University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Baseball Entertains Nationally Ranked Florida Atlantic
4/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Stats: Southern Miss -- Florida Atlantic
TV: None
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, Game 1 -- Friday, Game 2 - Saturday
Live Stats: -- -
Pitching Probables --
Friday, Game 1 -- RH Kyle Miller, Jr. (3-1, 3.42 ERA) vs. RH Cody Carroll, Jr. (2-2, 2.39 ERA)
Friday, Game 2 -- LH Sean Labsan, So. (2-0, 2.61 ERA) vs. LH Kirk McCarty, Fr. (2-0, 2.30 ERA)
Saturday -- LH Brandon Rhodes, Jr. (1-0, 2.86 ERA) vs. RH James McMahon, Sr. (7-0, 1.27 ERA)
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- After having both of its midweek games called off due to weather, the Southern Miss baseball team looks to get back on to the diamond this weekend when they play host to Conference USA co-leader and nationally ranked Florida Atlantic for a three-game series.
The rain that has plagued the Golden Eagles all week has altered the series schedule this weekend as the two teams will now play a 4 p.m., doubleheader on Friday and then try to conclude the series with a 4 p.m., contest on Saturday. Should there be rain issues on Saturday, the two teams will still have Sunday to complete the series. Tickets for Friday's game are good for both games of the doubleheader.
Southern Miss (20-12-1, 8-6) may be playing its most formidable opponent to date this season as the Owls enter this weekend's series with a 29-8 overall record and an 11-4 league mark, and are tied with Middle Tennessee at the top of the league standings. Florida Atlantic also holds a No. 16 ranking by D1Baseball.com and are placed at No. 21 by Baseball America.
The two teams met for the first time last spring in Boca Raton, Fla., with Southern Miss capturing two of the three games in that set.
This series begins a string of four-straight home games for the Golden Eagles, who having played 11 of the last 14 games away from Pete Taylor Park. Southern Miss was 9-5 over that span.
Freshman Taylor Braley continues to lead the Golden Eagles offensively this season. The league's current top hitter holds a .398 batting mark with a team-best nine doubles, a homer and 16 RBI. Senior designated hitter Matt Durst is next at .317 with two homers and a team-high 19 RBI, while senior centerfielder Connor Barron is at .311 with four homers and 13 RBI.
Southern Miss also ranks first in team earned run average with a 2.58 as six different pitchers with at least 10 innings of work are currently under a 3.00 ERA.
Following the Florida Atlantic series, the Golden Eagles return to action Tuesday night when they play host to ULM. Game time is set for 6 p.m.
