Once again, Southern Miss has the best pitcher in Conference USA. It might need him to pitch four days in a row to have a shot at the league championship.

Todd McInnis was selected C-USA Pitcher of the Year for the second time in his career Tuesday, and Scott Berry was named the league’s Coach of the Year. It was a bit of good news on a day when the team learned it will be without its Nos. 2 and 3 pitchers and possibly one of its best hitters.

Pitchers Geoffrey Thomas and Jonathan Thompson have been declared academically ineligible for the tournament, Berry announced Tuesday. Outfielder Tyler Koelling, who on Monday won the Ferriss Trophy as Mississippi’s top college player, might miss tonight’s tournament opener against Tulane with a hamstring injury.

“He’s day to day. I don’t know if we’ll see him tomorrow. I don’t know if we’ll see him the whole tournament,” Berry said of Koelling, who leads the team with a .367 average.

Southern Miss has plenty of hitters to pick up the slack for Koelling. Having its pitching staff gutted on the eve of the tournament is a bigger blow.

Thomas, the No. 2 starter, went 10-3 with a 3.09 ERA and was selected first-team All-C-USA on Tuesday. Berry said he was “temporarily” ineligible, leaving open the possibility he could return for next week’s regional.

Thompson, however, will not pitch again this season. The No. 3 man in the rotation is 7-1 with a 3.49 ERA in 13 starts. Berry did not say who will start Thursday against Houston or Friday against East Carolina, although freshman Boomer Scarborough (1-1, 2.79 ERA) started seven midweek games this season and appears to be next in line. No other pitcher started more than two games.

McInnis will get the start tonight against Tulane. He is 7-2 with a 2.79 ERA and 73 strikeouts in 802⁄3 innings. He also won the award in 2009 and is the second pitcher to earn the Pitcher of the Year award twice in a career.

McInnis was also selected to the All-C-USA first team, one of a league-high five Golden Eagles to earn that distinction. Koelling, Thomas, Marc Bourgeois and B.A. Vollmuth were the others. First baseman Adam Doleac and closer Collin Cargill were picked to the second team, while catcher Jared Bales made the all-freshman team.

Memphis infielder Chad Zurcher was selected Conference USA Player of the Year. Zurcher leads the country with a .455 batting average, as well as a .560 on-base percentage. He has 28 multiple-hit games, 18 doubles, 33 RBIs, 45 runs scored and 12 stolen bases.

Starting pitcher Austin Kubitza of Rice was named Freshman of the Year .