University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Baseball Opens Fayetteville Regional with Dallas Baptist
5/31/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Fayetteville Regional Home Page | Parking Shuttle
Stats: Southern Miss - Dallas Baptist | Live Stats | Webstream ($): ESPN 3
Radio Network: Hattiesburg (WXHB-FM, 96.5; 97.7 and 104.5 HD2), Jackson (WJDX-AM 620), Columbia (WFFF-FM, 96.7), Pascagoula (WPMO-AM 1580), Southern Miss Gameday App (free), Tune In
Pitching Probables (Southern Miss vs. Dallas Baptist):
Friday - RH Nick Sandlin, Jr. (9-0, 1.13) vs. RH Trevor Conn, R-Sr. (8-1, 2.92), 7 pm
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Southern Miss opens its 15th appearance in the NCAA Baseball Tournament Friday when they take on Dallas Baptist at 7 p.m., in the Fayetteville Regional at Baum Stadium.
The Golden Eagles (43-16) are the No. 2 seed in the regional, while they take on the No. 3 seeded Patriots (40-19). Host Arkansas (39-18) holds the No. 1 seed, while Oral Roberts (38-18) is the No. 4 seed in the regional.
The two programs have met twice in baseball with the Golden Eagles holding a 5-1 overall record between the two schools. Southern Miss won two of a three-game set in Dallas in 2006, while the Golden Eagles swept the Patriots at Pete Taylor Park in a three-game series the following year.
Southern Miss enters the weekend as the Conference USA regular season and tournament champions, only the second time that they have achieved that feat with the other time taking place during the 2003 campaign.
The Golden Eagles enter the regional with a .304 team batting average with seven players holding a batting mark over .300. Luke Reynolds, the Conference USA Player and Newcomer of the Year, leads the way with a .400 batting mark to go along with 20 doubles, a triple, 15 home runs and 60 RBI, while Matt Wallner is second at .358 with 12 doubles, 16 home runs and 66 RBI.
Matthew Guidry ranks third on the team with a .329 batting mark, followed by Fred Franklin, Hunter Slater and Daniel Keating - all at .306 - with Gabe Montenegro hitting at .304.
Junior right-handed All-American Nick Sandlin gets the call for the Golden Eagles with a 9-0 record and a 1.13 ERA. In 95 1/3 innings, Sandlin has fanned 134 with only 15 walks including three complete-game shutouts this season. He will face redshirt senior right-hander Trevor Conn, who is 8-1 with a 2.92 ERA this season.
The winner of the opening game plays the winner of Arkansas-Oral Roberts, Saturday, at 7 p.m. The two losers play at 2 p.m., in the double-elimination event.
