behind the plate last year. Bales started 34
of the 41 games he played, while Fowler
started 26 of his 36 games.
First base duties could be handled by
a committee approach that includes Bales
when he’s not catching and Blake Brown,
junior transfer from Pensacola State College.
Travis Creel (.224, 1HR, 14RBI), a redshirt junior from Ocean Springs, will add
depth defensively for the Golden Eagles, as
he is a sure-handed utility infielder. Creel
started 13 of the 28 games he played in after
being sidelined for nearly a month due to
injury last season.
Pitchers
The Golden Eagle pitching staff will
feature an entirely different weekend rotation as just seven of the 14 pitchers who
received action last season return to the
roster in 2012. Included in those no longer
with the program is Todd McInnis, USM’s
all-time winningest pitcher and C-USA
Pitcher of the Year in 2011. Also gone is
dominant closer Collin Cargill, USM’s all-time leader in career saves.
Looking to anchor the weekend rotation
are Chase Horn (2-0, 4. 21 ERA, three saves),
a senior from Southern Union Community
College, and Jake Drehoff, a redshirt freshman from Alpharetta, Ga.
The third weekend spot is still up
for grabs, however. A possible candi-
date to earn the weekend role is Boomer
Scarborough ( 1-1, 2. 89 ERA), a sophomore
from Pass Christian. Scarborough started
in some big mid-week games against tough
competition. He started in eight of his 13
appearances.
Schedule
The 2012 team will take on a very challenging schedule as the Golden Eagles play
18 games against seven teams who made
the postseason a year ago. The season
begins with a weekend series at Pete Taylor
Park on Feb. 17 against Nicholls State. The
first road game for Southern Miss will be at
Louisiana-Monroe (Feb. 22).
USM will then host a five-game home-stand as Troy comes to Hattiesburg for a
weekend series (Feb. 24-26), followed by
single games against Mississippi Valley State
(Feb. 28) and Alabama the following day.
Southern Miss travels to play in the
Auburn Tournament the weekend of March
2-4 to take on Charleston Southern, Purdue,
and Auburn.
After a single home game against South
Alabama (Mar. 6), USM will head to
Louisiana-Lafayette for a weekend series
(Mar. 9-11). The Golden Eagles will conclude its string of playing 7-of- 8 road games
with a trip to take on Alabama (Mar. 13).
Murray State makes the trip to Hattiesburg
(Mar. 16-18) for a weekend series before the
Golden Eagles leave for Oxford to take on
in-state foe Ole Miss (Mar. 20).
Conference play opens for USM when
Houston travels to Hattiesburg (Mar. 23-25)
for a weekend series.
Other C-USA home series for the
Golden Eagles are against UCF (Apr. 13-15),
Memphis (Apr. 20-22), and East Carolina
(May 11-13). Conference road series
include games at Rice (Mar. 30-Apr. 1),
Marshall (Apr. 27-29), Tulane (May 4-6), and
finally UAB (May 17-19) to conclude the
regular season.
Non-conference home games once the
Conference-USA season begins have the
Golden Eagles taking on Louisiana-Monroe
(Mar. 27), Alcorn State (Apr. 5-7), and
Grambling St. (May 2). The only true road
game once conference play opens is at
South Alabama (Apr. 17).
Southern Miss will play two games at
Trustmark Park in Pearl against Ole Miss
(Apr. 3) and Mississippi St. (Apr. 24). The
Golden Eagles will also play LSU (Apr. 11)
in a neutral-site game at Zephyr Field in
Metairie, La.
Upon the conclusion of the regular season, USM will travel back to Trustmark Park
for the Conference USA Tournament from
May 23-27.
NCAA Regional play begins June 1-4,
followed by the Super Regionals June 8-11,
and finally the College World Series concludes June 15-26.
