After setting the tone for the first series win for a visiting team at Rice since 2001, Southern Miss senior RHP Barry Bowden picked up his second straight Pitcher of the Week award and the third of the 2008 season. The Hitter of the Week award was shared by Houston senior 3B Bryan Pounds and UAB junior OF Cody McMurry.
Bowden missed throwing a complete game shut out at Rice by one out, throwing 8.2 innings and striking out 10 Owl hitters in a 1-0 victory, out dueling Rice All-American Ryan Berry in the Friday night game at Reckling Park. For the third time this season Bowden struck out at least ten hitters, all against ranked teams (No. 25 Lafayette (10), No. 16 UCF (14) and No. 12 Rice (10). Bowden did not allow a Rice base runner until the third inning and did not surrender his first hit until the fourth. Rice did not have an inning in which they had more than one hit and only three runners were able to reach as far as second base.
Pounds helped lead the Cougars to two wins last week, including an 8-5 victory over No. 12 Rice in game two of the annual Silver Glove Series. He was the team’s leading hitter in average (.476), hits (10), home runs (2), slugging percentage (.952) and on-base percentage (.520), while adding a pair of doubles and a triple. Pounds recorded at least two hits and one RBI in all but one game. In the win over No. 12 Rice, he was 4-for-5 with two home runs (including his first career grand slam) and seven RBI.
McMurry had a very productive week at the plate for the Blazers, hitting .364 with three home runs and 10 RBI in UAB’s five games in which it went 3-2. He also added five doubles, two walks and scored seven times. McMurry hit the game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth on Saturday against Tulane after hitting a three-run home run in the fifth inning of that game. He also had a three-run homer Friday night against the Green Wave to make it a one-run game.
