University of Houston Athletics
Preview: Cougars Open C-USA Play at Southern Miss
3/21/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 21, 2012
| HOUSTON COUGARS (9-10 • 0-0 C-USA) at SOUTHERN MISS (12-9 • 0-0 C-USA) | |
|---|---|
| Date/Time | March 23-25, 2012 - 6 p.m. / 6:05 p.m. / 1 p.m. |
| Location | Pete Taylor Park • Hattiesburg, Miss. |
| Radio | UHCougars.com (Jeremy Branham & Pat Cauley) |
| Live Stats | |
| Series History | Series tied at 26-26 |
| Last Meeting | at C-USA Championship; UH won 7-6 (14 inn.) |
| Game Notes | Houston Notes  Conference USA Notebook |
| Social Media |  Facebook •  Twitter |
HOUSTON -The University of Houston baseball team opens C-USA play this weekend when it travels to Southern Miss for a three-game set, beginning Friday at 6 p.m. in Hattiesburg, Miss.
The Cougars are coming off a strong weekend showing, earing a series victory at Oklahoma State and are riding a two-game win streak into the weekend.
Houston used several strong pitching performances and timely hitting to secure two wins on the road in Stillwater and a convincing 12-2 win at home against Sam Houston to finish 3-1 last week and improve to 9-10 overall.
The Cougars were selected to finish fifth in C-USA Preseason polls under second year head coach Todd Whitting, while Southern Miss was picked to finish right ahead of Houston in fourth.
A LOOK AT CONFERENCE USA PLAY
The Cougars have posted a 31-19 (.612) all-time record in their conference openers. In addition, the Cougars are 11-4 (.769) all-time in C-USA openers. The 2-0 win at No. 27 Tulane on April 1, 2011 was the team's sixth straight win in C-USA openers.
C-USA Opening Series: With their 3-0 sweep of No. 27 Tulane in the C-USA opening series, the Cougars improved to 17-4 (.810) all-time during the opening series of C-USA play.
C-USA Opening Series on the Road: The Cougars improved to 10-4 (.714) all-time in C-USA opening series on the road. Houston went 3-0 at No. 27 Tulane on April 1-3, 2011.
A LOOK AT HOUSTON
Leading the way offensively for Houston is junior Chase Jensen with a .303 average and 17 RBI. Sophomore Landon Appling is third best on the team in average with a .288 clip, but leads the squad in homeruns with two, slugging percentage at .442, on base percentage at .397 and in runs scored with 11.
On the bump, the Cougars are led by junior Austin Pruitt's 2.03 ERA, while senior Jordan Lewis paces the squad in wins with three. Senior Codey Morehouse (1-0, 2.51, 14.1 IP) is coming off his first win of 2012 at Oklahoma State is leads the team in with 14.1 innings pitched in relief, while junior Jordan Mannisto and senior Mo Wiley have made seven appearances out of the pen. Wiley leads the team with three saves.
A LOOK AT SOUTHERN MISS
Southern Miss sits at 12-9 overall and is coming off a 10-0 rout over No. 20 Ole Miss on Tuesday evening. The Golden Eagles have dropped three of their last five contests, including two most recently to Murray State. Southern Miss is led offensively by Mason Robbins' .442 average and 34 hits. The Golden Eagles have five players hitting +.300 and as a team they are hitting .294. On the bump for Southern Miss, Boomer Scarbrough (1-0, 1.48 ERA, 5 GS, 24.1 IP, 15 K) and Jake Drehoff (2-0, 4.11 ERA, 5 GS, 30.2 IP, 18 K) have both made five starts, while three pitchers have seen a team-high seven appearances, led by Bradley Roney's 1.35 ERA and two saves.
HOUSTON vs. SOUTHERN MISS SERIES HISTORY
Houston begins its 53rd meeting against Southern Miss this weekend as the two teams are tied 26-26 all-time. The Cougars won the first 14-of-17 games dating back to 1990 and have also won the last three. The more recent meeting between the two clubs came in the C-USA Tournament last season on May 26, 2011 when Houston pulled off a 7-6 win in 14 innings over the Golden Eagles. Codey Morehouse earned the win on the mound, throwing 6.1 innings in relief. Houston also took 2-of-3 in the weekend series at Cougar Field last season. Overall, the Cougars are 11-8 against Southern Miss in Hattiesburg, Miss.
STAY CONNECTED
Fans can also stay connected to action at www.facebook.com/HoustonCougarBaseball or on Twitter @UHCougarBB. Live stats via GameTracker will be available as well as live audio at www.UHCougars.com, brought to you Jeremy Branham and Pat Cauley.
UP NEXT
Houston will return home to host Big 12 Baylor on Tuesday, March 27 at 6:30 p.m. at Cougar Field. For ticket information, visit UHCougars.com.
