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Southern Miss  

USM faces must-win home series

Golden Eagles hope to gain ground in C-USA race

By AL JONES
afjones@sunherald.com

It didn't take long for Southern Miss coach Corky Palmer to turn the attention off Mississippi State and focus all eyes on Houston.

The Golden Eagles had just completed a two-game sweep of intrastate rival MSU late Wednesday night at Pete Taylor Park to improve to 28-13.

Palmer was pleased to see his team outscore the Bulldogs 23-14 in the two games, but the veteran skipper knows the importance of the three-game Conference USA series against the Cougars.

The series, which begins tonight at 6:30 at Pete Taylor Park, could determine the seedings when the NCAA Regional pairings are announced next month.

The series also gives Southern Miss a chance to finish as high as second in C-USA, since the Golden Eagles' final three conference series are against Marshall, Memphis and UAB.

Marshall, Memphis and UAB are a combined 14-24-1 in C-USA play.

Houston, on the other hand, enters the series with an 8-4 record in conference, two games behind Rice and two games in front of Southern Miss, with Tulane and East Carolina sandwiched in between.

"For the first time in a long time, Houston has a better team than Mississippi State with all their injuries," Palmer said. "It's probably Houston's best team since 2005.

"We are 6-6 in the league and it looks like first place is out of the question with Rice. We need to get into the second through fourth spots. I don't want to get hung in the sixth spot, so that's why I turned my attention to Houston. There is no question that we need to win the series, especially at home."

Southern Miss has made strides at the plate over the last month, raising its team average from the mid .260s to .275.

One reason for the increase in batting average has been the play of Bo Davis, who moved into the leadoff role. Davis, who hit a first-inning home run against the Bulldogs on Wednesday, is hitting .320.

Davis, a senior centerfielder, was hitting .280 as the No. 9 hitter.

James Ewing continues to lead the Golden Eagles in hitting at .339, followed by Brian Dozier at .337.

"I hope our resurgence in offense continues," Palmer said. "Bo is doing a real good job. He really has helped our offense. James and Dozier have been good hitters all year and I hope the offense levels off when we get Trey Sutton (first baseman) back. Trey may play on Saturday or Sunday, but be will definitely be back next week."

Overall, the Golden Eagles are second in C-USA with 41 home runs and have a 19-5 record at Pete Taylor Park.

In comparison, the Cougars, coming off a 7-4 win against McNeese State, are 7-7 on the road.

The Cougars come in hitting .305 as a team with 33 home runs and 274 RBI. In all, the Cougars feature six players hitting .300 or better, with Bryan Pounds leading the way at .413. Jake Stewart is second in hitting at .333 and Blake Kelso is third at .329.

Tyler Conn of Ocean Springs leads the nation with 14 saves to go with a 1-0 record and a 0.36 ERA. Conn, a Gulf Coast Community College transfer, has recorded 34 strikeouts against six walks in 25 innings of work

"I am impressed with the way we're playing," Palmer said. "We have created a tradition around here in terms of a regional.

"We are better off (regional-wise) now than we were a couple of weeks ago. We beat Alabama, Mississippi State twice and got a win at Tulane. Now, we need to win the Houston series."

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