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Southern Miss  

USM at a crucial point for regional outlook

Eagles face MSU before Houston

By AL JONES
afjones@sunherald.com

In the past, when Southern Miss tangles with Mississippi State in baseball, it's all about instate rivalry and the ever important RPI.

This time around, the Golden Eagles might overlook the Bulldogs with a crucial, perhaps, season-telling Conference USA weekend series looming at home against Houston.

Southern Miss, after losing two of three at Tulane over the past weekend, comes in with a solid No. 19 RPI, which is critical to landing an NCAA Regional bid.

In C-USA play, however, the Golden Eagles (26-13) are currently in fifth place.

Rice leads the way at 13-2 followed by Houston (8-4), Tulane (6-5), East Carolina (8-7), Southern Miss (6-6) and Marshall (7-7-1).

That means the Golden Eagles can't afford another series loss to either Houston, Marshall, UAB or Memphis.

"My concern now is the conference, as it always has been," Southern Miss coach Corky Palmer said. "You can finish bad in the conference, even with a good RPI, and you will get left out (NCAA Regional).

"That means we may not use everybody, pitching-wise, that we want to use. We will try to win the game, but it's a small room for error. It's getting to the point that our starters have to give us five or six innings or they may have to take it on the chin.

"We can't blow everything out in the middle of the week with conference being so important. I think we're treading water in the league and that's why the weekend is so important. We have to win the Houston series."

Southern Miss will once again be without standout pitcher Barry Bowden (5-2) this weekend due to a sore shoulder.

Senior first baseman Trey Sutton could be ready for the weekend and might see action against Mississippi State in a pinch-hitting role.

"Bowden being out bothers me," Palmer said. "He is out for the Houston series. We don't feel like there's anything really bad, and he is getting better. But he is not where he needs to be."

"This week will make three weeks since he's pitched. I don't know when we will get him back, but his first outing will only be 50 or 60 pitches because of his stamina."

Southern Miss comes in with a 17-5 record this season at Pete Taylor Park but the Bulldogs swept the Golden Eagles 11-2 and 7-4 last season en route to the College World Series.

Following the loss in Starkville last season, the Golden Eagles went on the win 12 of their final 13 games.

This season, the Golden Eagles are hitting .272 as a team with James Ewing leading the way at .346. Shortstop Brian Dozier and third baseman Chris Matesich are next at .333 and Drew Carson has a team-high seven home runs.

The Bulldogs (16-22) will send sophomore Tyler Whitney (0-0, 6.35) to the mound to face Golden Eagles freshman Seth Hester (2-0, 1.56).

The Bulldogs are led by Cody Freeman in hitting at .373 and Ryan Collins, who has hit .444 in the last four games.

Of note, junior outfielder Grant Hogue, a former Oak Grove standout, is hitting .328 and leads the SEC with 21 stolen bases.

"If we don't finish in the top four of our conference, we are taking a real big gamble," Palmer said. "I don't know if we can get five bids out of a nine team league. We will try to beat Mississippi State, but the Houston series is huge for us."

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Al Jones can be reached at 896-2351 or at afjones@sunherald.com