March 20, 2008

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The University of Southern Miss baseball team will open Conference USA play this weekend at "The Pete" as they host one of the nation's hottest teams in No. 16 UCF.

UCF comes in for this weekends series with a 19-1 record, having won 11 straight games and bolstering a No.16 national ranking.

Southern Miss head coach Corky Palmer will earn his 900th career win with one more victory, he currently sits at 899 wins in his 26 year coaching career. He is also only 12 victories away from his 400th career win as the skipper of the Golden Eagles and three wins shy of 800 career victories as a collegiate coach.

Southern Miss has begun to hit their stride after playing a brutal non-conference schedule early in the season. The Golden Eagles have won six consecutive games, including their first come-from-behind win last night at La. Monroe. Southern Miss overcame a 4-0 deficit to take the road win, 7-5. Monroe held an RPI ranking of 12 prior to last nights contest.

While the Golden Eagles have received great pitching all season long and played excellent defense, the bats have came alive over the last 10 games, collecting 101 hits, 27 doubles, 12 home runs and scoring 60 runs.

Corey Stevens had been on fire since playing his way into the lineup last weekend. Over the last five games he has hit .625 (10/16) with a home run, three doubles, four runs scored and eight RBI, he also had the two-RBI single last night that put Southern Miss ahead against Monroe.

UCF has played 17 of their 19 games at home this season and will play their first three-game series away from home of the year. They are 1-1 on the road this season. Southern Miss is 8-1 at "The Pete" this season and 131-36 (.784) over the past five seasons at home.

Friday Night will feature Barry Bowden (3-1, 1.37 ERA ) matching up against UCF RHP Jaager Good (3-0, 3.86 ERA). Saturday will be David Clark (2-1, 3.16 ERA) vs. RHP Kyle Sweat (2-0, 3.82 ERA for UCF. On Sunday, freshman Todd McInnis (4-1, 4.07) will make his first career conference start for Southern Miss, he currently is tied for the C-USA lead with four wins. McInnis will battle UCF LHP Mitch Herold (2-0, 1.57 ERA.

Friday's game is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start, Saturday will begin at 3:00 p.m. and first pitch Sunday will be at 1:00 p.m. -southenmiss.com-