NCAA Regional Preview: Oxford

By Will Kimmey
June 2, 2005

1. Mississippi 44-18, at-large, tied for third in Southeastern Conference, No. 5 national seed, 11th NCAA tournament, third consecutive appearance
2. Southern Miss 41-19, at-large, tied for second in Conference USA, Sixth NCAA tournament, third consecutive appearance
3. Oklahoma 33-24, at-large, fifth in Big 12, 28th NCAA tournament, second consecutive appearance
4. Maine 34-17, automatic, won America East tournament, 14th NCAA tournament

Player To Watch: Only Tulane's Brian Bogusevic and Micah Owings exert as much two-way influence as Mississippi junior first baseman/lefthander Stephen Head. His 64 RBIs ranked fourth in the SEC, while his 18 home runs ranked fifth in the league. Staying with the ordinal numbers, Head ranked sixth in the league with a 2.72 ERA as he started the year in the rotation before moving to the closer's role. He went 7-3 with six saves overall.

The Favorite: What doesn't Mississippi do well? Its 7.4 runs per game and 3.69 ERA rank among the nation's top 40 teams, while its .975 fielding percentage stands 10th. The Rebels are deep, talented and physical with hitters such as Brian Pettway (.400-19-63) and Chris Coughlan (.348, 19 doubles) helping Head, and four SEC-caliber starters in Mark Holliman, Matt Maloney, Eric Fowler and Anthony Cupps. Mississippi took a tough two-and-out at its home regional last year, but has won nine of its last 11 games and might be peaking at the right time.

On The Other Hand: Southern Mississippi's offense racked up 7.7 runs per game, but its pitching staff allowed a 5.08 ERA after injuries to top arms Cliff Russum (out for the entire season) and Mike Cashion (lost in early April to Tommy John surgery). So the Golden Eagles went 7-12 against teams in this tournament field (1-2 in midweek games against Mississippi) by out-slugging them behind the bats of senior catcher Brad Willcutt (.329-18-82) and junior first baseman Marc Maddox (.356-14-58).

Bracket Buster: Larry Cochell's resignation threatened to torpedo the season, but Oklahoma won its last seven regular season games to make the tournament. Now, No. 2 starter Garrett Patterson (3-1, 2.28 in Big 12 games) is academically ineligible for the postseason, and the Sooners need to regroup again. Ace righthander Daniel McCutchen struck out 63 batters in 55 Big 12 innings while going 2-3, 2.45, and his power repertoire could give Southern Mississippi a tough time in the opener. Junior third baseman Ryan Rohlinger led an average offensive team with .352-10-49 numbers.

Don't Forget About: Maine led its conference with a .310 average as seven starters batted between .345 and .310. Senior first baseman Greg Creek leads the way at .345 with a team-best nine homers. Starters Steve Richard (8-1, 2.22) and Greg Norton (9-3, 2.93) pace the staff.