University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
This Week in Southern Miss Baseball
4/26/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 26, 2010
This Week's Schedule
Monday 4/26: Day off/No Practice
Tuesday 4/27: Practice at Pete Taylor Park
Wednesday 4/28: South Alabama at Southern Miss- 6:30 p.m. CST
Thursday 4/29: Practice at Pete Taylor Park
Friday 4/30: Southern Miss at Tulane - 7:00 p.m. (Live on CBS- College Sports)
Saturday 5/1: Southern Miss at Tulane - 2:00 p.m. CST
Sunday 5/2: Southern Miss at Tulane- 1:00 p.m. CST
*All practice dates and times are tentative and subject to change without prior notice
TWIB Notes
· Friday's game at Tulane will be televised nationally on CBS College Sports, first pitch is set for 7:00 p.m.
· The Golden Eagles swept Houston in a three game-C-USA series over the weekend to win their first C-USA series of the season
· Over the weekend series the Golden Eagles hit .385 (42-109) with six home runs, two triples and five doubles while scoring 31 runs on 42 hits
· Southern Miss is 7-1 in games that Scott Copeland (5-0) has started on the mound this season, their only loss was to UCF on April 10th in extra innings
· Closer Collin Cargill earned two saves over the weekend, giving him 18 career saves which is fourth place all-time at Southern Miss
· Todd McInnis earned his first win since March 5th at La.- Lafayette on Saturday
· McInnis needs only 10 more strikeouts to tie Ray Guy for sixth on the school's all-time list
· The black and gold have already turned 54 double plays through 38 games of 2010, which leads the nation (as of the last NCAA statistics posting on 4/18). The Golden Eagles have had four or more twin killings in three different games this year.
· They led the nation last year with 83 twin-killings.
· Southern Miss hit grand slams in back to back games with Joey Archer's shot at South Ala. and Taylor Walker's in the Thursday game of the St. Mary's series
- Southern Miss turned two triple plays this season, both started by B.A. Vollmuth, it is believed that only eight triple plays have been turned in D1 baseball this season with Southern Miss turning two of them.
Last week in review
The Golden Eagles were 3-1 on the week, including a series sweep of Houston at "The Pete" over the weekend.
Southern Miss managed only five hits as they fell 7-2 to No. 19 Ole Miss Tuesday evening at Swazye-University Field in Oxford, Miss. Ole Miss starting pitcher Matt Crouse baffled the Golden Eagle hitters throughout his six innings of work, allowing only one hit to Travis Graves in the sixth inning while striking out five and walking three. The Rebel bullpen worked the final three innings allowing two runs on four hits.
Southern Miss scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh and held on to take the series opener 10-9 over Houston Friday night at Pete Taylor Park. The game featured six different lead changes and some crucial moments but the seventh inning is where the Golden Eagles won the game.
Houston scored four runs in the sixth to take the lead and entered the seventh ahead 9-7. Redshirt freshman Paxton King entered the game in relief of Southern Miss starter Scott Copeland and surrendered three consecutive singles to load the bases with no one out. King then worked his way out of the jam with a groundball to B.A. Vollmuth, with the infield drawn in, who threw home for the first out of the inning. Then King started a one-two-three double play to end the inning and the Cougar threat.
In the bottom of the frame Southern Miss scored three runs and took a lead they would not relinquish.
Southern Miss gave Todd McInnis the offensive support that he has been missing over his last few starts to propel the Golden Eagles to a 13-4 victory Saturday night at Pete Taylor Park. Southern Miss scored six runs in the third inning and turned the rest over to McInnis and freshman Jay Myrick on the bump. McInnis worked six solid innings allowing only one earned run on four hits while striking out five to pick up his third win of the season and move into a fourth place tie on the schools career win list at 22.
Myrick closed out the final three frames allowing one run on three hits to earn his first career save.
At the plate nine different players accounted for the 15 hits, with Joey Archer and Taylor Walker tallying three hits a piece. Dillon Day had the big blow with a three-RBI double in the third while Walker and Tyler Koelling both hit two-run home runs in the fifth.
Southern Miss jumped out to a 6-1 lead and held on to take the Sunday game by a score of 8-5 to complete the weekend sweep over Houston. With the three wins over Houston this weekend Southern Miss has now defeated the Cougars 12 of the last 13 times they have meet, dating back to the 2006 season and seven times in a row at Pete Taylor Park.
The recipe for success Sunday was much like it was both Friday and Saturday with the Golden Eagle offense giving the pitching staff runs early to work with. On Sunday, Southern Miss scored six runs in the first four frames, giving the pitchers a 6-1 lead early on.
The Week's Opponents
The Eagles will welcome South Alabama to "The Pete" on Wednesday. The Jags and Southern Miss met on March 30 with South Alabama scoring 10 unanswered runs to come from behind and defeat Southern Miss 14-13 at Stanky Field in Mobile, Ala.
The Golden Eagles used an eight run fourth inning to jump out to a 13-4 lead but South Alabama scored 10 unanswered runs in their final four at bats to win the game. the two teams combined to use 13 pitchers that allowed 27 runs and 35 hits while leaving 22 runners on base in a game that lasted over three-and-a-half hours.
Tulane won the first game of its series at Memphis, 13-5, but dropped both games of Sunday's doubleheader. Sophomore 3B Rob Segedin homered in all four games last week and has hit a round-tripper in five straight outings. He has also extended his current hitting streak to 14 games, while scoring at least one run in seven games in a row. Segedin has reached base safely in 39 of the 40 games he has played in this season. Freshman OF Brandon Boudreaux extended his hitting streak to six games with six total hits in the Memphis series, including his second career four-hit contest in game one on Sunday. Junior DH Gunner Wright was 6-for-10 (.600) in the series with two doubles, three RBI and four runs scored. Tulane posted its second shutout of the season and its fourth non-conference win over a ranked team on April 20 with a 6-0 blanking of No. 20 Southeastern Louisiana. Head coach Rick Jones is just two wins away from reaching the 700 win mark after claiming a pair of victories last week. Jones sits at 698 wins in his 17 seasons at the helm of the Green Wave, with 257 of those coming in Conference USA play.
In The Polls
After spending the first three 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 was listed in the "Others Receiving Votes" category for six weeks in the NCBWA Poll
Professional Eagles
Jarrett Hoffpauir - Toronto Blue Jays Class AAA
Jarrett is hitting .333 in 16 games with two homers, nine RBI and 10 runs score this season for the Las Vegas 51's. On Sunday night he became only the eighth player in 51's history to hit for the cycle
Marc Maddox - Kansas City Royals Class AAA
Maddox is playing for the Omaha Royals in the Pacific Coast League where Rosenblatt Stadium is his home field. Currently he is hitting .233 in the first 17 games this season
Bo Davis - San Diego Padres Class A
Davis is playing his first full season of pro baseball with the Fort Wayne Tincaps in the Midwest League. He is currently hitting .186 with three triples and three RBI
Brian Dozier- Minnesota Twins Class A
Dozier is adjusting nicely to his first season of pro ball play for the Beloit Snappers in the Class A Midwest League. He is hitting .345 with two doubles and five RBI in his first 15 games
JR Ballinger- Chicago White Sox Class A
Ballinger is working out of the bullpen for the Kannapolis Intimidators which is in the South Atlantic League. Thus far he has worked 8.2 innings in five games and recorded one save while holding opponents to a .182 average.
Brian Leach- Pittsburg Pirates Class A
Leach is currently playing for the Bradenton Marauders in the Class A Florida State League. He is 2-0 in four games with a 4.96 ERA
Barry Bowden- Kansas City Royals Class A
Bowden is working as the closer for the Wilmington Blue Rocks in the Class A Advanced Carolina League. He was appeared in six games this season and worked 6.1 innings while recording two saves while holing opponents to a .105 average
Tyler Conn- Detroit Tigers Class A
Conn is working out of the bullpen for the Lakeland Flying Tigers of the Class A Advanced Florida State League. The Golden Eagles single season save leader does not have a decision working 7.1 innings in five game this season
Toddric Johnson- Oakland A's Class A
Johnson is with the Stockton Ports of the California League and is yet to make an appearance this year
Josh Billeaud- Chicago White Sox Rookie League
Billeaud is still in the White Sox organization and will likely be assigned to a team once the short season begin after the June free agent draft
Around Conference USA
EAST CAROLINA
The Pirates dropped all three games at first place Rice this past weekend. Junior OF Trent Whitehead batted at team-best .350 (7-for-20) with three doubles, two RBI and five runs scored. He recorded a hit in 4-of-5 games on the week, including a pair of multi-hit games in the last two contests against the Owls. Freshman IF Philip Clark batted .333 (5-for-15) with a home run, double and five runs scored last week. He recorded his fifth career multi-hit game with a two-hit performance against Campbell. Senior DH Kyle Roller hit his 48th career home run against N.C. State on April 21. He is two home runs shy of becoming the second Pirate in school history to hit 50 home runs as well as becoming just the fifth person in NCAA history to have 50 HRs and 50 HPBs. Senior C Jared Avchen and sophomore 3B Corey Thompson each stroked three-run homers in the series finale against Rice. For both players it was their fourth home runs of the season. Avchen batted .300 (3-for-10) with three RBI on the week, while Thompson hit .313 (5-for-16) with four RBI. Junior RHP Brad Mincey registered his second quality start (6.0 IP and 3 or less ER) of the season, working six strong innings against N.C. State on April 21. He allowed four runs (two earned) on seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts in a no-decision.
HOUSTON
The Cougars lost all three games at Southern Miss this past weekend. Junior OF Caleb Ramsey has now hit safely in 19 consecutive games after posting five hits in the Southern Miss series. He also drove in three runs and scored three times against the Golden Eagles. Ramsey drove in a pair of runs in Friday's series opener for his team-best eighth multiple-RBI game. Junior OF Joel Ansley hit safely in each game last week, totaling seven hits in the four contests. He hit his third home run of the season on Sunday and drove in a pair of runs on the week. Junior SS Blake Kelso had two hits on Friday and three hits (including a home run) on Sunday to give him a team-high 16 multiple-hit outings on the season. Sophomore 3B Austin Gracey had at least one hit in each game
of the Southern Miss series, going 5-for-11 (.455).
MARSHALL
The Thundering Herd's series sweep of UCF marked the first time Marshall won all three games against a Conference USA opponent since the 2008 season. At 9-6 in conference play, the Herd is just one league win away from matching the most in program history, 10 in 2008. The 5-0 record over the week propelled Marshall to a .500 record (20-20) for the first time since MU was 7-7 on March 19. It marked the first time the Herd had
won five in a row since April, 2008. Marshall was won seven-straight games and captured three consecutive C-USA series for the team's highest rank (2nd) in the conference standings infive seasons in the league. Sophomore IF Thor Meeks clubbed two three-run homers en route to a six RBI day in the second game of a doubleheader against Coppin State on April 21. The six RBI are the most by a Marshall player this season. The Herd's pitching staff held the UCF offense to a .235 batting average for the series. Marshall hurlers buckled down with runners on base as the Knights hit at a .196 clip with people on and .129 with runners in scoring position. MU posted a 3.00 ERA for the weekend despite issuing 21 free passes and plunking five. Junior C Victor Gomez hit .438 (7-for-16) for the week, roping a game-winning, walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to help Marshall aim a 6-5 come-from-behind victory in the second game of the UCF series. He launched a solo homer on Sunday to spark a three-run seventh inning for the second comeback win in as many days. The round tripper was the 11th of the season for Gomez and the 40th of his career, giving him the most homers in school history. He now owns the career records at Marshall for homers, RBI and total bases.
MEMPHIS
The Tigers swept a Sunday doubleheader from Tulane to take two-of-three from the Green Wave and move into third place in the conference standings with an 8-7 league record. True freshman IF John Jordan had a memorable week, as he made his first career start and hit his first collegiate home run all on the same day. Jordan played in all four games last week, but was a starter in the Memphis lineup on Sunday. He hit .636 (7- for-11) for the week and .600 (6-for-10) in a series win over Tulane. In his first career start, Jordan was 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI to lead the Memphis offense to a 12-8 win. He continued swinging a hot bat and banged out two more hits in the nightcap, including his first career home run. Senior 1B Trey Wiedman hit a pair of home runs and drove in seven during the Tulane series. Freshman C J.D. Wallace made his first collegiate start a memorable one, going 3-for-5 with four RBI to lead Memphis to a 15-5 win over Arkansas State on April 21. Sophomore OF Drew Martinez hit safely in all four games last week, going 10-for-18 (.556) while also walking three times. He tripled, stole two bases, drove in four runs and scored five times. Junior RHP Chase Joiner was solid in relief for the Tigers, helping the club win both games he pitched in, in a three-win week. The junior college transfer held Arkansas State and Tulane scoreless on five hits in a combined 5.1 innings of relief. He also fanned five and picked up his first career save during the week's action.
RICE
Rice remains in sole possession of first place in the Conference USA standings after sweeping a three-game series against East Carolina over the weekend. The Owls have won 9 of their last 11 games, dating back to April 10. In his last 15 games, senior 1B Jimmy Comerota is batting .491 (27-of-55) with two home runs and four doubles for a .673 slugging percentage. He's also scored 22 times, driven-in 18 runs, stole four bases and maintained a .567 on-base percentage. Sophomore LHP Taylor Wall is 3-0 in four April appearances with a 1.78 ERA. He has held all opponents to a composite .179 batting average and struck out 24 in 30.1 innings. After 15 C-USA games, junior RF Chad Mozingo is batting .492 against the league. He has 32 hits in the 15 games, including six doubles and a triple. Mozingo has scored 17 times, driven-in 17 runs, stole seven bases and maintained a .526 on-base percentage. Senior RHP Mike Ojala allowed just one earned run on four hits and struck out 10 in 7.0 innings in his Saturday start against ECU, a game which the Owls eventually won when sophomore 3B Anthony Rendon blasted a pitch over the wall in the eighth inning for his team-leading 14th home run of the season (and 34th of his career).
SOUTHERN MISS
The Golden Eagles swept a weekend series from Houston this past weekend. With the three wins over UH, Southern Miss has now defeated the Cougars 12 of the last 13 times they have meet, dating back to the 2006 season, and seven times in a row at Pete Taylor Park. The Golden Eagles produced 42 hits in the series, including 15 in each of the final two games. In four games last week, Southern Miss produced 14 extra-base hits (six doubles, six home runs and two triples). The balanced Golden Eagles attack saw eight different players drive in at least three runs, with senior C Travis Graves and freshman OF Dillon Day each knocking in a team-high five. Junior closer Collin Cargill earned two saves over the weekend, giving him 18 career saves, which now ranks fourth all-time at Southern Miss. In Saturday's 13-4 win, junior RHP Todd McInnis earned his first victory
since March 5th at Louisiana-Lafayette. He allowed just one earned run on four hits, striking out five and walking two. McInnis needs only 10 more strikeouts to tie Ray Guy for sixth on the school's all-time list.
TULANE
Tulane won the first game of its series at Memphis, 13-5, but dropped both games of Sunday's doubleheader. Sophomore 3B Rob Segedin homered in all four games last week and has hit a round-tripper in five straight outings. He has also extended his current hitting streak to 14 games, while scoring at least one run in seven games in a row. Segedin has reached base safely in 39 of the 40 games he has played in this season. Freshman OF Brandon Boudreaux extended his hitting streak to six games with six total hits in the Memphis series, including his second career four-hit contest in game one on Sunday. Junior DH Gunner Wright was 6-for-10 (.600) in the series with two doubles, three RBI and four runs scored. Tulane posted its second shutout of the season and its fourth non-conference win over a ranked team on April 20 with a 6-0 blanking of No. 20 Southeastern Louisiana. Head coach Rick Jones is just two wins away from reaching the 700 win mark after claiming a pair of victories last week. Jones sits at 698 wins in his 17 seasons at the helm of the Green Wave, with 257 of those coming in Conference USA play.
UAB
The Blazers had their entire weekend non-conference series with Manhattan postponed due to weather. Prior to that, UAB dropped a pair of mid-week games with Samford. Sophomore OF Jamal Austin has at least one hit in 13 of his last 14 games and is batting a team-best .383 on the season. Included in that stretch are 10 multiple-hit outings. Senior 1B Luke Stewart has a team-high 11 home runs this season, which gives him 39 in his UAB career, the second-most in school history. His 143 RBI rank fourth at the school while his 116 walks are third in UAB annals. With four saves this season, senior closer Nick Graffeo has moved into sixth place on the school's career saves list with 10 in less than two full seasons in a Blazers uniform. UAB has stolen a league-high 63 bases and three players rank among the top six in C-USA. Austin leads the conference with 19, Junior 2B Nick Crawford is fourth with 14 and senior SS Jonathan Merritt is tied for sixth with 11.
UCF
UCF won a pair of mid-week games before falling in all three league contests at Marshall this past weekend. The Knights have now won eight consecutive mid-week contests. Senior OF Chris Duffy hit his 16th home run of the season on Sunday, which ties for the third most in UCF history (the record is 18 set by Dee Brown in 2005). He has driven in 161 in four years as a Knight. In the career record books, Duffy sits in fourth place with 38 lifetime dingers in a Black and Gold uniform, and needs just two more to climb into third. Duffy claimed sole possession of fifth place on the UCF career RBI chart Sunday. Classmate Shane Brown, meanwhile, entered the all-time top 10 in homers over the weekend by sending two over the wall Friday and one more Saturday to place him 10th with 23 career round-trippers. Duffy and Brown rank 1-2 in C-USA in batting average, with Duffy hitting .442 and Brown batting .327. As a team, the Knights lead Conference USA with a .334 batting average. Sophomore C Beau Taylor has at least one hit in 15 of his last 16 games. Since April 2, he is batting .406 (26-for-64) with 14 RBI and 16 runs scored. Junior IF Jonathan Griffin batted .368 (7-for-19) last week with two doubles, a home run, four RBI and five runs scored.
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
Brooks Wallace Award Watch List (Nations Top SS)
National Pitcher of the Year 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"
The University of Southern Mississippi Department of Athletics and the Golden Eagle Baseball team in conjunction with the Mississippi Army Nation Guard will honor the military Wednesday night vs. South Alabama.
All members of the military will receive a $2 ticket for the game with a valid ID.
Several special events are being held in conjunction with the game including an oversized flag in the outfield for the national anthem that will be held by Southern Miss student athletes and members of the Army National Guard.
The Mississippi Army National Guard will also bring out their Mobile event trailer which features interactive games such as Rock Band and Call of Duty as well as a PT Competition.
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 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.
