Black & Gold game set for Saturday

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Southern Miss baseball coach Corky Palmer has announced that the annual Black and Gold game will be held this Saturday (Oct. 27), at 1:30 p.m., at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field.

The game will conclude the Golden Eagles five weeks of fall practice and give fans a sneak preview of the 2008 squad. Nineteen letterwinners return from last year's squad that finished 39-21 - 14-10 in Conference USA, which was good for 3rd place - and reached the NCAA Tournament for the fifth straight season.

"This game is for our kids, and gives them a chance to play in front of the community as well as the parents and our fans," said Southern Miss coach Corky Palmer. "From what I have seen this fall, we have a good pitching staff and some offensive threats. Our seven through nine (spots in the order) could be a problem. At this point, I have no idea who is going to play third (base) or leftfield going into the year as those positions are up for grabs, but the rest of the positions are pretty solid."

The Golden Eagles also went through the fall without the services of two of its players, including senior Trey Sutton (Hattiesburg, Miss.) and junior James Ewing (Beaumont, Texas). Sutton has not participated in any of the fall drills because of a left knee injury that he sustained in last year's Conference USA tournament, while Ewing has been limited to defensive duties only due to a back injury.

Palmer, though, has lauded the pitching he has seen this fall including senior Barry Bowden (Vidalia, La.), senior David Clark (Columbia, Miss.) and junior transfer from LSU-Eunice, Josh Billeaud (Scott, La.), while the 10th-year coach has also seen some bright spots in his freshman class.

"Anthony Doss (Brandon, Miss.) and Austin Davis (Meridian, Miss.) have played real well and am real happy with the way they have played as true freshmen."