UH coach Rayner Noble

A pair of Conference USA coaches reached significant milestones during the opening weekend of the 2009 season. Houston head coach Rayner Noble posted his 500th win as the Cougars skipper, moving his all-time record to 500-359 (.582) as he begins his 15th season at UH. Tulane’s Rick Jones became the school’s all-time winningest coach on Sunday with his 642nd career victory. Jones, who will coach Team USA this summer, broke former baseball coach Joe Brockhoff’s record, which stood at 641 wins since Brockhoff’s retirement following the 1993 season. Read the rest of this entry »

A pair of freshmen have been honored as the Conference USA Baseball Players of the Week. After a highly-productive week that included leading his team to a conference series victory on the road, Marshall freshman designated hitter Victor Gomez has been named Conference USA Hitter of the Week. The league’s Pitcher of the Week honor went to East Carolina freshman right-hander Sthil Sowers, who earned a complete-game victory over No. 27 UNC Wilmington. Read the rest of this entry »

For the second straight week, the Conference USA Hitter of the Week award will be shared by two players. Rice junior C Adam Zornes and Tulane freshman 3B Rob Segedin split this week’s honor after strong performances at the plate last week. The Pitcher of the Week award went to Houston sophomore RHP John Touchton, who had a win in a starting role and an effective relief appearance in two outings last week. Read the rest of this entry »

After leading No. 24 East Carolina to a series win at No. 20 Southern Miss over the weekend, Pirates senior C Corey Kemp has been named the Conference USA Hitter of the Week. The Pitcher of the Week honor went to Rice sophomore RHP Ryan Berry who had his best outing of the season in a 3-0 win at Memphis on Saturday. Read the rest of this entry »

After setting the tone for the first series win for a visiting team at Rice since 2001, Southern Miss senior RHP Barry Bowden picked up his second straight Pitcher of the Week award and the third of the 2008 season. The Hitter of the Week award was shared by Houston senior 3B Bryan Pounds and UAB junior OF Cody McMurry. Read the rest of this entry »

Week two of Conference play is upon us and Southern Miss will visit Rice this weekend, attempting to hand the Owls their first conference loss. Memphis will put its unblemished league mark on the line at Marshall. Elsewhere, East Carolina will visit UCF and Tulane will travel to UAB. Read the rest of this entry »

The majority of this week’s games in Conference USA are scheduled for the friendly confines of C-USA parks. League teams are 46-16 at home this season. The marquee mid-week matchup is No. 10 Texas at No. 13 Rice on Tuesday. East Carolina will look to increase its seven-game winning streak when it opens a four-game homestand against Virginia Commonwealth on Tuesday. At 11-1, UCF has matched its best 12 game start and will look for win No. 12 against Pittsburgh on Tuesday. Read the rest of this entry »

FROM PRESS RELEASE
HITTER OF THE WEEK
DWAYNE BAILEY, UCF

Senior, SS, Tampa, Fla.

Bailey was 10-for-15 (.667) as UCF swept Florida A&M over the weekend. He scored seven runs in the series, had two doubles, a triple, two walks and two RBI, while stealing three bases. Bailey began his season by setting career highs with five hits and four runs scored in a 5-for-5 performance in Friday’s 17-1 victory.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK

MATT LANGWELL, RICE

Junior, RHP, College Station, Texas

Langwell helped the Owls snap a four-game losing streak that dated back to last year’s College World Series with a strong performance at No. 13 Long Beach State on Sunday. He fired 6 2/3 innings of three-hit ball, striking out eight and walking two to give Rice a game three win in a series dominated by pitching.

Complete notebook

As Conference USA enters the final two weeks of the regular season, there is still a lot to be decided. While Rice has a stranglehold on first place, the race for second contains many contenders, as does the quest for NCAA Tournament at-large selections. And, elsewhere in the standings, the jockeying for tournament seeding continues.

HITTER OF THE WEEK

MICHAEL EWING, SOUTHERN MISS Sophomore, OF, Beaumont, Texas Ewing batted .600 (6-for-10) to help lead the Golden Eagles to a 3-0 series sweep over Marshall this past weekend. He had three doubles, one home run and seven RBI in the series, while also drawing three walks and scoring three runs. In Friday night’s opener, Ewing had a sacrifice fly and a three-run homer to account for four RBI. He finished with a .643 on-base percentage and collected 12 bases for a 1.200 slugging percentage for the week.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK
T.J. HOSE, EAST CAROLINA Junior, RHP, Hagerstown, Md. Hose improved to 6-4 on the season after picking up the win in Friday night’s 3-1 victory at Houston on CSTV. He went 7.2 innings, allowing four hits and one walk while striking out five. After giving up a hit in the first inning, Hose retired 16 of the next 18 batters, including 14 in a row at one point, and did not allow a runner past second base. The 7.2 innings worked tied a season-high and his four hits allowed was the second-fewest he has given up this season.

Click here for entire notebook.

The city of Houston broke out the brooms this weekend, as Rice and Houston both swept Conference USA series. The two schools are now 1-2 in the C-USA standings. Marshall also broke into the league win column in convincing fashion over the weekend.

Conference USA has released their Players of the Week for the period ending on April 1st. Bill Moss of Memphis picked up the Player of the Week award by going 6 for 9 with six RBI, three runs scored, two doubles, and a homer in a weekend sweep over Southern Mississippi. Ben Grisham also of Memphis picked up the Pitcher of the Week award by going eight shutout innings in a 8-1 victory over Southern Miss on Friday.

C-USA Release
Memphis Release

Conference USA has also released their notebook from the past weekend which details all the action of the Conference USA teams and can be read here.

Conference USA has released their players of the week for the period ending on March 25th. Harrison Eldridge was named the player of the week after hitting .533 (8 for 15) in leading the East Carolina Pirates to a 4-0 record for the week. The Pitcher of the Week award went to Wes Musick of Houston pitched eight strong innings Saturday against UCF while striking out ten batters.

C-USA Players of the Week
East Carolina Release
Houston Release

Conference USA Weekend Recap