University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Finishes Road Swing at Nationally Ranked Rice
3/26/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Game Notes: Southern Miss
Stats: Southern Miss - Rice
TV: Fox Sports 2 (Friday Only - (DirecTV 618; Dish Network 397)
Radio Network: Hattiesburg (WKZW-FM, 94.3), Jackson (WJDX-AM 620), Columbia (WFFF-FM, 96.7), Gulfport/Biloxi (WTNI-AM 1640/WXBD-AM 1490); Southern Miss Gameday App (free)
Webstream Link ($): Friday - Saturday - Sunday
Live Stats: - -
Pitching Probables -
Friday - RH Cody Carroll, Jr. (1-0, 1.50 ERA) vs. RH Kevin McCanna, Jr. (2-2, 3.38 ERA)
Saturday - RH Christian Talley, Sr. (2-3, 3.60 ERA) vs. LH Blake Fox, Jr. (2-0, 3.98 ERA)
Sunday - RH James McMahon (4-0, 1.18 ERA) vs. TBA
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Southern Miss baseball team completes its seven-game road swing when it heads to Houston this weekend for a Conference USA series against No. 14 Rice at Reckling Park.
The Golden Eagles (14-8-1, 3-2 C-USA) play the Owls (17-10, 7-2) in a 6 p.m., contest Friday, in a 2 p.m., game Saturday and then complete the series with a 1 p.m., affair on Sunday. The Friday contest will be televised nationally on Fox Sports 2 (DirecTV 618; Dish Network 397).
Southern Miss enters the contests having won five of their last six games and have posted a 10-4 month of March.
The Golden Eagles sport the best earned run average in Conference USA this season and are fifth in the country at 2.18, while Rice, who always has solid pitching, comes in fourth in the league with a 3.38 ERA.
Freshman Taylor Braley continues to lead Southern Miss offensively with a .404 batting average to go along with a team-best seven doubles on the year. Senior Matt Durst, who has hit .356 in the month of March with five doubles, two triples, two homers and 13 RBI, is next on the squad at .349, while senior Connor Barron is third at .341 with help from a current eight-game hitting streak.
On the defensive side, Southern Miss has the second-best fielding percentage in the league at .971 and ranked first in double plays turned with 29, after tying a season high with three against Mississippi State on Tuesday.
Rice enters the weekend having split a pair of midweek contests with Sam Houston State. The Owls beat the Bearkats 4-0 in Houston on Tuesday, before dropping an 11-4 decision on Wednesday in Huntsville.
Following the Rice series, the Golden Eagles return to action at Pete Taylor Park for a Thursday-Saturday C-USA series with UAB.
