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Date: Friday, April 27-Sunday, April 29

Location: Greenville, NC; Clark-LeClair Stadium (3,000)

Times: 7:00 p.m.; 6:00 p.m.; 1:00 p.m. (EST)

All-Time Series: Southern Miss leads 9-7

Following arguably its worst performance of the season in Tuesday night’s humbling 10-0 drubbing at No. 4 North Carolina, No. 25 East Carolina will look to rebound this weekend when Southern Miss visits Clark-LeClair Stadium for a key Conference USA series.

The Pirates (28-13, 6-5) did very little right in their shutout loss to the fourth-ranked Tar Heels. They entered the game on an offensive tear, but were only able to muster three hits in the contest. ECU also came into the game with the nation’s third best fielding percentage (.977), but it would commit a season-high four errors in the night.

The Golden Eagles (25-18, 6-9) also suffered a miserable mid-week at the hands of an in-state rival, as they dropped both games at No. 17 Mississippi State. They fell 11-2 on Tuesday night before being beaten 7-4 on Wednesday evening.

Last season, USM swept ECU in Hattiesburg. The series was very representative of the second half of the Pirates’ season, as they jumped out to large leads in the first two games of the series only to see them evaporate in the late innings. They led 8-1 through three on Friday, but lost 11-10 in 11 innings on a wild pitch. Game two featured ECU building a 5-1 advantage through three before falling 8-5. The Golden Eagles dominated the series finale’, winning in a 10-1 rout.

Southern Miss returned five position starters, two starting pitchers and five relief pitchers from last season’s 39-23 team that advanced to a school-record fourth straight NCAA tournament before going 1-2 in the Tuscaloosa Regional.

After being projected to finish fourth in the CUSA Preseason Coaches’ Poll, tenth-year head coach Corky Palmer and the Golden Eagles soared out of the gates and flew to as high as 26 th in the national rankings. It looked as if they would have no trouble reaching the program’s fifth consecutive NCAA tournament.

However, the Eagles have had their wings clipped a bit in recent weeks and now must finish strongly if they want to keep their NCAA streak alive. Injuries, pitching woes, and the inability to deliver the clutch hits have all contributed to the Eagles’ descent.

Their pitching staff has suffered from the loss of freshman Todd McInnis, who has not seen mound time since March 20. McInnis, who threw a one-hitter in USM’s 5-0 win over Alabama on March 6, will miss the remainder of the season with a back injury. He had compiled a 4-1 record with a 2.17 ERA in 29 innings of work.

A prime example of USM’s lack of timely hitting was seen two weeks ago when the Golden Eagles stranded 16 runners in their 7-5 series opening loss to Tulane. They have also grounded into quite a few double plays, which have killed rallies.

As a team, Southern Miss is hitting .276 with 26 home runs while generating 5.7 runs per game. The team ERA currently sits at 4.17 and opponents are batting .264. Golden Eagle pitchers possess a strikeout to walk ratio of more than two to one. USM isn’t much of a threat on the bases, having stolen only 30 in 49 attempts on the year.

Offensively, the Golden Eagles are led by Trey Sutton. Sutton, who is the only player on the USM roster to start all 43 games, brings a seven-game hit streak into the series with ECU and has recorded 21 multi-hit games. During that streak, he is hitting .400 (12-30). In addition to his team-high .356 batting average, the Eagles’ first baseman also leads the team in doubles (13), runs scored (48), triples (2), RBI (31), on-base percentage (.456). Sutton, who has drawn 27 walks while striking out only 17 times, has either led off or batted second in every game.

Shortstop Brian Dozier, a CUSA All-Freshman team selection in ’06, has the team’s second best average (.315). Dozier does an excellent job of putting the ball in play, as he has struck out a team-low 15 times.

USM’s top home run threat is Trey Cuevas. Cuevas, who has made 30 starts in the designated hitter role, has produced eight long balls. He is also third on the squad in average (.291) and RBI (27).

Although the Golden Eagles don’t have many base-stealing threats, the Pirates will need to keep an eye on Bo Davis. Davis has swiped 11 bases in 13 attempts.

East Carolina is hitting .291 with 46 homers, 15 of which have been in its last seven games. The Pirates rank 19 th nationally in home runs per game (1.15) and 35 th in slugging percentage (.471). Billy Godwin’s team has also received excellent pitching, as the team era of 3.70 ranks near the top of the nation. ECU hurlers have held opponents to .249 at the plate.

Shortstop Dale Mollenhauer, who has 15 multi-hit games, leads the team with his .352 batting average. He is slugging .516 and is tied for second on the team with nine stolen bases.

Ryan Wood, who has hit in the bottom part of the Pirates’ line-up for essentially the whole season, hit in the three-hole on Tuesday at UNC-CH. Wood, who is in the middle of a six-game hit streak, is hitting .339.

First baseman Stephen Batts carries a seven-game hit streak into the weekend. The Wilmington-native has recorded a team-high 16 multi-hit games and ranks third with his .331 mark. He is also second in RBI (42) and first in triples (4).

Clean-up hitter Ryan Tousley, who is hitting .296, leads the team with ten home runs and 44 RBI.

Harrison Eldridge, the Pirates’ leadoff man, has been a tremendous table-setter. “H” is batting .307, leads the team in doubles (15) and has drawn more walks (23) than anyone on the team.

ECU has stolen 56 bases in 78 attempts. Drew Schieber (.333/3 HR/10 RBI) has a team-high ten steals.

The Pirates’ Brandon Henderson has suffered through a disappointing sophomore campaign, but is still second on the team with six home runs.

Kyle Roller, who appears to have emerged as Billy Godwin’s top choice for designated hitter, possesses tremendous power and has four home runs in minimal plate appearances.

 

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STARTING PITCHING MATCHUPS

Game 1: ECU—RHP TJ Hose (5-4, 3.90 ERA) vs. USM—RHP Ryan Belanger (5-4, 2.57 ERA)

Game 2: ECU—LHP Dustin Sasser (5-2, 3.43 ERA) vs. USM—RHP Barry Bowden (4-3, 3.90 ERA)

Game 3: ECU—RHP Josh Dowdy (1-1, 2.32 ERA) vs. USM—RHP David Clark (5-3, 5.46 ERA)

Southern Miss’ starting pitching is good, but not great. The East Carolina starters get the nod in these match-ups. Both teams possess quality closers who were recently named to the mid-season Stopper of the Year watch list. The Pirates’ Shane Mathews has notched ten saves while the Golden Eagles’ Patrick Ezzell has recorded seven. The primary middle relievers for each team aren’t bad either. ECU tends to turn to Jason Neitz (22 app., 4-1, 2.38 ERA) and Brett Butts (20 app., 2-0, 1.77 ERA) while USM looks to JR Ballinger (16 app, 0-1, 1.80 ERA) and Tyler Conn (21 app., 0-1, 2.45 ERA).

 

East Carolina - Southern Miss Prediction

East Carolina is the better team and should at least win the series, if not sweep. However, Southern Miss is still not a bad club despite going through a bit of a down year. Also, the Pirates’ possess the most power between the teams and with the weather forecast calling for the wind to be blowing out to right field, this could play a key role. It won’t be easy by any means, but ECU will return the favor and sweep USM this season.