USM vs. Charlotte Preview

|Jack Duggan, Assistant Athletic Director/Media Relations

Hattiesburg, Miss. - With a share of first place in Conference USA after two weeks of league play, the Southern Miss baseball team heads to Charlotte this weekend looking to continue its solid start.

Game times for the three-game set include a 5 p.m., CT contest on Friday, followed by a 1 p.m., tilt on Saturday and concludes with a 10 a.m., start on Sunday.

Southern Miss (19-7 overall, 5-1 C-USA) holds down first place in C-USA along with Rice and Florida Atlantic and the Golden Eagles have won 15 of their last 16 regular-season contests and have won their last five series including a home sweep of UTSA last weekend.

The Golden Eagles play a 49ers team that holds a 12-13 overall record and are 3-3 in C-USA action. Since the 49ers rejoined the league during the 2014 campaign, Southern Miss has won five of six meetings between the two schools including a three-game sweep at Pete Taylor Park last spring.

The team continues to swing the bat well and post a team batting average of .312 to go along with 34 home runs, having gone deep in each of its last nine games.

Graduate transfer Jake Sandlin, who had a 12-game hitting streak snapped Tuesday versus Mississippi State, leads the team in hitting at .380, followed by senior Tim Lynch, who posted a .362 batting mark as well as a team-best 29 RBI. Senior Nick Dawson adds a .360 batting average for the Golden Eagles, while junior Dylan Burdeaux is at .336, junior Chuckie Robinson at .310 and sophomore Taylor Braley at .308.

Following the Charlotte series, the Golden Eagles return to Trustmark Park on Tuesday to face nationally ranked Ole Miss in a 6:30 p.m., tilt.