Southern Miss right-hander earns C-USA honor

Southern Miss junior right-hander Colt Smith was awarded Monday for his stellar performance in Friday’s series opener against Florida Atlantic.

Smith, who is this week’s Conference USA Pitcher of the Week, threw seven innings of two-hit ball in his first career start in an 11-2 win over the Owls. He struck out three and walked two, facing 25 batters.

Smith, a transfer from Northwest Mississippi community College, is 4-0 with a 2.76 ERA in 17 appearances this season. He has 33 strikeouts and 14 walks in 45 2/3 innings.

After earning a three-game sweep of FAU, Southern Miss (37-12, 19-5) holds a three-game lead on second-place Old Dominion in the Conference USA standings.

USM will host UAB at 6 p.m. on Friday to begin a three-game conference series.

Southern Miss will also take on Southeastern Louisiana at 7:05 p.m. on May 16 at MGM Park in Biloxi.

The C-USA Tournament is set to take place at MGM Park on May 24-28.

This story was originally published May 8, 2017 at 11:22 AM with the headline "Southern Miss right-hander earns C-USA honor."