University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Baseball Continues Road Swing at UAB This Weekend
4/14/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Stats: Southern Miss - UAB
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 - Saturday - Sunday
Live Stats: (Not Available at this time)
Pitching Probables --
Friday - RH Cord Cockrell, Sr. (6-0, 2.77 ERA) vs. RH Tanner Graham (1-4, 4.98 ERA), 6:30 pm
Saturday - RH Nick Johnson, Sr. (2-0, 3.21 ERA) vs. LH Ryan Ruggles (4-2, 2.31 ERA), 2 pm
Sunday -LH Kirk McCarty, So. (2-0, 4.10 ERA) vs. TBA, 1 pm
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The nationally ranked Southern Miss baseball team continues its five-game road swing when they travel to Birmingham this weekend to face UAB in a Conference USA series at Young Memorial Field.
The Golden Eagles, ranked as high as No. 18 by Collegiate Baseball, take on the Blazers at 6:30 p.m., contest on Friday, before meeting in a 2 p.m., Saturday affair and then conclude the series with a 1 p.m., Sunday contest.
Southern Miss (26-8 overall, 11-1 C-USA) brings in a four-game winning streak, including a 5-1 victory over No. 8 Ole Miss in Oxford on Wednesday, marking the third consecutive victory for the program at the Rebels' home park.
Under the direction of seventh-year coach Scott Berry, the squad ranks first in C-USA after four weekends of league action, holding a two-game lead over second-place Florida Atlantic and Rice.
The program looks to extend a 10-game C-USA regular-season winning streak as well as a string of 21 victories in their last 22 league contests. Southern Miss also vies for its eighth consecutive conference series win.
Against UAB, Southern Miss holds five-straight series victories and Berry is 15-5 against the Blazers (14-21, 4-8) since taking over during the 2010 campaign.
The Golden Eagles continue to play well offensively after registering 12 hits against Ole Miss, marking the 15th time in the last 17 games that they had reached double-digit hits as the team enjoys a .322 batting average.
Senior first baseman Tim Lynch, on the heels of a four-hit night against the Rebels, retook the team's top spot in hitting with a .394 average. Fellow senior, shortstop Nick Dawson, closely follows at .389, while centerfielder and graduate transfer Jake Sandlin hits at a .386 clip.
Junior rightfielder Dylan Burdeaux ranks next at .340, followed by freshman Hunter Slater at .328.
The rotation for the Golden Eagles this weekend remains in the same order for the third consecutive week as senior right-handers Cord Cockrell (6-0, 2.77 ERA) and Nick Johnson (2-0, 3.21 ERA) gets the call on Friday and Saturday, respectively, while sophomore southpaw Kirk McCarty (2-0, 4.10 ERA) earns the nod in the finale.
Following the UAB series, the Golden Eagles finish their current five-game road swing Tuesday at Tulane. The game against the Green Wave starts at 6:30 p.m.
