C-USA coaches rave about tourney site

Source : C-USA coaches rave about tourney site

Though a little sparse Friday after a tough loss on Thursday, Southern Miss fans have turned out in a gold fashion in the Conference USA Tournament at Trustmark Park in Pearl, including a crowd of about 3,500 on Wednesday night. League officials are encouraged by the attendance. / Rick Guy/The Clarion-Ledger

PEARL — The first neutral site Conference USA Baseball Tournament will end here tonight with two Houston teams, Houston and Rice, playing for the title, a 7- or 8-hour drive from home.

Surely, that wasn't a best-case financial scenario for Conference USA, host Spectrum Events or presenting sponsor Trustmark. Put it this way: Tonight's crowd will consist of mostly parents and family of Houston and Rice players, a smattering of Houston and Rice fans, plenty of professional scouts and another smattering of locals and Southern Miss fans who simply appreciate good baseball.

Maybe 1,000, but probably 500.

Houston's 14-inning, 7-6 victory over Southern Miss, which knocked the Golden Eagles out of the championship game, didn't do anything to help the first Conference USA neutral site tournament become a financial success. Still, if you checked with the league's officials, coaches, players and visiting fans, you would find much support for Trustmark Park to become a permanent site after the current three-year contract runs out in 2013.

"What a tremendous venue," Houston coach Todd Whitting said. "The crowds, especially when Southern Miss plays, have been good. I couldn't be happier with the way the tournament has been run and the enthusiasm of the fans. I mean, we're out there at 2 a.m. (actually 1:50 a.m. Friday) still playing baseball and there's still 2,000 people up there going crazy in the stands. It was an NCAA Regional type atmosphere and should really help us if we are fortunate enough to win and get a bid."

Oh, what a game, it was: Two coaches ejected, several remarkable plays, such drama.

Steve King, executive vice-president of Spectrum Events, was captivated by it, even if he had to silently be pulling for USM.

"As exciting a baseball game as I've ever seen," King said. "Every inning, it seemed, we had a great play or an exciting play at the plate. I'm just proud we had that brand of baseball here."

And now the challenge is to get more people to come out and watch it. Coaches, players and fans rave about Trustmark Park and the Jackson area, but bigger crowds are essential to making Trustmark Park the tournament's permanent venue.

Source : C-USA coaches rave about tourney site