University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
This Week in Southern Miss Baseball
5/10/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 10, 2010
This Week's Schedule
Monday 5/10: Day off/No Practice (Final Exams)
Tuesday 5/11: Day off/No Practice (Final Exams)
Wednesday 5/12: Practice at Pete Taylor Park
Thursday 5/13: Practice at Pete Taylor Park/Travel to Houston
Friday 5/14: Southern Miss at Rice -7:00 p.m. (Live on CBS College Sports)
Saturday 5/15: Southern Miss at Rice - 2:00 p.m.
Sunday 5/16: Southern Miss at Rice - 1:00 p.m.
*All practice dates and times are tentative and subject to change without prior notice
TWIB Notes
· The Golden Eagles jumped back into the national polls with a No. 27 ranking by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper this week
· Southern Miss has won 11 consecutive games and swept the last three C-USA Series
· The 11 game win streak is currently tied with Virginia for the longest active win streak in the nation
· Over the last 11 games the Golden Eagles swept ECU (this past weekend), went to New Orleans and sweep a three game series from Tulane, and took three from Houston in Hattiesburg
· Mixed in with the three sweeps are midweek wins over South Alabama and Mississippi State
· Over the streak Southern Miss is hitting .368 with 37 extra base hits and has outscored their opponents 122-51
· Southern Miss is 9-1 in games that Scott Copeland (7-0) has started on the mound this season, their only loss was to UCF on April 10th in extra innings
· Freshman Dillon Day has emerged in centerfield and since taking over the starting role in the UCF series he is hitting .460 with 6 2B, a 3B, 23 RBI and 19 runs scored
· The black and gold have already turned 65 double plays through 46 games of 2010, which leads the nation (as of the last NCAA statistics posting on 5/2). 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.
· Friday's game at Rice will be televised nationally on CBS College Sports
· Todd McInnis has recorded 270 career strikeouts passing the legendary Ray Guy and Frankie McLendon moving into fifth place on the Southern Miss all-time list
· For his effort's against East Carolina on Saturday McInnis was named C-USA Pitcher of the Week for the second time this season,
- 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
Another perfect week ran Southern Miss' record to 29-17 as the Golden eagles thumped in-state Rival Mississippi State and then swept preseason top 15 East Carolina.
The Southern Miss baseball team reeled off their eighth straight win as they defeated in-state rival Mississippi State 14-3 in front of 3,830 fans at Trustmark Park Wednesday night.
The Southern Miss offense pounded out 16 hits and scored 14 runs. With State ahead 3-2 the Golden Eagles took control of the game in the late innings, scoring 12 runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. The big inning was the seventh when Southern Miss sent 11 batters to the plate to score seven runs, the Golden Eagles never looked back from there.
The Southern Miss baseball team use three big innings to win their ninth consecutive game 14-4 to open the East Carolina series Friday night at Pete Taylor Park. The Golden Eagles never trailed, jumping out to a five run lead in the first inning and scoring nine times in their final to at bats to account for all 14 runs.
Scott Copeland (7-0) had another quality start for Southern Miss, working seven innings allowing four runs on nine hits while striking out seven. All four of East Carolina's run came in the top of the fourth inning.
Collin Cargill worked the final two innings allowing only one hit while rolling two double play balls.
Offensively Joey Archer had four RBI, three of which came on his three run home run in the first inning. While freshman Dillon Day continued to swing a hot bat with three RBI on two hits while Mark Ellis had two RBI on three hits.
The Southern Miss baseball team picked up their tenth consecutive win on Saturday as Todd McInnis pitched them past East Carolina 8-2 at Pete Taylor Park. The game matched up two of the top pitchers in Conference USA as McInnis outdueled East Carolina's Seth Maness, giving Maness his first loss in eight decisions and only his third C-USA loss in his career.
McInnis was outstanding for the Golden Eagles, throwing eight complete innings allowing only one earned run and striking out eight to pick up his fourth consecutive win.
In the last two years McInnis has faces East Carolina twice, winning both games while working 15.2 innings, allowing only one run on six hits while striking out 16.
Southern Miss scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to take their first lead of the game and complete the sweep of East Carolina by a score a 7-6 at Pete Taylor Park Sunday morning.
East Carolina scored all six of their runs in the first three frames and the Golden Eagles chipped away with three runs in the second and a run in both the third and sixth innings to pull within one.
The magic returned to "The Pete" in the bottom of the eighth inning as Kameron Brunty reached on an infield single and B.A. Vollmuth followed with a hit and run single to right field to put runners on the corners. Mark Ellis tied the game with a single through the left side and Dillon Day knocked in the eventual winning run with a single to right field.
After East Carolina hit starting pitcher Ryan MacNamara for four runs in one plus inning the Golden Eagle bullpen took over. Cody Schlagel worked three inning allowing two runs on four hits.
Freshman Jay Myrick came up huge once again for Southern Miss, throwing four innings of no-hit ball from the fifth through eighth innings. Collin Cargill earned his eighth save of the season, allowing two hits in the ninth inning but stranded both the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position.
The Week's Opponents
Because of Final exams Southern Miss will not play a midweek game this week. The Golden Eagles travel to Rice this weekend for a key C-USA series. Rice is currently two games ahead of the Golden Eagles in the C-USA rankings.
Rice remains in sole possession of first place in the C-USA standings after taking two-of-three road games at league foe Marshall over the weekend. It completed a stretch of five games in six days for the Owls. Rice went 4-1 in the five games, averaged more than 13 runs for the five games and maintained a composite .647 slugging percentage as a team. The Blue & Gray also made only one error in the field for a .995 fielding percentage and turned a total of nine double plays. Senior C/DH Diego Seastrunk went 8-for-16 (.500) with three doubles and a home run for an .875 slugging percentage last week. He also drew a team-best eight walks for a .667 on-base average and moved up in the Rice career record books. Seastrunk vaulted into a tie with All-American Joe Savery for fifth place on the Owls' all-time list for base hits with 261. He also moved into a tie for sixth place with All-American Brian Friday on the Rice list for career doubles with 55. In the team's last 20 games, senior 1B Jimmy Comerota is batting .462 (36-of-78) with two home runs and five doubles for a .603 slugging percentage. He's also scored 27 times, driven-in 24 runs, stolen four bases and maintained a .533 on-base percentage. Sophomore 3B Anthony Rendon belted three homers last week, including two in Saturday's game, to give him a team-best total of 17 round-trippers this season. Rendon has kept his home run total (17) higher than his strikeout total (16) all year long.
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 but returned this week to No.27 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll.
The Golden Eagles have been ranked as high as No. 21 this season.
Southern Miss has also been listed in the "Others Receiving Votes" category s eight times in the NCBWA Poll, including the past two weeks
RPI Watch
According to Boydsworld.com Southern Miss is currently No. 57 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
15- LSU (0-1)
20- Ole Miss (0-2)
26- Rice
38- La. Lafayette (2-1)
60- South Alabama (1-1)
69- Northwestern State (2-1)
72- Mississippi State (1-0)
73- Troy (PPD)
79- East Carolina (3-0)
80- Tulane (3-0)
87- Houston (3-0)
90- Central Florida (0-3)
Professional Eagles
Jarrett Hoffpauir - Toronto Blue Jays Class AAA
Jarrett is hitting .327 in 29 games with three homers, 16 RBI and 18 runs score this season for the Las Vegas 51's. He has hit five doubles and a triple while drawing 16 walks and struck out only four times in 110 at bats
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 .248 in the first 27 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 .216 with three triples and five 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 .288 with four doubles and 11 RBI in his first 28 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 13.2 innings in nine games and recorded one save while holding opponents to a .135 average He has not allowed an earned run this season.
Brian Leach- Pittsburg Pirates Class A
Leach is currently playing for the Bradenton Marauders in the Class A Florida State League. He is 2-1 in five games with a 7.61 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 10 games this season and worked 11.0 innings while recording three saves and holing opponents to a .139 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 is 0-1 working 10.0 innings in eight 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 Southern Miss over the weekend. Senior DH Kyle Roller recorded at least one hit in each game and has now hit safely in five straight games. He finished the series 5-for-10 (.500) with three walks, and a pair of runs scored. Roller has walked a league-high 52 times in 48 games. Sophomore 3B Corey Thompson went 4-for-10 (.400), scored twice and drove in two runs. Thompson has a team-best 23 multiple-hit games on the season and also has a team-best 14 multiple-RBI outings. Junior RHP Seth Maness suffered his first loss in his last nine starts on Saturday after allowing six runs (three earned) in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out four and walked one, but was hurt defensively as the Pirates committed three errors that led to three runs, two in the first inning.
HOUSTON
The Cougars won the series opener against Tulane on Friday night before dropping the final two games against the Green Wave. Senior OF Zak Presley batted .500 (5-for-10) in the series with his fifth triple of the season, a home run and three walks. Junior IF Ryan Still hit his first career home run as a Cougar on Friday night and finished the game 2-for- 3 with three RBI. He also had a pair of hits in Sunday's contest. Sophomore RHP Ryan
Creel recorded his seventh save of the season on Friday night, pitching the final inning of the game with two strikeouts. Sophomore 3B Austin Gracey had four hits against Tulane and has at least one hit in each of his last five games. Four different Cougars have stolen 10 or more bases this season, led by Presley and junior Joel Ansley with 15 apiece.
MARSHALL
The Thundering Herd won the middle game of its three-game series against No. 25 Rice this past weekend. By knocking off the Owls on Saturday, the Thundering Herd registered a school record 11th Conference USA victory. Junior C Victor Gomez collected a multihome run game against Rice on Saturday, the third of his career. Two of the three multihomer contests have come against the Owls, while the other was last week against East
Carolina. Senior RHP Tyler Gatrell picked up the victory in relief against Rice. He owns a 4-2 record this season, with all four victories coming against C-USA opponents. Senior RHP Austin Coan matched the MU single-season saves record when he notched his eighth of the year against Rice on Saturday. He tied his own record he originally set in 2009, and junior RHP Arik Sikula who tallied eight saves in 2008 to match it. On Sunday, senior IF Josh Valle played in a school record 204th career game.
MEMPHIS
Memphis dropped the final two games of the weekend series against UAB. At 11-10 in league play, the Tigers are tied for third place in the conference standings as they step out of C-USA action this weekend with a three-game series at No. 15 Oklahoma. Sophomore OF Drew Martinez extended his current hitting streak to 15 games with hits in all three weekend contests. He led the Memphis offense with a .692 average (9-for-13) and added three RBI and three runs. Martinez opened with a perfect 4-for-4 night to help the Tigers take home the series opener, 11-9. He capped the series with his second four-hit game of the weekend—a 4-for-5 effort with two runs scored. Sophomore SS Chad Zurcher had his 17-game hitting streak snapped on Saturday, but he has still hit safely in 34 of his last 36 games. Senior LHP Brennon Martin allowed just two runs on two hits—a pair of solo home runs— to help Memphis to a 9-2 series-opening victory over UAB. The win was Martin's first win as a starter since a complete-game effort against Rice on March 26. The Memphis native scattered seven hits and struck out four.
RICE
Rice remains in sole possession of first place in the C-USA standings after taking two-of-three road games at league foe Marshall over the weekend. It completed a stretch of five games in six days for the Owls. Rice went 4-1 in the five games, averaged more than 13 runs for the five games and maintained a composite .647 slugging percentage as a team. The Blue & Gray also made only one error in the field for a .995 fielding percentage and turned a total of nine double plays. Senior C/DH Diego Seastrunk went 8-for-16 (.500) with three doubles and a home run for an .875 slugging percentage last week. He also drew a team-best eight walks for a .667 on-base average and moved up in the Rice career record books. Seastrunk vaulted into a tie with All-American Joe Savery for fifth place on the Owls' all-time list for base hits with 261. He also moved into a tie for sixth place with All-American Brian Friday on the Rice list for career doubles with 55. In the team's last 20 games, senior 1B Jimmy Comerota is batting .462 (36-of-78) with two home runs and five doubles for a .603 slugging percentage. He's also scored 27 times, driven-in 24 runs, stolen four bases and maintained a .533 on-base percentage. Sophomore 3B Anthony Rendon belted three homers last week, including two in Saturday's game, to give him a team-best total of 17 round-trippers this season. Rendon has kept his home run total (17) higher than his strikeout total (16) all year long.
SOUTHERN MISS
Southern Miss has won 11 consecutive games and swept its last three C-USA series. The Golden Eagles swept East Carolina this past weekend, went to New Orleans and swept a three game series from Tulane and took three from Houston in Hattiesburg. Mixed in with the three sweeps were midweek wins over South Alabama and Mississippi State. During the streak, Southern Miss is hitting .368 with 37 extra base hits and it has outscored its opponents 122-51. Junior OF Mark Ellis hit .529 (9-for-17) last week, recording multiple hits in all four games and multiple RBI in three of the four outings, while scoring five times. While he had several key hits over the week, none were bigger than his RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning to tie the game on Sunday against East Carolina. The Golden Eagles went on to win that game and sweep the Pirates. Sophomore SS B.A. Vollmuth was 7-for-17 (.412) last week with two doubles, three RBI, four walks and a team-high seven RBI. Freshman Dillon Day has emerged in centerfield and since taking over the starting role in the UCF series in early April he is hitting .460 with six doubles, a triple, 23 RBI and 19 runs scored. The Golden Eagles are 9-1 in games that senior RHP Scott Copeland (7-0) has started on the mound this season after picking up the win over ECU on Friday night. Southern Miss has already turned 65 double plays through 46 games of 2010, which leads the nation (as of the last NCAA statistics posting on 5/2). The Golden Eagles had four or more twin killings in three different games this year. They led the nation last year with 83 twin-killings. USM has also turned two
triple plays this season.
TULANE
The Green Wave batted .354 as a team over the weekend and scored 38 runs in three games at Cougar Field to win their first series in Houston since the 2000 season. This weekend, sophomore Robby Broach gave Tulane another solid effort on the mound to collect his team-leading seventh win of the season. He is now 7-3 on the season after an eight-inning outing vs. the Cougars on Saturday night. Broach allowed just two runs on eight hits with a pair of walks and eight strikeouts. He has tossed 70 innings in 12 starts this season and owns a 4.76 ERA with 69 strikeouts. It was the eighth time this season that Broach tossed 6+ innings in a start and was the fourth time in 2010 that he struck out more than eight batters. Freshman IF Brennan Middleton had a solid week at the plate as he posted three multi-hit and three-multi RBI contests in four starts. He posted two vs. ULM and bookended a one-hit game with a pair of two-hit showings versus the Cougars. Middleton doubled twice and smacked his second home run of the season in the series opener at UH. Sophomore 3B Rob Segedin continued his tear at the plate with eight hits in 17 at-bats (.471 average) and reached base at a .591 clip in four starts. After having his 18-game hitting streak snapped on Tuesday versus Louisiana- Monroe, Segedin posted three straight multi-hit contests - including a pair of three hit game to start the weekend - and he scored at least a run in each contest. He walked five times and struck out only once on the week. Head coach Rick Jones won his 700th game s coach of the Green Wave on Tuesday vs. Louisiana-Monroe. In his 17th season with the Green Wave, Jones has averaged 42 wins during his first 16 seasons.
UAB
UAB rallied from two four-run deficits Sunday to earn an 11-9 win over Memphis and claim a 2-1 series victory over the Tigers. After dropping the series opener, the Blazers bounced back to hit three home runs Saturday en route to an 8-3 win before also winning Sunday's rubber match. Freshman reliever Ben Bullard turned in his longest outing of the season in Sunday's finale to earn the win, allowing three runs over the final six innings. Bullard's performance came a day after senior RHP Beau Pender also held the Tigers to three runs in six frames to earn the win. Pender then handed the ball to senior closer Nick Graffeo, who surrendered only one hit over the final three innings to pick up his sixth save. UAB homered six times in the three-game series, including two by senior SS Jonathan Merritt. He also doubled twice as all four of his hits on the weekend went for extra bases. Merritt is now four at-bats and four runs scored away from holding the UAB all-time record in both categories. Senior 1B Luke Stewart hit his 16th homer of the season on Saturday. That is now tied for the fourth-highest single season total in UAB history. With the two wins at Memphis, head coach Brian Shoop continues to close in on career win No. 800. He currently stands at 798.
UCF
The Knights were idle last week. A 2009 Freshman All-American, Beau Taylor entered 2010 as a sophomore with two promising freshmen catchers backing him up in Chris Taladay and Ryan Breen. Taylor has continued to start at catcher and currently owns a .352 average, while Taladay earned the starting gig at third base en route to a .360 mark. And since Breen took advantage of early opportunities at the plate, he has moved into the designated hitter role and now hits .313 with nine stolen bases. Combined, the trio has belted out 18 homers and driven in 95 runs. UCF is one of only two teams in the country (New Mexico) that has two players with averages of at least .419, in Chris Duffy (.441) and Shane Brown (.419). The senior outfielders have both held batting averages above .400 at the same time for every game dating back to March 2. The Knights are one of only two teams in the country (Alabama A&M) to be consistently starting five freshmen in the batting order (minimum 30 starts).
Awards and Honors
C-USA Pitcher of the Week
Todd McInnis (2/22)
Scott Copeland (3/15)
Todd McInnis (5/10)
C-USA Hitter of the Week
Dillon Day (5/3)
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
Golden Spikes Award Watch List (Nations Top Player)
COSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District
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
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.
