Golden Eagles picked fourth in C-USA

The Southern Miss baseball team has been predicted to finish fourth this season in Conference USA in a vote by the league's coaches, while senior designated hitter Matt Durst (Whitehouse, Texas) earned preseason all-league honors.

The Rice Owls were chosen as the unanimous favorite to win the league's championship. Rice has won either the regular season or tournament championship in each of its nine years as a member of C-USA. John Clay Reeves has been chosen as the preseason Player of the Year, while Rice junior left-hander Blake Fox was named the preseason Pitcher of the Year.

Durst led the Golden Eagles in hitting last season with a .277 batting average to go along with team highs of six home runs and 40 runs batted in. He has started as the team's designated hitter in 48 of 56 games played, adding nine doubles and 19 walks. Durst was the first offensive triple-crown winner at the school since B.A. Vollmuth led the Golden Eagles in average, home runs and RBIs during the 2010 season.

Following Rice in the predicted finishing order for the schools were FIU, Old Dominion and the Golden Eagles, followed by UTSA, Florida Atlantic, UAB, Middle Tennessee, WKU, Marshall, Charlotte and Louisiana Tech.

C-USA's 20th baseball season gets underway at 4 p.m. Feb. 13 as the Golden Eagles open the year with Murray State in a contest at Pete Taylor Park.

The conference tournament returns to Hattiesburg for the second consecutive year and is scheduled for May 20-24. Tickets for the Southern Miss home baseball season as well as the 2015 C-USA Tournament are available by going online at SouthernMissTickets.com, as well as calling 1-800-844-TICK (8425) or by visiting the Pat Ferlise Ticket Office weekdays during normal business hours.