Caleb Graham

After helping lead Memphis to its first Conference USA series victory of the season, freshman IF Jacob Wilson has been named the Conference USA Hitter of the Week. The Pitcher of the Week honor is being shared by Southern Miss sophomore RHP Todd McInnis and UCF senior Caleb Graham, both of whom pitched gems on the road this past weekend.
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FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE

Brennon Martin

Half of the league’s teams were in action in the city of Houston this weekend, with the results impacting the conference race. Rice moved one step closer to a fourth consecutive regular season C-USA title by taking two of three games from UCF. Second place East Carolina entered the weekend with a one game lead over third place Houston as the teams met at Cougar Field and the Pirates extended that lead with a two games to one series victory over the Cougars. Read the rest of this entry »

Michael Fuda

Crosstown rivals Houston and Rice met with first place on the line and the series did not disappoint with Rice winning two of three in a series that was decided by a total of six runs. Houston took the series opener on Friday night, 7-4 as Jared Ray earned his fourth straight win. On Saturday, Michael Fuda hit a two-out RBI single to break a 5-5 tie and give Rice a 7-5 victory. That win earned the Owls the Silver Glove Trophy, which goes to the winner of the annual five-game series between the teams. Rice made it a 2-1 weekend win and a 4-1 Silver Glove series triumph by holding off a late UH rally to win on Sunday, 6-5. Read the rest of this entry »

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE

Mike Ojala

The showdown series of the weekend occurred in Greenville, where No. 3 Rice visited No. 15 East Carolina. After Rice won a wild offensive show on Friday night, 15-11, Seth Maness pitched a gem for ECU on Saturday, firing a complete-game, three-hitter to lead the Pirates to a 4-1 win. That set the stage for Sunday’s showdown for the series victory and first place in the conference standings. Mike Ojala returned to the mound after missing his previous two starts and led the Owls to a 5-4 victory with 10 strikeouts in five innings pitched. Read the rest of this entry »

Kiko Vazquez

It was a weekend of big innings and high scoring games around Conference USA. East Carolina and Rice both swept their series, keeping the Pirates one game up in the conference standings as the two teams prepare to meet next weekend in Greenville. Southern Miss took two-of-three from Marshall in a close series where four total runs separated the teams. UCF earned its first series victory of the season by winning the final two games at Memphis and Houston extended its winning streak to six games by sweeping a non-conference series against Texas-Pan American. Read the rest of this entry »

James Ewing

Southern Miss was the only team to post a series sweep in Conference USA play this weekend as the Golden Eagles took three in a row at UCF. After posting a 6-2 win in the opener on Friday, the Golden Eagles broke out the bats in a big way during a Saturday doubleheader, scoring 45 total runs. The 26 runs scored in game one established a new USM school record. Senior SS Brian Dozier led the way in the twin-bill, combining to go six-for-nine with two home runs, seven runs, nine RBI, 12 total bases, two walks and a sacrifice fly. Read the rest of this entry »

Digger Towe

UAB had to battle rain all weekend, playing its series against Harvard in two different states, but in the end the Blazers had a four-game sweep of the Crimson and a six-game winning streak. The two clubs played a single game on Friday and a doubleheader on Saturday in Pensacola, Fla., while Sunday’s series finale was played in Vestavia, Ala., a suburb of Birmingham. When it was over, the UAB bats had a big weekend, out-scoring Harvard, 53-14 and posting at least 11 runs in all four outings. Read the rest of this entry »

Sam Honeck

The third full week of non-conference play is on tap this week in Conference USA Baseball. Rice has a four-game series against No. 20 San Diego from Thursday-Sunday in Houston. Tulane visits No. 10 UC Irvine for a three-game set next weekend and Marshall hosts No. 21 Kent State in a mid-week matchup as C-USA teams try to prove themselves against top-notch competition. Read the rest of this entry »

Brett Bowen

Memphis posted its first three-game sweep since March 21-23, 2008 as it took three in a row over Valparaiso. On Saturday, Ryan Fraser struck out seven and scattered five hits in seven innings as the Tigers posted their first shutout since blanking Southeast Missouri on March 16, 2008. Brett Bowen hit .556 in the series with a home run and five RBI to lead Memphis at the plate. Read the rest of this entry »

Brian Dozier

After winning four more games last week, Southern Miss has moved into the national rankings. The addition of the Golden Eagles gives C-USA three ranked teams. East Carolina and Rice are the other two ranked C-USA squads and both defeated nationally-ranked non-conference foes last week. Southern Miss will be tested this coming weekend as No. 7 Cal State Fullerton makes its first-ever visit to Hattiesburg to highlight the upcoming week’s docket. Read the rest of this entry »

Mike Ojala

It was quite a weekend for the Rice Owls at the Houston College Classic. Faced with the daunting task of facing three consecutive top 10 teams, the Blue & Gray delivered in a big way. On Friday night, the Owls pitching staff combined to set a Houston College Classic record with 17 strikeouts (11 by Mike Ojala) in a thrilling 5-4 victory in 10 innings over No. 9 UCLA. On Saturday night, Ryan Berry turned in as masterful performance as you’ll see in college baseball, throwing a complete-game, two-hit shutout while striking out 12 and walking none. It was C-USA’s first victory over a top-ranked team since Houston defeated LSU on March 6, 2004. Rice closed out the weekend with a solid 8-3 victory over No. 6 Baylor. Read the rest of this entry »

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 »