Chris Koutsavlis aims for the school record in career wins in his start this weekend against Southern Miss.

April 27, 2006

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HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Marshall baseball team (18-19, 5-10 C-USA) wraps up the month of April with a three-game series against Southern Miss (29-15, 5-7). The teams will play at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday at Appalachian Power Park in Charleston, W.Va. WMUL 88.1 FM will have the broadcast of the Friday and Saturday games and also will stream the games online at www.marshall.edu/wmul. WRVC 930 AM will broadcast the Friday game.

The three-game set has all the makings of a slugfest, as Southern Miss and Marshall boast the top two offenses in Conference USA. The Golden Eagles lead the league with a .315 batting average, and the Thundering Herd is right behind at .314.

Adam Frederick (Sr., Franklin, Pa.) and Rich Russell (Sr., Toronto, Ontario) are seventh and ninth, respectively, in Conference USA in batting at .370 and .366. Brendan Murphy (Jr., Chattanooga, Tenn.) is second in slugging percentage (.642), third in RBI (46) and sixth in home runs (9). Frederick is third in slugging percentage at .638. Russell continues to lead the league in on base percentage at .506, and Chris Koutsavlis (Sr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) is tied for third in wins (6).

In his scheduled start this weekend, Koutsavlis will be aiming for his 19th career victory. He is one win shy of the school's all-time wins record, held by Grant Harper (2001-04) and Albie DeYoung (1975-78). In addition, with three games played this weekend, Frederick will have played in the most games ever at Marshall. With 186 career games played, he is two behind Matt White (1999-02).

Marshall comes off a 6-3 win Wednesday over Eastern Kentucky. The Herd scored five runs in the first inning, then used a stellar six-inning pitching effort from Jimmy Stanley (Fr., Lexington, Ky.) to cruise to the victory. Adam Ptacek (Sr., Assaria, Kan.) led the Marshall offense with hits in all three of his at bats and two RBI. Frederick added two doubles for the Thundering Herd. Ptacek has been hot of late, hitting .423 (11-of-26) with two home runs and 15 RBI over his last 10 games.

Southern Miss comes to Charleston after winning 13-6 and 6-3 against No. 17 Mississippi State Tuesday and Wednesday. The Eagles whipped MSU pitching for 31 hits in the two games. They boast six regulars with batting averages of .300 or better, led by Trey Sutton and Brian Dozier at .379 and .378, respectively.

The Golden Eagles have a 4.97 team ERA, led by closer Daniel Best's 1.73 mark. He also is 4-1 with a league-best nine saves. Southern Miss is led by ninth-year head coach Corky Palmer (Southern Miss `77). He is 327-202 with the Golden Eagles.

Southern Miss leads the series with Marshall, 3-0. The teams met up for a three-game series last season in Hattiesburg with the Golden Eagles winning 11-2, 5-4 and 17-4.

Tickets for all Conference USA games at Appalachian Power Park are on sale now by calling 1-800-THE-HERD or logging on to www.herdzone.com.