With only two conference weekends remaining, teams continue to jockey for position in the league standings. Rice has a firm hold on first place, but just two games seperate second place Tulane from sixth-place Marshall. In-between them, Southern Miss, Houston and East Carolina are all tied for third. Several showdowns are on this week’s schedule, as Rice hosts Houston, Tulane visits East Carolina and Southern Miss welcomes Memphis. The other conference series features UCF and UAB, an important series to determine final spots in the C-USA Championship, as the ninth place team does not qualify for the double-elimination event.
After appearing in four of Houston’s five games last week, Cougar freshman right-hander Chase Dempsay has been named the Conference USA Pitcher of the Week. This week’s Hitter of the Week honor went to Southern Miss junior infielder James Ewing, who continued his torrid hitting pace in the Golden Eagles’ five-game week, which included four road contests.
Dempsay earned a win and two saves in his four appearances last week out of the Houston bullpen. He threw a combined 7.2 innings of shutout ball, allowing just three hits, while striking out five and walking three. Dempsay set the UH freshman record with his seventh save of the season at Lamar last Tuesday and then added to that record with another save in Friday’s series opener against Memphis. He earned his fifth win of the season on Sunday vs. the Tigers with 2.2 innings of one-hit ball, getting the Cougars out of a seventh-inning jam and striking out a pair en route to his fourth straight victory. With five victories on the season, he is just two away from the UH freshman record of seven, held by Shane Nance.
Ewing led the Golden Eagles to three wins in the week by batting .478 (11-for-23) in five games, including four on the road. His week included three doubles, two triples, two home runs, nine runs scored, 11 RBI and 24 total bases. Ewing had at least one extra base hit in all five games and recorded four multiple-hit outings. In Conference USA play at Marshall this past weekend, Ewing hit .500 (7-for-14) including two doubles, two triples and a home run while scoring six runs and picking up eight RBI. Over the three game series he had a slugging percentage of 1.143 and an on base percentage of .500. Ewing’s two triples against Marshall were his first career triples and he currently has a hit in 10 straight games, dating back to the final game of the Tulane series. Over the last 10 games, Ewing his hitting .500 (18-for-36) with three home runs, two triples, four doubles, 14 RBI and 13 runs scored.
