After starting the season 3-5, averaging 3+ errors per game those first two weeks, and being utterly embarrassed on the national stage during the Minute Maid tournament, the college baseball pundits were all writing us off (even our most loyal supporters such as Stitchhead Sorenson and Kendall Rogers) and many of our more fickle fans were jumping off the bandwagon. In what may go down as one of Wayne Graham's greatest coaching efforts, the Baseball Owls have not only turned their season around-- going 21-6 since then, winning our last seven weekend series, and winners of 15 of our last 17 games-- but we are once again in our customary position of being consensus ranked in the Top 25 (as high as #13 in Baseball America), atop the CUSA conference standings (along with Southern Miss) and boasting a resume worthy of a regional hosting birth (#18 RPI, #18 ISR, #17 SoS, 3-3 vs. Top 25, 6-4 vs. Top 50, 11-8 vs. Top 100). We have overcome injuries to our mid-week starting pitcher (Jackson Parthasarathy) and two starting OFers (with our top hitter, Charlie Warren getting injured just as Tristan Gray returned to the lineup after missing over a month of action), as well as an offense that has struggled mightily to score runs even against sub-par pitching. And we're fielding an everyday lineup featuring two true Freshman (Proctor, DiCaprio) and three other players (Myers, Wunderlich, Dunlap) who are seeing their first significant D-1 action this season. Making matters worse, we've been operating with a bullpen with only two reliable options so far (Otto, Myers). Yet, through it all, we've perservered. Our starting pitching (Duplantier, Fox, Salinas, Amador) has been exceptional, we have one of the very best relievers in all of college baseball (Otto), our defense has not only solidified but become a team strength, and our offense is finally showing some signs of life.
If we can get through the always difficult end-of-the-semester academic pressures with a winning record over the next two weeks, we should be in great shape heading into the home stretch. No more classes or academic deliverables. And, hopefully, the return of Charlie Warren by early May. If we can get one or two more relievers to step up on a consistent basis, the sky will be the limit. But first things first-- this weekend's showdown with the top 25 ranked and co-CUSA leading Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles. For the first time since Minute Maid, we'll be on the national stage playing in one of the featured series of the weekend. It's time to come out from under the radar and make a statement. From all reports, The Pete (Pete Taylor Park) should be packed this weekend, not only because of the Rice - USM matchup, but because it is their annual Eagle Fest weekend:
http://www.southernmiss.com/sports/m-foo...6aao.html. Game times are 7:00pm CST Friday, 4:00pm Saturday, and 1:00pm Sunday .
As consistent as USM has played this year, they come into this big series limping somewhat, having lost three of their last four games (albeit all on the road), including a 12-0 thumping at Tulane on Tuesday. Overall, the Golden Eagles have posted a 27 - 11 record (12-3 CUSA, 16-2 home, 6-4 vs. Top 50, 11-8 vs. Top 100, #21 RPI, #19 ISR, #68 SoS). Their record against the Top 50/100 is a bit deceiving as they include five home wins over #35 Northwestern State (18-17 record) and #94 Samford (21-17), both of whom are likely to see their RPI drop precipitously as the season progresses. In reality, the only weekend they have been truly tested by quality opponents was the third week of the season when the swept through a tournament in Florida, beating #49 Michigan State, #71 Troy and #112 Auburn. Their other weekends include home series sweeps of #271 Eastern Illinois (4-31), Northwestern State, Samford, UTSA and MTSU, along with a road series sweep vs. #175 Charlotte (16-22), a series win at Marshall, and last weekend's series loss at UAB. USM loyalists have acknowledged on the CUSABBS message board that they have yet to face elite weekend pitching. Their solid #68 SoS is based primarily on their midweek opponents, but they've gone only 3-7 in such contests against South Alabama x 2, Tulane x 2, Ole Miss x 2, SE Louisiana x 2, Alabama and Mississippi State. And, as is evident from their 16 - 2 record at home, they are VERY difficult to beat at The Pete. Here's USM's schedule and results over their first 38 games...
http://warrennolan.com/baseball/2016/sch...thern-Miss
This is a very experienced, upperclass-laden Southern Miss squad, looking to return to the post-season for the first time since 2011, after feeling they had been deprived of a bid last year. Their everyday lineup includes five Seniors and three Juniors, including three new transfers from JUCOs or community colleges, and their weekend rotation features two Seniors. Interestingly, their top relievers are all Freshmen, including their sidearming closer.
Statistically speaking, aside from the Aggies, USM is the best offensive team we have faced this season, and they are national ranked in a number of categories (HRs, runs, BBs, OBP). As a team they are hitting an impressive .313/.413./.480, with 44 HRs, 77 doubles/triples, 231 BBs/HBP, and averaging 7.4 runs per game. By comparison, Rice is hitting .253/.327/.327, 10 HRs, 45 doubles/triples, 127 BBs/HBP, 4.2 runs/game. The Golden Eagle's across-the-board edge over the Owls is huge. They are leading the conference in virtually every offensive category; most by a large margin; whereas we are next to last in most offensive categories (and dead last in OBP, runs scored, RBIs, hits, HRs, doubles and total bases). Their lineup includes three of the top five hitters in the conference led by CUSA POY contender, Sr 1B Tim Lynch (.384/.470/.556, 6 HRs, 8 doubles, 42 RBIs), Sr CF Jake Sandlin (.384/.465/.493, 1 HR, 11 doubles/triples, 22 RBIs), Sr SS Nick Dawson (.373/.471/.516, 1 HR, 14 doubles/triples, 27 RBIs) and Jr RF Dylan Burdeaux (.335/.422/.571/.8 HRs, 13 doubles/triples32 RBIs). Unlike facing MTSU (with POY candidate Delgado), UAB (with Hicklen and Gum) or WKU (with Hudzina), there is no pitching around one or two studs in the USM lineup, as 6 everyday players are hitting over .315, 4 players have 6+ HRs and 7 players have 20+ RBIs. And keep in mind this is a team that lost it's leading power hitter (Taylor Braley, with 10 HRs over their first 27 games) 3 weeks ago. The USM offense combines power with outstanding plate discipline. They are adept at working the pitch count, as reflected in their high frequency of both walks (they're averaging over 6 BBs/HBP per game) and strikeouts. They also appear to crowd the plate, as six different players have 5+ HBPs. USM has made a living this year working the pitch count, getting into the opposing teams' bullpen early and capitalizing with late rallies; often helped considerably by a string of walks, HBPs and errors. While always important, it is absolutely imperative against the Golden Eagles for our pitchers to get ahead in the count; otherwise, we are in for a long weekend. Fortunately for us, with no midweek games this week or next, we will have Willy Amador available as a third viable bullpen option (along with Otto and Myers). The only shortcoming of USM's offense is the running game, which is even worse than ours (and that's saying something)-- their stolen base success rate is under .500 (19-40 SBs).
Defensively, Southern Miss is well above average, posting an excellent .976 fielding percentage, with 9 of their 35 errors (over 38 games) committed by their 3B slugger, Taylor Braley, who is hasn't played the past last third of their games and who is now out for the season. His replacement has but one error in 13 games. Their SS (with only 8 errors) is the only player with more than 4 errors. As usual, USM is amongst the national leaders in double plays turned (10 more than us). Their OFers have gunned down 10 baserunners, led by 5 assists by their CFer. And their regular catcher has thrown out 41% of attempted basestealers (15-37 CS).
On the mound the Golden Eagles have been up and down. Their overall stats are pedestrian at best: 4.46 ERA, .266 BAA, 1.60 WHIP, 2.0 K:BB ratio and 7.7 strikeouts/game against the #68 ranked SoS. (By comparison, Rice's staff stats are: 2.85 ERA, .226 BAA, 1.30 WHIP, 2.5 K:BB ratio and 8.6 strikeouts/game against the #17 ranked SoS) However, their current weekend starters are a combined 11-0 (albeit over 24 starts), and they have a stud Freshman closer with a deceptive side-arm delivery whose across-the-board stats are comparable to our own Glenn Otto (though he did blow last Saturday's UAB game). Their Friday starter, Cord Cockrell (with long, wild hair ala the Mets' Jake DeGrom), was rocked last week, but has otherwise been very solid and consistent, and he has exceptional control (allowing only 5 walks in 53.2 IP). Their Saturday starter, another Senior right-hander, has struggled with his control on occassion, and their Sunday southpaw starter threw a complete game shutout vs. UAB last weekend. USM's bullpen has depth, with 7 relievers having appeared in 10+ games, but their Freshman closer is the only one with an ERA under 3.50, and only one other has an ERA under 4.75. Our goal this weekend should be to work the pitch count, get on the board early and get into their suspect bullpen as soon as possible...
Cord Cockrell (Sr, RHP): 9 starts, 6-0, 53.2 IP, 3.02 ERA, .261 BAA, 5 BBs, 31 Ks
Nick Johnson (Sr, RHP): 6 starts, 2-0, 35.0 IP, 4.63 ERA, .271 BAA, 17 BBs, 11 HBP, 31 Ks
Kirk McCarty (So, LHP): 9 starts, 3-0, 48.2 IP, 3.51 ERA, .289 BAA, 17 BBs, 52 Ks
Nick Sandlin (Fr, RHP): 16 app, 2-2, 6 saves, 28.1 IP, 1.59 ERA, .190 BAA, 12 Bs, 32 Ks
Stevie Powers (Fr, LHP): 9 app, 4 starts, 0-1, 20.1 IP, 4.43 ERA, .250 BAA, 15 BBs, 15 Ks
Walker Powell (Fr, RHP): 11 app, 3-1, 17.2 IP, 3.57 ERA, .271 BAA, 3 BBs, 15 Ks
Austin Millet (RS Fr, RHP): 10 app, 1-1, 17.1 IP, 3.63 ERA, .154 BAA, 11 BBs, 9 Ks
Luke Lowry (Sr, LHP): 15 app, 3-0, 13.0 IP, 4.85 ERA, .275 BAA, 3 BBs, 14 Ks
Cody Livingston (Sr, LHP): 17 app, 2-2, 4 saves, 18.0 IP, 6.50 ERA, .300 BAA, 8 BBs, 6 HBP, 21 Ks
Here's Southern Miss' individual and team stats...
http://www.southernmiss.com/sports/m-bas...mcume.html
...and roster...
http://www.southernmiss.com/sports/m-bas...l-mtt.html
Here's how USM stacks up statistically in conference, both individually and as a team...
http://www.conferenceusa.com/sports/m-ba...teams.html
This weekend's showdown is not only for first place in the conference, but it features the classic matchup of elite pitching vs. elite offense, with both teams boasting above-average defenses. Let's prove the truth in the long-standing cliche that good pitching beats good hitting. It's time to make a statement-- both within CUSA and nationally-- that Rice is once again staking a claim amongst the elite of college baseball. A road series win over USM would give us our eighth consecutive winning weekend, our 2nd against a Top 25 opponent, and put us in a strong position to capture both our 21st consecutive conference championship and a regional hosting birth. It's not going to be easy given the omnipresent end-of-semester academic pressures and the always long travel to Hattiesburg, but let's find a way to get it done. Just win, baby. Go Owls!
In their preseason preview, D1Baseball picked USM to finish second (behind Rice) in the conference...
http://www.d1baseball.com/analysis/2016-...ews-c-usa/
Quote:• Southern Miss was at one point one of the premier “mid-major” programs in college baseball, but things have changed since making that College World Series appearance. As a matter of fact, the Golden Eagles have not reached the NCAA tournament since 2011. Will that change in 2016? The negative trend has the potential to finally end. USM has a tough one to replace on the mound in righthander James McMahon, but senior righty Nick Johnson looks ready to take on a front-line role, and another senior righty, Jake Winston, has good, but unproven stuff, and will round out the weekend rotation. Lefty Cody Livingston will anchor the bullpen, and he’s a big-bodied guy who can get up to the upper-80s with quality stuff at times. Offensively, The Eagles feel like they will get an instant infusion from redshirt freshman DH Hunter Slater, while C Chuckie Robinson is someone who must take a step forward. Robinson is a toolsy guy who will get drafted because of that fact. However, he has yet to hit and finished last season with a .203 batting average and just bad overall numbers. There’s a lot of potential with this team.
Lat week, after beating Ole Miss in a midweek game, D1Baseball profiled Southern Miss in their "Under the Radar" column, with quotes from Coach Berry...
http://www.d1baseball.com/featured/radar...ign=buffer
Perfect Game also picked the Golden Eagles to finish 2nd in CUSA, and selected 1B Tim Lynch to their preseason all-conference team...
http://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/View...icle=12040
Quote:Southern Mississippi: Southern Miss may have won 36 games but with the amount of talent that returns to the Golden Eagles there’s reason to believe the 2016 squad could surpass that win total from a year ago. It certainly won’t be easy to replace the 11 wins that James McMahon accounted for last year en route to winning the Conference Pitcher of the Year, but senior Cord Cockrell and sophomore lefthander Kirk McCarty have starting experience and put together solid 2015 seasons while seniors Luke Lowery and Jake Winston were key components out of the bullpen. Overall, 12 of the 18 pitches on the roster are either juniors or seniors, though one freshman arm who could contribute rather soon is 6-foot-7 righthander Walker Powell who shows feel for a three-pitch mix. The bats will be the calling cards of the Golden Eagles, led by senior first baseman Tim Lynch who mashed throughout the 2015 season and is coming off a strong summer season in the NECBL. A tough out with an advanced approach, the lefthanded hitting Lynch saw his power rise from his sophomore to junior year, jumping his home run total from one to nine, and continued hitting the long ball last summer connecting for 10 while swinging wood and also won the NECBL’s Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game. Junior catcher Chuckie Robinson also had a breakout type summer in the NECBL where he received regular playing time and was able to show his above average arm strength as well as big righthanded power with nine home runs. Senior Chase Scott and Junior Dylan Burdeaux both return to the infield and both hit in the .280's as did sophomore Taylor Braley, a Conference USA All-Freshman Team selection who drew praise from opposing coaches for his ability to hit the ball hard on a regular basis. Another young athlete to keep an eye on is sophomore Daniel Keating, whose physical 6-foot-3 frame plays well and should make an impact this spring after starting just 19 games last year. He too had an impressive summer campaign where his plus speed helped him swipe 31 bases while hitting .335.
Baseball America picked USM to make the post-season...
http://www.baseballamerica.com/college/2...7Cmgah4.97
Quote:Southern Mississippi. The Golden Eagles have won at least 30 games in all six of coach Scott Berry’s seasons in charge, but they also haven’t been to regionals since 2011. They had C-USA’s best pitching staff last year (3.13 team ERA), but this year’s group figures to be more predicated on offense as they bring back four of their top six hitters while losing their top two weekend starters, including C-USA pitcher of the year James McMahon. Senior first baseman Tim Lynch is the ringleader, showing potential plus power from the left side (nine home runs in 2015), and USM will also look for a breakout year from junior catcher Chuckie Robinson.