March 8, 2010
Complete Notebook in PDF Format 
It's California week in Conference USA. Three C-USA schools head out west for games in the Golden State, while Cal-Berkeley visits Rice for a four-game set. East Carolina will play a single game at Cal State Northridge before facing Pepperdine for a three-game set. Red-hot Houston begins a nine-game road trip with a series at Cal Poly this weekend. UAB will participate in the SDSU Invitational with games against San Diego, San Diego State and Cal State Fullerton.
HITTERS OF THE WEEK
CAM FREEMAN, EAST CAROLINA
Junior, 2B, Fayetteville, N.C.
Freeman helped the Pirates to a perfect 3-0 week, which included capturing the Seventh Annual Keith LeClair Classic crown. On the week, he led the team in batting average (.542/6-for-11), home runs (2), RBI (6) and total bases (12), while sharing the team lead in runs (3), hits (6) and on-base percentage (.500). Three of Freeman's six RBI came with two outs and he drove in game-winning runs against West Virginia and Western Carolina, the first of his career. He collected two hits and drove in two runs in all three games, hitting home runs against Illinois and Western Carolina.
JOHN FROST, UAB
Freshman, DH, Decatur, Ala.
Frost recorded multiple hits in all four of UAB's games last week as he logged a .643 batting average (9-for-14) over the four games. The freshman also recorded at least one RBI in each contest, helping the Blazers to a 3-1 record for the week. He finished the week with a .647 on-base percentage and a .786 slugging percentage. Frost had a two-RBI double as part of a decisive six-run second inning Wednesday against Kennesaw State and an RBI single as part of a four-run sixth that gave the Blazers the lead for good Friday against Eastern Illinois. His RBI single Sunday against the Panthers gave UAB the lead in the sixth inning. Frost has now hit safely in six consecutive games.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK
MICHAEL GOODNIGHT, HOUSTON
Sophomore, RHP, Houston, Texas
Goodnight threw seven scoreless innings to earn the win against No. 3 Texas on Saturday. He allowed just two hits with nine strikeouts, one shy of his career-high. By holding Texas scoreless, Goodnight recorded the first shutout of his career. The win gave Houston back-to-back shutouts for the first time since 1998 and the Cougars became the first team in the history of the Houston College Classic to shutout consecutive opponents. Goodnight was also named to the Houston College Classic All-Tournament Team.
C-USA NOTEBOOK
EAST CAROLINA
The Pirates won the Keith LeClair Classic over the weekend with victories over Illinois, West Virginia and Western Carolina. Junior RHP Seth Simmons recorded a pair of saves on the weekend to push his season total to three and career total to 14, which is tied for third place on the school's all-time charts with Shane Mathews (2004-07). Sophomore LHP Kevin Brandt had a strong outing against Illinois, tossing six innings and allowing one run on five hits with a season-best seven strikeouts. In four starts, Brandt has allowed five runs (four earned) on 15 hits in 19.1 innings. Junior RHP Seth Maness picked up his first win of the season against in-state foe Western Carolina. He worked a season-long 7.1 innings, allowing two runs on eight hits with a season-best seven strikeouts. Junior RHP Zach Woods struck out 14 batters in two appearances last week, including a career-best 11 vs. Western Carolina on Sunday. Junior OF Devin Harris smacked his first home run of the year against Western Carolina. He batted .455 (5-for-11) in the LeClair Classic with two doubles, three runs scored and a .500 on-base percentage. The Pirates pitching staff posted 34 strikeouts on the weekend with just six walks. ECU batters collected double-digit hits in all three games over the weekend and have posted 10 or more in 7 of 10 games played.
HOUSTON
The Cougars defeated three different Big 12 opponents at the Houston College Classic over the weekend, beating Missouri, No.3 Texas and Texas Tech. Houston posted back-to-back shutouts for the first time since 1998 by blanking Missouri (3-0) and Texas (1-0). It was the first time in the 10-year history of the Houston College Classic that a team posted back-to-back shutouts. This marked the first time that UH finished 3-0 in the 10 years they have played in the Houston College Classic. Sophomore RHP Michael Goodnight, freshman M.P. Cokinos and junior SS Blake Kelso were each named to the All-Tournament team. Goodnight threw seven shutout innings with nine strikeouts in the 1-0 win over No. 3 Texas. Cokinos tied the Houston College Classic single-game record with five RBIs in Houston's tournament finale win over Texas Tech. Kelso earned a spot on the team after going 4-for-10 over the weekend with a double, triple and an RBI. He also tripled and scored the game's only run in the win over Texas. Junior RHP Chase Dempsay earned the win against Missouri, giving up just four hits with two strikeouts in 5.1 innings pitched. Sophomore RHP Matt Creel earned his first career save in the game, going the final 1.1 innings with one hit and two strikeouts.
MARSHALL
The Thundering Herd posted an 8-0 shutout in the series finale at Georgia Southern on Sunday, the team's first blanking since a 4-0 win over Youngstown State on March 13, 2009. Sophomore LHP Mike Mason set career-highs in frames pitched (6.2) and strikeouts (9) to improve his record to 2-0 on the season. Six of southpaw's nine punchouts came swinging. The top five batters in the Thundering Herd lineup combined for 12 hits. Senior IF Josh Valle (two doubles) and senior OF Kurt Lipton each went 3-for-5, while freshman OF Isaac Ballou, junior C Victor Gomez and sophomore IF Alfredo Brito each tallied a pair of hits. Gomez launched a two-run home run, the 31st of his career. Senior RHP Austin Coan has not allowed a run in four appearances this season. He has picked up a pair of saves.
MEMPHIS
The Tigers won a series over Oakland University at FedExPark this past weekend. Senior OF Tyler Huelsing continued to swing a hot bat this weekend, batting .429 (6-for-14) and a team-best 11 total bases, eight RBI and two doubles. He hit safely in all three contests and drove in multiple runs in the last two games to lead Memphis to its first series win at FedExPark. Huelsing tied a career-high with four hits and set a new personal-best with five RBI on Sunday. He put Memphis on the board with an RBI-single in the first inning and then put the game away with the first-ever grand slam at FedExPark during a seven-run second inning. Senior RHP Ryan Fraser put up a career outing to lead Memphis to a 7-1 win on Saturday. In a quality seven-inning start, he struck out a career-high nine batters, while walking just three and allowing three hits. Fraser was perfect through three frames and held Oakland scoreless through five en route to earning his first win of the 2010 season. Junior LHP Ryan Holland held Oakland to just three unearned runs in 5.1 innings on Sunday, scattering five hits, while striking out four. He held Oakland scoreless through five before giving up the three unearned tallies in the sixth. Holland has tossed 12 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run.
RICE
Rice went 4-1 last week and has won seven of its last eight games. The Owls tallied a one-run wins over nationally-ranked TCU and Texas Tech, shut-out preseason Southland Conference favorite Texas State 5-0 in their home-opener, and topped crosstown rival Houston, 8-2. In five games last week, nine different Rice pitchers maintained a 1.84 ERA in 44.0 innings. The staff held opposing hitters to a composite .220 average and issued only 12 walks in the five games. Sophomore OF Michael Fuda saw his 13-game hitting streak come to an end Friday night against Texas. The streak had dated back to last season... Sophomore 3B Anthony Rendon saw a trend of registering 12 walks in 25 plate appearances (for a .600 OB%) over a five-game span come to a end. For the first time in his career he batted leadoff on Mar. 3 and helped the Blue & Gray defeat Texas State 5-0. In the College Classic Tournament at Minute Maid Park, Rendon hit a home run against Texas Tech (the 22nd of his career) and brought the fans to their feet when he made a bare-handed grab of a ground ball at third base to retire a TCU batter. In Sunday's come-from-behind win over No. 7 TCU, senior 1B Jimmy Comerota hit a triple and a home run in the same game.
SOUTHERN MISS
The Golden Eagles won a series at Louisiana-Lafayette to finish off a 3-1 week. Junior RHP Todd McInnis threw eight shutout innings, allowing only four hits and striking out seven on Friday at ULL. Senior RHP Scott Copeland tossed eight innings, allowing one run on seven hits while striking out six in game two. Senior 2B Taylor Walker accounted for three of the team's four runs in the series opener with two RBI and a run scored. He had three hits in each of the first two games and hit his first home run of the season on Saturday. In midweek action on Wednesday, Southern Miss defeated La. Monroe 14-5, in a game that saw three triples and a triple play turned. It was just the second triple play in school history as sophomore B.A Vollmuth fielded a ground ball at shortstop, tagged the runner going to third, stepped on second base and threw to first base for the third out. Junior transfer Marc Bourgeois had a breakout game, going five-for-six with four RBI and four runs scored while he was only a double shy of the hitting for the cycle. Southern Miss has scored 10 runs or more in five of the teams 11 games while have 10 or more hits in eight games. The black and gold have already tuned 15 double plays through the first 11 games of 2010.
TULANE
The Green Wave closed out the weekend with a 12-4 win over No. 19 Mississippi, their first victory over a ranked opponent this season. Sophomore RHP Robby Broach earned the win, fanning five batters and allowed three runs (two earned) over 6.1 innings pitched. Sophomore IF Rob Segedin collected a hit in every game last week to extend his hitting streak to nine games and batted .375 (6-of-16) in the Ole Miss series. He doubled in three of his four starts, while driving in an RBI in each game. Segedin has doubled six times on the year, has a triple and a home run to go along with 11 RBI. Freshman SS Garrett Cannizaro extended his hitting streak to ten games with a three-for-five day at the plate on Sunday versus Ole Miss. The rookie has reached base in all 11 of his career games, while scoring at least one run in seven of those contests. Senior RHP Preston Claiborne has not allowed a hit to a right-handed batter in nine innings of work out of the bullpen in 2010. He has held righties hitless in 21 at-bats this season and is holding opposing hitters to a .156 batting average overall. Freshman C Blake Crohan leads Conference USA in batting at .500 (23-of-46) with 12 runs scored.
UAB
The Blazers were 3-1 last week, winning a series over Eastern Illinois over the weekend. Sophomore 1B Devin Hamilton provided the game-winning hit Sunday in just his second at-bat of the season. As a pinch hitter in the bottom of the ninth, Hamilton singled to score Ryan Ussery, giving the Blazers a 4-3 win and their second consecutive series victory to open the year. Led by a .643 batting average from freshman DH John Frost, UAB hit .338 over four games last week to raise its team batting average from .222 to .273. Senior C Digger Towe hit .412 for the week and also blasted two home runs and posted eight RBI. UAB has picked up where it left off last season in terms of stolen bases. The Blazers, who led the conference in 2009, have stolen 20 bases in eight games and have yet to be caught stealing. Sophomore OF Jamal Austin stole four bases in one game Saturday against EIU and is tied with junior 2B Nick Crawford for the team lead with five steals this season. Austin batted .500 (7-for-14) last week with a triple and four runs scored. Freshman RHP Ben Bullard allowed just one run on one hit in 3.2 innings of relief Friday against Eastern Illinois to earn his second win in as many appearances.
UCF
UCF dropped all three games to Central Michigan last weekend. Two Knights had very productive weeks at the plate last week, combining for more than half of the team's hits. Senior OF Shane Brown batted .600 (12-for-20) in five games last week with three doubles, a home run, five RBI and five runs scored. Senior OF Chris Duffy hit .429 (9-for-21) with five doubles, two homers, six RBI and six runs scored. Freshman RHP Owen Dew struck out five in 6.0 innings and allowed just three hits in Saturday's 3-0 loss to CMU. Freshman LHP Joe Rogers is serving as UCF's closer and he has pitched 7.0 shutout innings with two saves, a win and 15 strikeouts. Rogers has not recorded a walk and allowed opponents to just three hits. Freshman OF Ronnie Richardson is tied for the Conference USA lead with 17 walks in the first 12 games of the season. On March 2, UCF rallied from a 10-2 deficit to defeat Duquesne, 12-11. Tuesday's home game against Miami will be the first time UCF has hosted the Hurricanes in over 20 years. It also marks the first time the two teams will have played since 1995.
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