Baseball Opens 2019 Season with Purdue in Weekend Series

Friday, February 15

Pete Taylor Park

4 p.m.

Southern Miss

Purdue

Photo by: Joe Harper

Baseball Opens 2019 Season with Purdue in Weekend Series

2/14/2019 4:56:00 PM | Baseball

Game Notes - Purdue Series

Stats: Southern Miss – Purdue | Live Stats | Webstream (C-USA.TV/$): Friday | Saturday | Sunday
Radio Network: Hattiesburg (WXHB-FM, 96.5; 97.7 and 104.5 HD2), Jackson (WJDX-AM 620), Columbia (WFFF-FM, 96.7), Southern Miss Gameday App (free), Tune In
Pitching Probables (Southern Miss vs. Purdue)*:
             Friday - RH Walker Powell, Jr. (7-3, 3.80) vs. RH Dalton Parker, Jr. (5-0, 3.21), 4 pm
               Saturday – LH Stevie Powers, Sr. (5-2,4.07) vs. LH Ryan Beard, Sr. (5-3, 4.26), 4 pm
               Sunday – TBA vs. RH Andrew Bohm, R-So. (2-0, 4.50), 1 pm

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – After winning the most games over a two-year period and capturing back-to-back Conference USA regular season crowns, the Southern Miss baseball team starts its quest for a fourth-straight NCAA Tournament berth when they open the 2019 campaign against Big 10 Conference foe Purdue this weekend at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field.

The Golden Eagles play the Boilermakers - who posted a 38-21 record a year ago, finished second in the Big 10 and played in the NCAA Chapel Hill Regional as a No. 2 seed - at 4 p.m., both Friday and Saturday. The series ends Sunday with a 1 p.m. contest.

Under Scott Berry, the program has won 94 games over the last two seasons including a school-record 50 games in 2017 and a 44-18 record in 2018 that including a Conference USA regular season and tournament crowns.

Southern Miss opens at home for the 21st time over the last 22 seasons and are 43-28-1 in season openers, dating back to the 1947 campaign. Last season, Berry's unit collected a three-game sweep of Mississippi State at Pete Taylor Park to open the campaign.

The squad returns 19 letterwinners from a season ago, including preseason All-American and C-USA Preseason Player of the Year Matt Wallner, who batted .351 with 16 home runs and 67 RBI in 2018. Junior Matthew Guidry, who along with Wallner is a team co-captain, returns to anchor second base with his .328 batting mark from a year ago with five homers and 39 RBI. Senior Hunter Slater added a .309 mark with 12 homers and 55 RBI in his first year at first base.

On the mound, two returners get the ball in the opening two games, including junior right-hander Walker Powell (7-3, 3.80 ERA) on Friday and senior left-hander Stevie Powers (5-2, 4.07 ERA) expected to go on Saturday.

The team also welcomes 15 newcomers including freshman Danny Lynch, who is expected to start at third base for the squad.

The mix of veterans and newcomers should combine to help the Golden Eagles battle for another league title as well as vie for their 16th overall NCAA Tournament appearance.

Tickets for the weekend series, as well as season tickets, can be obtained by going online at SouthernMissTickets.com, by calling 1-800-844-TICK (8425) or by visiting the Pat Ferlise Athletic Ticket Office Friday starting at 8 a.m. The Pete Taylor Park Box office opens two hours prior to each home game.

Following the three-game Purdue series, the Golden Eagles travel to Trustmark Park in Pearl, to take on Troy in a Wednesday, Feb. 20, contest starting at 6:30 p.m.