MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Tiger Baseball begins its 100th year of competition when the club takes the diamond on Friday at FedExPark in a 4 p.m. matchup with Illinois State. Tiger southpaw Sam Moll is scheduled to face Redbirds right-hander Brad Sorkin.
Memphis lefty Erik Schoenrock is slated to face ISU's lefty Dylan Craig on Saturday at 2 p.m. in game two of the three-game set. The Tigers have not named a starter for Sunday, but it is expected to be lefty Alex Gunn or right-hander Jon Reed. Illinois State has penciled in righty Dan Savas as the probable starter in Sunday's series finale at 1 p.m.
Admission to all three games this weekend will be FREE.
Follow The Action RADIO - Fans can listen locally on WUMR - FM 91.7 ... Jeff Brightwell, in his 10th season as the "Voice of the Tigers," brings the play-by-play ... Pregame show on WUMR begins 15 minutes prior to first pitch.
INTERNET - GoTigersGo.com will offer live play-by-play and statistics ... Fans can watch the game on the Memphis Tiger Network ... Live stats are available through GameTracker, linked on the preview for the game.
TWITTER - @UofMBaseball is the official Twitter account for Memphis Baseball. Follow the Tigers throughout the season for in-game updates, behind the scenes photos and much more.
Welcome Back The Tigers open the season on Friday, Feb. 15 against Illinois State, 276 days since the last game played at FedExPark. Over the offseason, FedExPark was upgraded with brick facades between the dugouts, replacing the previous chain link fence installed when the ballpark opened in 2010.
Your 2013 Tigers Memphis returns five position starters and two starting pitchers from last season's club. Overall, the squad has 20 returning letterwinners and the coaching staff has added 11 newcomers for the season. Below is a statistical breakdown of what's back for the Tigers.
Open Sesame Memphis is 37-28 since 1948 in season openers. Under head coach Daron Schoenrock, the Tigers are 4-4 on opening day, results shown below.
Date
Opponent
Score
Feb. 17, 2012
SIU-Edwardsville
2-4, L
Feb. 18, 2011
Evansville
13-9, W
Feb. 19, 2010
Middle Tennessee
3-4, L
Feb. 20, 2009
vs. Kansas#
5-4, W
Feb. 22, 2008
vs. Seton Hall#
1-3, L
Feb. 20, 2007
at #11 Ole Miss
9-12, L
Feb. 21, 2006
at Alabama
2-0, W
Feb. 25, 2005
vs. Air Force#
10-4, W
# - Service Academies Classic (Millington, Tenn.)
Tigers In Home Openers
Since 1974, the U of M is 26-13 in home openers. The Tigers are 4-4 in home openers under Coach Schoenrock and have dropped three of the last four home openers. List of home openers and the result is listed below.
Date
Opponent
Score
Feb. 17, 2012
SIU-Edwardsville
2-4, L
Feb. 18, 2011
Evansville
13-9, W
Feb. 19, 2010
Middle Tennessee
3-4, L
Feb. 24, 2009
Murray State
4-14, L
Feb. 26, 2008
UT Martin
4-3, W
Feb. 27, 2007
UT Martin
2-1, W
Feb. 28, 2006
UT Martin
9-7, W
Mar. 4, 2005
Nicholls State
3-12, L
# - Service Academies Classic (Millington, Tenn.)
Starting on the Right Foot Memphis carries a record of 68-33-1 in the opening weekend of the season dating back to the 1974 campaign. Under head coach Daron Schoenrock, the U of M is 16-9 in the opening series.
Home Heavy First Half Memphis has a home heavy schedule in 2013 with 36 of 56 games at FedExPark. The Tigers will need to take advantage of the home turf as 27-of-36 home contests (75 percent) will be completed by the fourth league series on April 12 at UAB.
The Inside Edge - Illinois State Illinois State returns 21 lettermen, including six starters and seven pitchers, from last season's 33-19 squad. The Redbirds were picked to finish third in the Preseason MVC poll. Eric Aguilera, Brett Kay and Zac Johnson were preseason all-conference selections for ISU.
Home Cookin The Tigers open the 2013 schedule with 13 of their first 14 games at FedExPark. The U of M carries a 53-37 home record since the stadium became FedExPark in 2010. Coach Daron Schoenrock has guided the Tigers to a 115-112 record at home since taking over the program in 2005. After a rough 4-20 home record in 2005, Memphis has a 111-86 mark at home. Preseason Honors Junior lefty Sam Moll was named to the Preseason All-Conference USA team, the first Tiger pitcher to gain this distinction since 2006. Moll picked up the same preseason honor from CollegeSportsMadness.com preseason C-USA team.
Preseason Poll A preseason poll among Conference USA's nine head coaches tabbed the Tigers sixth this season. Rice was picked first followed by Southern Miss, East Carolina, UCF, Tulane, Memphis, Houston, UAB and Marshall.
Four Score And...... Since 1970, Memphis has an 846-180-1 (.824) record when opponents score four or fewer runs. Under head coach Daron Schoenrock the Tigers are 115-38 (.752) when the pitching staff holds the opposition under four runs.
Is Six The Magic Number? If the Tigers get six runs on the board, the success of the team goes with it. Since 1970, the U of M is 886-217-1 (.803) when scoring six or more runs. Under Coach Schoenrock, Memphis sports a 155-79 (.662) record.
Local Flavor Of the 34 players on the roster, 16 call the Memphis metropolitan area home. Overall, 27 of 34 players are from the state of Tennessee.
Experience Factor Taking a look at the roster, there is a mix of experience and youth. Derrick Thomas (102) and Ethan Gross (99) offer the most starting experience, being the lone two players with more than a season (56 games) of starts. Ford Wilson has 55 career starts and Colton Simbeck made 48 in his freshman campaign. The projected opening day lineup has 406 combined starts, an average of 51 among eight players.
Ironman Shortstop Ethan Gross is projected to make his 100th career start on Friday in the season opener. If Gross starts the game, it would mark his 93rd consecutive start, the longest such streak on the squad. Gross has started every game since March 26, 2011 against East Carolina, the second game of the doubleheader.
Cardiac Kids The Tigers played 22 nail biters last season and sported a 10-12 record in games decided by two runs or less. Memphis won 12-of-15 games down the stretch run last season and in those games, the Tigers were 8-2. Under head coach Daron Schoenrock, Memphis is 85-104 in games decided by two runs or less.
Stick It To Cancer This season, Tiger baseball has teamed up with The Cure Baseball, to create awareness about cancer through the game of baseball. The Tigers are taking part in the Stick It To Cancer Campaign by placing The Cure Baseball's Logo sticker on the back of their batting helmets. The Tigers wear this sticker as a visual sign of support for every man, woman and child battling any and all types of cancer.
The Cure Baseball is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with a goal of raising cancer awareness through the game of baseball. You can read more about the organization and its mission by visiting TheCureBaseball.org.
This season, Tiger baseball has teamed up with The Cure Baseball, to create awareness about cancer through the game of baseball. The Tigers are taking part in the Stick It To Cancer Campaign by placing The Cure Baseball's Logo sticker on the back of their batting helmets. The Tigers wear this sticker as a visual sign of support for every man, woman and child battling any and all types of cancer.
