Scott Berry
Head Coach
3rdYear
(Southwest Missouri State, 1986)
Scott Berry enters his third season as head coach and 12th season overall
with the Golden Eagle baseball program.
Berry led the Southern Miss program to
its ninth-consecutive NCAA postseason in
2011 as the Golden Eagles captured a share
of the Conference USA regular season title
en route to posting a 39-19 mark and a berth
in the 2011 NCAA Atlanta Regional. During
the season, Berry captured his 50th career
victory, a 5-4, 15-inning victory over Rhode
Island in just his 77th career game, marking
the quickest number of games for a Golden
Eagle baseball coach to reach that plateau
on his way to earning C-USA Coach of the
Year honors.
The season produced many awards
for Berry’s squad, including the school’s
first recipient of the Ferriss Trophy to Tyler
Koelling, awarded to the top collegiate
baseball player in the state of Mississippi.
Koelling was one of four Golden Eagles to
earn First-Team All-Conference USA honors,
along with Todd McInnis, Marc Bourgeois
and B.A. Vollmuth. McInnis also garnered
Pitcher of the Year honors from the league
for the second time in his career.
Veteran reliever Collin Cargill, along
with Adam Doleac, captured second-team
honors, while Jared Bales earned league All-Freshman honors.
In addition, Bales earned mention to two
different Freshman All-America teams.
The Golden Eagles also excelled off the
field as Bourgeois was named the program’s
first Academic All-American since 2009,
earning first-team honors at designated hitter.
He was named the C-USA Scholar-Athlete of
the Year for the sport and also spearheaded
a group of three players to make the league’s
All-Academic Team, which included
McInnis and Doleac.
Southern Miss had an All-American
pitcher for four-straight years from 2003-
06, tying TCU for the second-longest streak
in the nation and that is a credit to the job
Berry has done.
In 2008, Berry guided two more All-American pitchers in Barry Bowden and
Tyler Conn. Bowden was 8-3 with a 2. 12
ERA and Conn led the nation with 18 saves
and was the runner-up for the NCBWA’s
Stopper of the Year award. Both Bowden
and Conn signed professionally after the
season along with juniors Brian Leach and
Josh Billeaud, giving the Golden Eagles four
pitchers to move into the professional ranks
at the season’s conclusion.
In addition, McInnis earned Freshman
All-American honors, the second time that
Berry has coached a player to that honor.
Overall the Southern Miss pitching staff
posted a 4. 78 ERA and held opposing hitters
to a .276 average. Throughout the season
one of the main strengths was the Southern
Miss bullpen that finished 19-3 with 20
saves on the season. In fact the bullpen was
so dominate that the Golden Eagles were
38-1 when they were tied or had the lead
after six innings.
In 2007, the Golden Eagle pitching staff
posted a 3. 79 ERA and had three pitchers
with seven or more wins. Southern Miss
pitchers fanned 416 batters and only walked
180 while opposing hitters hit .261. RHP
Ryan Belanger earned All-Conference honors and J.R. Ballinger earned a spot on the
C-USA All-Freshman team.
In 2006, he coached his fourth-straight
closer to All-American honors as Daniel Best
posted a 6-2 record with a 2. 22 ERA and tied
the school single-season record with 13 saves.
