May 18, 2005

HOUSTON - The University of Houston baseball team wraps up its 2005 regular season this weekend as it plays host to Conference USA rival and 30th-ranked Southern Miss in a three-game series, starting at 7 p.m., Thursday at Cougar Field.

The Cougars also will honor righthander Gene Flores in a pre-game ceremony as part of Senior Night activities at the ballpark.

The series begins with 7 p.m., games on Thursday and Friday before wrapping up at 1 p.m., Saturday. As this is the last C-USA regular-season series of the year, fans and media should note that that series will begin a day earlier to help accommodate team travel plans for the 2005 C-USA Tournament presented by POWERade.

Thursday's and Friday's games can be heard live on KLVL 1480 AM while Saturday's game will be broadcast on 1540 KGBC 1540 AM. All three games can be heard over the Internet at www.UHCougars.com with former UH letterwinners Nick Torina and Pat Cauley calling all the action. Fans also can follow play-by-play action by clicking on the "Live Stats" link at www.UHCougars.com.

UH comes into the game after a thrilling 3-2 win over No. 11 Rice on Tuesday in Game Five of the annual Sterling Bank Silver Glove Series, thanks to freshman outfielder Kori Williams' pinch-hit, RBI-single in the bottom of the ninth inning.

With the win over the Owls, the Cougars won for the eighth time in their last 10 games and hit the .500 mark at 26-26 for the first time this season.

Now, UH must turn its attention to Southern Miss, which enters this weekend's series in third place in the latest league standings.

Junior southpaw Matt Farrington will make his team-leading 15th start of the season Thursday in the series opener. This season, the Sugar Land, Texas, native has compiled a 7-4 record with 56 strikeouts and a 2.95 ERA in 85.1 innings of work. Both his win total and ERA lead the team and rank among the C-USA individual leaders.

Farrington is the only Cougar southpaw to start since Brian Henderson took the hill in the championship game of the NCAA Regional at Reckling Park against Rice on June 9, 2003.

In his last start, Farrington struck out a career-high eight batters while holding Charlotte to only one run off five hits in seven innings during the opener of that series on May 13. With the win, he snapped a personal three-game losing streak.

In addition to his pitching duties, Farrington has been a regular in the Cougar infield and most recently, outfield. In 38 games, he has compiled a home run, seven doubles and 18 RBIs.

Thursday's game will be Farrington's first outing against the Golden Eagles on the mound. However, he has recorded four runs, a double, homer and four RBIs in seven games in the outfield during his collegiate career.

Junior outfielder Travis Tully leads the Cougars with a .365 batting average after batting 2-for-4 with a double against No. 11 Rice earlier in the week. Sophomore shortstop Dustin Kingsbury is tops with 50 RBIs, while junior infielder Kevin Roberts leads all Cougar sluggers with eight home runs.

For the ninth consecutive season, the Cougars will meet Southern Miss on the baseball diamond. UH owns a 19-10 (.655) lead in the series which began in 1990 as rivals at the 1990 NCAA South I Regional in Baton Rouge, La.

The series began in earnest in 1997 when the two teams began competing as members of Conference USA. The two teams have met at least three times each season since that year.

However, Southern Miss boasts of the most recent success after winning each of the last two regular-season series as well as a 7-2 contest in the second round at the 2003 C-USA Tournament in New Orleans.

The Cougars have posted an 8-4 (.667) all-time record against the Golden Eagles at the friendly confines of Cougar Field. However, USM won two of three from UH in the teams' last meeting in Houston during the 2003 season.

Freshman infielder Trey Sutton leads Southern Miss with a .357 batting average, while catcher Brad Willcutt is tops with 15 home runs and 74 RBIs.

Junior southpaw Matt Caire is scheduled to toe the rubber in the series opener for USM. This season, Caire has posted a 6-3 record with 52 strikeouts and a 5.92 ERA in 59.1 innings.