March 31 Baseball Notebook
March 31, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format Four Conference USA teams are nationally-ranked this week. Rice, which has been ranked all season long, has been joined by East Carolina, Southern Miss and UCF in this week's rankings. Two of those schools, East Carolina and Southern Miss, square off this weekend in league play.
HITTERS OF THE WEEK BRYAN POUNDS, HOUSTON Senior, 3B, Houston, Texas Pounds helped lead the Cougars to two wins last week, including an 8-5 victory over No. 12 Rice in game two of the annual Silver Glove Series. He was the team's leading hitter in average (.476), hits (10), home runs (2), slugging percentage (.952) and on-base percentage (.520), while adding a pair of doubles and a triple. Pounds recorded at least two hits and one RBI in all but one game. In the win over No. 12 Rice, he was 4-for-5 with two home runs (including his first career grand slam) and seven RBI. CODY McMURRY, UAB Junior, OF, Hueytown, Ala. McMurry had a very productive week at the plate for the Blazers, hitting .364 with three home runs and 10 RBI in UAB's five games in which it went 3-2. He also added five doubles, two walks and scored seven times. McMurry hit the game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth on Saturday against Tulane after hitting a three-run home run in the fifth inning of that game. He also had a three-run homer Friday night against the Green Wave to make it a one-run game. PITCHER OF THE WEEK BARRY BOWDEN, SOUTHERN MISS Senior, RHP, Vidalia, La. Bowden missed throwing a complete game shutout at Rice by one out, throwing 8.2 innings and striking out 10 Owl hitters in a 1-0 victory on Friday. For the third time this season Bowden struck out at least ten hitters, all against ranked teams (No. 25 Louisiana-Lafayette (10), No. 16 UCF (14) and No. 12 Rice (10). Bowden did not allow a Rice base runner until the third inning and did not surrender his first hit until the fourth. Rice did not have an inning in which they had more than one hit and only three runners were able to reach as far as second base. C-USA NOTEBOOK
East Carolina picked up its first C-USA series win of the season against No. 19 UCF, dropping game one 3-2, but bouncing back to capture game two (10-2) and game three (10-1). On the weekend, the Pirates outscored the Knights 22-6, batted .348 (39-for-112) with seven doubles. On Saturday, ECU pounded out a season-high 21 hits and had nine batters with at least one hit and seven hitters had multiple hits on the night. Freshman RHP Seth Maness notched his team-high fifth win against UCF in a 10-2 win. He worked seven innings where he allowed two runs on six hits with five strikeouts and retired 12 of the first 14 batters faced in the first four innings allowing one walk and one hit during that span. On the season he boasts a 3.09 ERA with 31 strikeouts and 10 walks in 35 innings pitched. Senior IF Ryan Wood batted .438 (7-for-16) on the week and smacked a pair of home runs to increase his team lead to eight. He drove in five runs, scored eight and walked four times leading to a team-best .813 slugging and .550 on-base percentage. His eight home runs are tied for the conference lead. In 18 of the Pirates 25 games played, ECU has pounded out at least 10 hits with a team-best 21 coming against UCF (3/29/08) and had a string of seven straight games with double-digit hits. They have scored at least 10 runs in 12 games. When recording double-digit hits, the Pirates are 16-2 and when plating 10 or more runs they are 12-0 on the season. The Cougars won a pair of midweek games, including a victory over No. 12 Rice in the second game of the Silver Glove series, before dropping three games at San Diego State over the weekend. Senior IF Bryan Pounds hit his first career grand slam and finished with a career-high seven RBI in the win over Rice. Sophomore LHP Wes Musick suffered his first loss of the season during the series opener at San Diego State. He allowed six runs (five earned) off seven hits with three strikeouts in 3.2 innings, his shortest start in 2008. Freshman Blake Kelso continues to impress during his first collegiate season. He hit safely - with at least one double - in all five games last week and has now hit safely in each of the last eight games, a career best. He is now third on the team with a .346 batting average. Freshman RHP Ty Stuckey earned his first career save against No. 12 Rice on Wednesday. He retired three of the four batters he faced in the ninth inning to collect the save. Junior IF Jimmy Cesario saw his streak of 78 consecutive games played snapped during the opener at San Diego State on Friday after injuring his wrist early in the Rice game on Wednesday. Senior IF Ryan Lormand is now the only player to play every game during the last two seasons. MARSHALL The Thundering Herd posted their first sweep in league play since 2006, taking three straight against Memphis over the weekend in Charleston. Marshall won a pair of one-run games on Saturday, including a 3-2 win in game one on a walk-off balk, and then posted an 11-1 run-rule win in seven innings on Sunday. Senior C Tommy Johnson had two hits and two RBIs in game one on Saturday, and senior LF Jeff Rowley notched a pair of RBIs in game two to help lead the Herd to the doubleheader sweep. Junior SS Adam Yeager closed out the week with a 4-for-4 game on Sunday. He added three more stolen bases last week to give him 13 on the season. Freshman DH Victor Gomez was 5-for-10 (.500) against Memphis with two RBI and two runs scored, while hitting safely in each game. Senior IF Matt Helm came off the bench to post his first two hits of the season in game one on Saturday. Sophomore RHP Dan Straily earned his third win of the season on Sunday, firing six innings of one-hit, shutout ball with three strikeouts. Six Marshall pitchers combined on a one-hitter as the Thundering Herd shutout North Carolina State on March 26, 3-0. It marked the Herd's first win over an ACC opponent since a 12-4 victory over Virginia Tech in 2005. Marshall pitchers allowed just six earned runs in the team's four victories last week. After opening Conference USA with three straight wins last week, the Tigers dropped three straight games at Marshall this past weekend to fall to 3-3 in league play. Junior RHP Will Hudgens struck out a career-best nine batters and gave up two runs on seven hits in 5.1 innings, but the Memphis offense was unable to take advantage of the strong outing in a 3-2 loss in game two on Saturday. With his second walk in the series opener at Marshall, senior CF K.K. Chalmers became the Tigers all-time leader in walks. He surpassed Brad Seitzer, who drew 116 walks from 1989-91. Chalmers swiped the 100th base of his career in the 4-2 loss to Austin Peay on Tuesday. He is just the third player in Conference USA history to reach the 100-stolen base plateau. Freshman RF Robby Graham had a pair of multiple hit games in Saturday's doubleheader. RICE Southern Miss won two of three games at Reckling Park over the weekend, snapping Rice's streak of consecutive home series wins at 40 in a row. The home streak, which included both regular season and NCAA super regionals, dated back to April of 2001. The Owls had also won 26-consecutive conference series in a row, home or away, dating back to March 2005 (a year prior to moving up to Conference USA competition). In the March 28 game against Southern Miss, sophomore Ryan Berry allowed just a run on four hits and struck out a career-high 13 batters in a season-long 8.1 innings of work, but he was the hard luck pitcher of record in a 1-0 collegiate pitcher's duel with USM's Barry Bowden. The Owls were without two regular starters in Friday's game, including freshman shortstop Rick Hague (.365, 5 HR, 25 RBI in 25 starts) and senior first baseman J.P. Padron (.303, 2 HR, 19 RBI). Rice was without starting designated hitter Jess Buenger in Sunday's series finale. For the year Berry is 3-2 with a 2.79 ERA and he's held 155 opposing hitters to a .232 batting average. Hague has now in safely in a career-best 13 games. During the current streak, Hague is 23-of-51 (.451) with five home runs, six doubles, 20 RBI and 13 runs scored. After being shut out by Southern Miss in the series-opener on Friday, Rice returned the favor with a 9-0 victory Saturday. In the win the team turned a season-best five double plays, the most for a Rice team since turning five against Baylor in a home NCAA Regional win on May 27, 2001. The Blue & Gray turned six double plays in a game against San Jose State during the 2000 season. Senior RHP Chris Kelley has not given up an earned run in 14.0 C-USA innings this season. SOUTHERN MISS The Golden Eagles snapped Rice's 40-series home winning streak, earning a pair of one-run victories at Reckling Park over the weekend. Southern Miss has played seven straight games against nationally-ranked opponents, going 5-2 in those games. The Golden Eagles have won 9 of their last 11 games since returning from the Cal State Fullerton series. Senior RHP Barry Bowden posted his third double-digit strikeout performance of the season, all against ranked opponents, as he fanned 10 Rice batters in Friday night's 1-0 pitchers duel. Bowden is now 5-1 with a 1.47 ERA and 45 strikeouts compared to just 13 walks in 43 innings pitched. Senior LHP Tyler Conn picked up his seventh and eighth saves of the season in the two wins at Rice. The eight saves are tied for the national lead. Conn has yet to surrender an earned run in 11 appearances this season, striking out 20 and walking five in 13 innings pitched. Junior DH Corey Stevens led the Golden Eagles to a dramatic 3-2 win over No. 12 Mississippi on March 25 in Jackson with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning. The win was the 800th collegiate victory for head coach Corky Palmer. Southern Miss pitchers have allowed a league-low 11 home runs this season. TULANE The Green Wave were 2-2 last week, playing three one-run ballgames. Tulane won its fifth consecutive conference-opening series, taking two-of-three at UAB. Nine games ago senior IF Seth Henry made the move to a 33-inch bat and the results have been eye-popping. A career .241 hitter entering the 2008 season, Henry is hitting .559 (19-for-34) with a 1.118 slugging percentage courtesy of eight doubles, a triple and three home runs since making the switch. Since the Sunday game against Oakland (March 16), Henry has a team-leading 14 RBI, a .610 on-base percentage and is 3-for-3 in stolen bases. He has seven multiple-hit games during that stretch, including a trio of three-hit games. Through the first 26 games of the year, Tulane has 25 home runs - which is tied for second in Conference USA - including eight during the Wave's 2-2 week. Junior OF Andrew Rodgers hammered three during the week, including a two-bomb day on Friday when the Green Wave hit a season-best four home runs at UAB. Junior RHP Shooter Hunt had another solid performance this weekend as he struck out seven and allowed two runs on a pair of hits in 6.0 innings Friday night at UAB. While he saw his scoreless inning streak end and his consecutive innings with a strikeout run halted at 31, Hunt's numbers are still impressive: 0.95 ERA with a .101 opponent batting average to go along with 52 strikeouts and 21 walks in 38.0 innings of work. UAB The Blazers posted a 3-2 record last week, earning non-conference wins over Troy and Alabama A&M and taking the middle game of its C-USA series with Tulane. Center fielder Cody McMurry had a productive weekend at the plate for the Blazers, hitting .364 with three home runs and 10 RBI in UAB's five games. He hit the game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth on Saturday against Tulane after hitting a three-run home run in the fifth inning of that game. He also had a three-run homer Friday night against the Green Wave to make it a one-run game in the bottom-of-the-ninth inning. Senior 1B Ryan Keedy and senior OF Phil Bell kept their impressive hitting streaks alive this past week. Keedy has extended his hit streak to 18 games and is now just five games away from tying the school record of 23. Bell has matched a career-long 15-game hitting streak. Sophomore SS Jonathan Merritt led the Blazers with hit .364 batting average in Conference USA play in 2007 which earned him C-USA All-Freshman Team recognition, and after two league weekends this season, he ranks second on the club with his .435 average in C-USA play. He hit his third home run of the season on Saturday and notched seven hits in the Tulane series. UCF The Knights won the opening game of the East Carolina series as sophomore LHP Mitch Houck gave UCF 6.0 shutout innings with nine strikeouts en route to a 3-2 Knight victory The Pirates took the series, though, with a pair of convincing wins in the next two games. Senior RF Ryan Richardson has a .402 batting average with four doubles, three triples and two homers, as well as seven stolen bases. He went on a 13-game hitting streak from March 9-28, which matched his season-long streak from last year. During that span, Richardson hit .543 with a 1.380 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS). Several Knights have been successful when attempting to drive in a runner at third with less than two outs. Sophomore 1B Shane Brown has picked up the RBI all 14 times, while junior IF/OF Josh Siebenaler is 10-for-13 and junior OF Colin Arnold stands at 11-for-16. Brown also leads the way with 14 two-out RBI, followed by junior SS Eric Kallstrom who has nine. THE POLLS Baseball Collegiate Baseball (Mar. 31) NCBWA (Mar. 31) LAST WEEK'S STARS Other than the players of the week, here's a look at some of the top performances in Conference HITTING ECU - COREY KEMP - batted .375 (6-for-16) in ECU's 3-1 week, driving in a team-best 10 runs. He had one home run, two doubles and two walks for a .688 slugging percentage. Had three different three RBI games. MAR - ADAM YEAGER - batted .400 (8-for-20) in Marshall's 4-1 week, including a 4-for-4 performance on Sunday vs. Memphis. Had a pair of doubles, three walks, three stolen bases and seven runs scored. RICE - ADAM ZORNES - extended his hitting streak to eight games by batting .529 (9-for-17) last week. He added two doubles and a home run, while driving in three runs and scoring four times. USM - TREY SUTTON - batted .462 (6-for-13) in the Rice series with a pair of RBI and three runs scored. He had three doubles in Sunday's 8-7 win. TLN - SETH HENRY - hit .625 (10-for-16) with a 1.125 slugging percentage on the strength of five doubles and a home run while driving in eight runs and scoring five more. Had multiple hits in all four games. PITCHING ECU - JUSTIN BRISTOW - worked eight scoreless innings at UCF on Sunday, recording a career-best eight strikeouts. He did not walk a batter and scattered seven hits (all singles). HOU - CHASE DEMPSAY - earned the win over Rice on Wednesday, allowing one run on one hit over 2.2 innings. He also struck out three without walking a batter and retired five of the first six batters that he faced. MAR - DAN STRAILY - threw six innings of one-hit ball (a first inning single) on Sunday to finish a sweep of Memphis. He struck out three and walked two in earning his third win of the season. MEM - WILL HUDGENS - struck out a career-best nine batters in game two of Saturday's doubleheader. Allowed just one earned run and scattered seven hits over 5.1 innings of work. RICE - RYAN BERRY - allowed just four hits and struck out a career-high 13 batters in a 1-0 loss to Southern Miss. He pitched a season-long 8.1 innings. UCF - MITCH HOUCK - earned his third win of the season on Friday vs. ECU, striking out nine in six shutout innings. He walked four and allowed four hits. PSEUDO-RPI REPORT 14. Southern Miss 16. East 28. Rice 47. UCF 54. 72. Tulane 143. 186. 245. UAB
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