pinch hit single and went on to score the tying run against Cal in the ninth inning. He is batting .288 on the season with 10 RBI and is tied for the team lead with three doubles. Freshman RHP James Conlee went five scoreless innings in the first start of his career at Cal, allowing just three hits with a strikeout. He has not given up an earned run this season in 7.1 innings of work and has only surrendered four hits with four
Strikeouts. Junior LHP Taylor Hammack made two appearances last week, striking out 10 batters in a combined 10 innings pitched.
MARSHALL
The Thundering Herd finally played its first home games of the season over the weekend after a 13-game road trip to start the season. However, Marshall dropped three-of-four to LeMoyne in Huntington. Junior C Victor Gomez is currently on an 11-game hit streak, hitting .413 (19-for-46) at the plate. He has connected for five homers and 16 RBI, with a .804 slugging percentage during the streak. Senior OF Kurt Lipton accumulated a .538 batting average during the four-game series against Le Moyne. The senior was 7-for-13 at the plate, adding a double and triple. Senior INF Josh Valle drew four walks at the plate this weekend. He is now tied the all-time Marshall record for walks in a career with 102. Marshall was a perfect 13-for-13 on stolen base attempts against the Le Moyne Dolphins, including a nine swipe day in the 11-7 series finale victory on Sunday. Entering
the four-game set, MU had only tallied 14 stolen bases as a squad. Sophomore closer Austin Coan has still yet to allow an earned run out of the Herd bullpen. The senior righthander has made six appearances totaling 7.0 innings, surrendering five hits while striking out six.
MEMPHIS
The Tigers won a series from Tennessee Tech over the weekend and have put together their first four-game winning streak since the 2008 season. Sophomore OF Drew Martinez has reached base safely in all 19 games this season. Sophomore 2B Chad Zurcher now has a 12-game hitting streak. Martinez and/or Zurcher have had two or
more hits in nine straight games and they both had two or more hits in each game this past weekend. Junior DH Rick Russell blasted a walk-off grand slam to send Memphis to a 13-9 win on Sunday that clinched the sweep. Russell's blast over the leftfield wall marked Memphis' first walk-off grand slam since Joey Lieberman's four-run shot downed East Carolina in 2006. He finished the day with three hits, five RBI and two runs scored. In Saturday's 6-1 win over TTU, senior RHP Ryan Fraser threw his first career complete game, striking out a career-high 12 batters. The 12 strikeouts are the most by a Tiger pitcher since Derek Hankins fanned 14 vs. Louisville in April, 2004. Fraser allowed one run on five hits and walked just one batter. He has now struck out eight or more batters in each of his last four starts. The Tigers posted season-highs in runs (17) and hits (19) in
Friday night's wild 17-12 win over TTU.
RICE
Rice went 2-2 last week and recorded its second win over a Top 10 opponent in as many tries. The Owls defeated No. 2 Texas on March 16 at Reckling Park in front of 5,469 fans, the second-biggest crowd in the stadium's history. In his last 100 games against teams from the Big 12 Conference, Rice head coach Wayne Graham is now 69-31 since 2000. The Owls claimed Sunday's series finale at San Diego, 9-8, after rallying for four runs in its
final at bat in the ninth inning. In the USD series, Rice lost one of the games by a single run in extra innings 6-5, and another close-call 6-4. Last week sophomore 3B Anthony Rendon hit his team-leading ninth home run of the season and the 29th of his young college career. Slugging 29 career home runs has moved the Houston native into a tie for 10th place on Rice's all-time home run list with two other players. Sophomore C Craig Manuel extended his current career-best hitting streak to nine games over the weekend. Manuel is batting .340 on the season with a .440 slugging percentage. He also shares the team lead with four sacrifices (including SAC bunts and SAC flies). Sophomore OF Jeremy Rathjen went 5-for-10 last week with two home runs and two doubles for a 1.300 slugging percentage.
SOUTHERN MISS
The Golden Eagles were 3-1 last week and own the best overall record in Conference USA at 13-5. The Golden Eagles improved to 5-0 in midweek games with an 11-2 victory over New Orleans on Tuesday and an 8-7 win at Louisiana-Monroe on Wednesday. Southern Miss hit a season-high five home runs in Saturday's 15-7 win at Louisiana Tech. In Saturday's game, senior RHP Scott Copeland started the game with five shutout
innings, bring his consecutive scoreless inning streak to 16 before it was snapped in the sixth inning. Southern Miss turned two triple plays this month after having just one in school history prior to this season. The second triple play in school history was turned vs. Louisiana- Monroe on March 3 as B.A Vollmuth fielded a ground ball at shortstop, tagged the runner going to third, stepped on second base and threw to first base. The third triple
play in school history was once again turned by Vollmuth as he caught a line drive with runner moving on the pitch, stepped on second and threw over to first base at La. Tech on March 20. Senior 2B Taylor Walker had three RBI in the win at Louisiana-Monroe and finished the week with six runs drive in. Sophomore OF Kameron Brunty hit .400 (6-for- 15) last week with a double, a home run and five RBI.
TULANE
The Green Wave their winning streak to nine games by sweeping St. Mary's this past weekend. The nine game winning streak is the longest since Tulane won 10 in a row during the 2006 season. During the streak the team is batting .315 and the pitching staff is holding opposing batters to a .227 clip and holds a 2.47 ERA. Sophomore 3B Rob Segedin has hit in 19 straight games heading into this week's action. He has doubled eight times in his last nine games, including four straight contests with at least one twobagger, and his hitting .485 during that span. Junior righthanders Gunner Wright and Nick Pepitone combined to throw a two-hitter versus nationally-ranked Kansas on March 16. The pair allowed a pair of singles with five walks and five strikeouts to guide the
Green Wave to a 1-0 victory. Pepitone had a win and three saves last week. He allowed just one hit - a single - and walked one batter in 5.2 innings of work. The right-hander inherited five base runners and didn't allow any of them to score, including a bases loaded situation on Friday evening versus St. Mary's in a 4-1 ballgame. The Sunday victory over St. Mary's was the 1,770th win in program history and 688 of those have come under the guidance of head coach Rick Jones. With 12 more wins this season, coach Jones will reach the 700 victory plateau for his Tulane career.
UAB
With its three-game sweep of Western Illinois over the weekend, UAB has now won four consecutive series dating back to last season. The Blazers closed 2009 by taking two out of three games from Rice and have now opened the 2010 season with series victories over Ball State (3-1), Eastern Illinois (2-1) and Western Illinois (3-0). UAB hit four combined home runs in its Saturday doubleheader with Western Illinois, including a pair of
two-run shots from senior 1B Luke Stewart in the nightcap. Freshman DH John Frost also homered in game two, while junior 3B Andrew Manning went deep in game one. Manning heated up during the series, hitting .625 (5-for-8) with two doubles, one home run and five RBI over the three games. UAB sophomore Devin Hamilton came through with his second game-winning hit of the season Saturday when he singled home John Frost in
the bottom of the ninth to give the Blazers an 8-7 victory in the first game of a doubleheader. Both game-winners have come in pinch-hit appearances for Hamilton, who has tallied his two walk-off hits in just five total at-bats.
UCF
The Knights swept a three-game series from Presbyterian over the weekend and have now won six of their last seven games. Senior OF Chris Duffy continued his impressive performance at the plate, going 12-for-18 for a .667 average in helping UCF to a 4-1 record last week. The senior collected nine RBI, scored seven runs, crushed three homers, stole two bases, posted three sac flies and was hit by a pitch once during the five-game week, along with finishing with a 1.167 slugging and .591 on-base percentages. He extended his hitting streak to a career-long 12 games with a hit in every game. Freshman C Ryan Breen hit his first three collegiate home runs over the weekend, including a pair in Friday night's 15-1 win. He finished last week batting .563 (9-for-16) with five BI and a team-high eight runs scored. Junior LHP Nick Cicio tossed 7.0 innings of shutout ball in Saturday's 6-1 win, limiting the Blue Hose to just three hits and walking only one. He became the first UCF pitcher since 2008 to record at least 10 strikeouts, fanning 11 in his outing. It boosted his record to 2-0 on the year as he holds a
3.46 ERA with a team-high 32 strikeouts in 26.0 innings. Freshman RHP Owen Dew picked up his third win of the season on Friday night, striking out seven and allowing just one run in eight innings. UCF has scored at least five runs in an inning eight times this season. With 35 stolen bases, UCF has already surpassed its total from the 2009 season (24).
Awards and Honors
C-USA Pitcher of the Week
Todd McInnis (2/22)
Scott Copeland (3/15)
College Baseball Insiders Regional Pitcher of the Week
Scott Copeland (3/15)
Johnny Bench Award Watch List
PRESEASON
Conference USA Preseason Pitcher of the Year
C-USA Coaches and Baseball America
NCBWA Preseason All-American
Baseball America Preseason All-American
BA Vollmuth
Ping! Baseball Preseason All-American
All-Conference USA
(Selected by C-USA Coaches)
Baseball America All-Conference Team
SEBaseball.com All-Conference First Team
SEBaseball.com All-Conference Second Team
Following the Golden Eagles
WXHB (96.5 FM in Hattiesburg) will once again serve as the flagship station for the Golden Eagle baseball program this spring. Joining the ISP Sports Network this season will be WFFF (96.7 FM and 1360 AM in Columbia).
Both WXHB and WFFF will carry the full schedule this season.
Joining the network for all 24 Conference USA Games and selected mid-week games will be WAOY (91.7 FM in Gulfport), WRBE (106.9 FM and 1440 AM in Lucedale) and WGVM (1260 AM in Greenville).
The selected midweek games include March 23 vs. Ole Miss, April 7 vs. LSU, April 20 at Ole Miss, May 5 vs. Mississippi State and May 18 vs. Mississippi State.
The entire ISP Sports network would also carry any postseason game for the 2010 season including the C-USA Tournament and the NCAA postseason.
In addition, audio will be available for every game and video for all home games at southernmiss.com through the CBS College Sports All-Access subscription service.
Veteran broadcaster John Cox will call his 28th season of Southern Miss baseball in 2010
This Week at "The Pete"
Southern Miss is in the midst of an nine game road trip, they will return to the Pete on Thursday, April 1 for a three game series with St. Mary's
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 10 or more. For more information on bringing your group to "The Pete" contact Brain Morrison at 601.266.6866
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.
