University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Baseball Opens C-USA Play with Houston This Weekend
3/22/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 22, 2012
Friday, March 23 | 6:00 p.m. CT
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Saturday, March 24 | 6:00 p.m. CT
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Sunday, March 25 | 1:00 p.m. CT
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USM Game Notes 
| Houston Game Notes
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Southern Miss baseball team opens Conference USA play this weekend at home with a three-game series against Houston at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field.
The Golden Eagles and Cougars start with a 6 p.m., Friday contest, before continuing with a Saturday 6 p.m., game, and then ending on Sunday with a tilt at 1 p.m. The game can be heard on the Southern Miss IMG Sports Network. Saturday's game will also be televised via CSS.
Southern Miss (12-9) looks to top the Cougars (9-10) as the schools have met 52 times since the series began between the two teams. Currently both programs have won 26 times in the series, as Houston and Southern Miss start the long road ahead towards the C-USA Championship in Pearl, Miss., May 23-27. Houston has won the last three times against the Golden Eagles, winning twice at Cougar Field during the regular season and then a 7-6, 14-inning victory over Southern Miss in the C-USA Tournament.
Freshman Mason Robbins is guiding the Golden Eagles through the season with a batting average of .442, on the strength of an 18-game hitting streak. The streak is the longest for Southern Miss since B.A. Vollmuth tallied a 24-gamer which stretched over the 2010 and 2011 campaigns.
Freshman Connor Barron and junior Blake Brown continue to string together hits as well.
Brown stays poised with a .342 batting average with an astounding 24 RBI, while Barron holds a .355 average tallying 11 runs. Dillon Day, who has missed the last four games, follows close behind with an average of .323, giving the team a hefty offensive front.
Andrew Pierce will hit the mound in the series opener against the Cougars as Southern Miss' right-handed strong arm has posted a 2-1 record with a 2.30 earned run average. In Saturday's game, redshirt freshman Jake Drehoff will change up the pace as the Golden Eagles' left-hander brings in a 2-0 mark and a 4.11 ERA. The Golden Eagles are undecided with its Sunday starter at this point.
For Houston, senior lefthander Jordan Lewis (3-2, 2.81 ERA) will be pitching on Friday, with senior righthander Codey Morehouse (1-0, 2.51 ERA) getting the call on Saturday. Junior righty Austin Pruitt (1-2, 2.03 ERA) will toe the rubber in the series finale for the Cougars.
Since the series began, Southern Miss holds a 10-11 record against its opponent in Hattiesburg.
Following the Houston series, Southern Miss finishes a stretch of seven of eight games at home with a Tuesday contest with Louisiana-Monroe. Game time is 6 p.m.
