Golden Eagles Set School Records With Third-Straight 40-plus Win Season, Third-Straight With 20 or
More Conference Wins and Third-Straight NCAA Regional Tournament Appearance
Southern Miss had another outstanding season in 2005,
finishing with a 41-21 overall
record, a 20-10 mark in Conference
USA and made an appearance in
the NCAA Oxford Regional. All of
these accomplishments set school
records as the Golden Eagles finished with 40 or more wins for the
third-straight season, posted 20 or
more conference wins for the third-straight season and earned its third-straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
The Golden Eagles opened the season winning 12 of their first 15 games, including sweeps
of Marshall and Arkansas State and tournament
championships in the Southern Miss Tournament
and in Lamar’s Cardinal Classic. Southern Miss
posted dramatic wins over tournament host
Lamar in 10 innings and a one-run victory in its
tournament against Missouri State.
The Golden Eagles opened conference play,
dropping two one-run games at TCU before
claiming a 14-7 win in 10 innings. Southern
Miss then ran off 12 wins in a row to push their
record to 24-5. Included in that streak were
series sweeps of conference foes Cincinnati and
Memphis and victories over SEC powers Alabama
and Ole Miss.
Against Alabama, the Golden Eagles were
down 3-1 in the fourth inning, when they scored
one in the fifth, four in the seventh and one more
in the eighth to capture a 7-4 victory. Beau Griffin
hit a one-out three-run walk-off homer in the
bottom of the ninth to give the Golden Eagles an
exciting come-from-behind win over No. 9 Ole
Miss at “The Pete.”
Southern Miss then dropped a conference
series at East Carolina, winning the opener, then
losing the next two games. The Golden Eagles
won three-of their next four, including a series
win over Saint Louis at home. Southern Miss then
dropped a conference series to No. 1 ranked
Tulane, dropping the first two games before Brad
Owen pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout
to lead the Golden Eagles to a 10-0 win.
Southern Miss then split a pair of mid-week
games at No. 26 Mississippi State before winning
two-of-three at Louisville. The Golden Eagles
then finished the regular season winning 2-of- 3
against UAB, sweeping USF and winning 2-of- 3
at Houston to stand at 39-17 overall and 20-10 in
the league to tie TCU for a second place regular-season finish.
Southern Miss hosted the
Conference USA Tournament at
“The Pete” for the second time
since the league started in 1996.
The Golden Eagles defeated USF
in the first game in a close 5-3
win, dropped the second game to
TCU, 8-0, before defeating USF
for the second time, 9-3. TCU
advanced to the championship
round by defeating Southern Miss
for the second time.
The Golden Eagles were awarded a No. 2
seed in the NCAA Oxford Regional Tournament,
hosted by Ole Miss.
In game one against Oklahoma, the Sooners
took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning, before
Southern Miss tied the game in the second and
scored three more in the third inning to take a 3-1
lead. Oklahoma responded with one in the fourth
and three more in the fifth to take a two-run lead.
The Golden Eagles had base runners in four of
the last five innings but could only score one run
and dropped the 5-4 decision. Southern Miss was
eliminated by Maine the following day to end the
season.
Southern Miss hit .313 for the year, with 149
doubles, 60 home runs and averaged almost
eight runs a game. Daniel Best and Brad Willcutt
earned All-American honors and five Golden
Eagles earned all-conference honors, with three
earning first-team honors, Best, Willcutt and
Marc Maddox, and Jason Lowery and Trey Sutton
earned second-team honors, while Sutton earned
All-Freshman team accolades. Maddox was
named the Conference USA Co-Scholar Athlete
of the Year.
Willcutt had a great senior season to finish off
an outstanding career, hitting .323 with 21 doubles, 16 home runs, 82 RBIs, 37 walks and seven
sacrifice flies. He was No. 9 in the nation in RBIs
and No. 49 in home runs per game and finished
as Southern Miss’ all-time leader in games played,
at bats, runs scored, doubles, RBIs, and walks
and was No. 2 in home runs, hits and total bases.
Maddox led the team with a .359 batting average,
42 walks and 15 stolen bases and Jason Lowery
led the team in hits with 93. Patrick Ezell led the
team in wins with seven, Barry Bowden led in
strikeouts with 71 and Best led the team in ERA
(0.46), saves ( 11) and lowest opponent batting
average (.229).
Front Row (L-R): Shawn Fayard, Student Trainer, Ana Gross, Certified Athletic Trainer, Josh Hoffpauir,
Assistant Coach, Corky Palmer, Head Coach, Lane Burroughs, Assistant Coach, Scott Berry, Associate Head Coach,
Jake Cobb, Manager Justin Russell, Manager . Second Row (L-R): Patrick Maxwell, Chris Matesich, Cliff Russum,
Jason Lowery, Marc Maddox, Trey Cuevas, Jacob Fowler, Leighton Davis, Chasa Baran, Rob Burns, Justin Russell.
Third Row (L-R): Kevin Coker, Matt Caire, David Steele, Chris Kirtland, Trey Sutton, Bo Davis, Jonathan Johnston,
Beau Griffin. Fourth Row (L-R): Mike Cashion, Barry Bowden, Drew Carson, Bryan Adams, Brad Willcutt,
Cole Basinger, Patrick Ezell, Eddie Burger. Back Row (L-R): Will Matlock, Ben Wade, Daniel Best, Brett Hoeflich,
Brad Owen, Jody Blount, Tyler Perrett, John Nicholas.
