Feb. 28, 2008

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The University of Memphis Baseball team will host its first weekend series of the year this weekend, when it welcomes Ohio University into the friendly confines of Nat Buring Stadium for a three-game set beginning on Fri., Feb. 29. First pitch for the series opener is slated for 4 p.m.

Pitching Matchups
Friday, February 29, 2008 • 4 p.m.
Ohio - Jr., RHP, Chris Rigo (1-0, 1.29 ERA)
Memphis - Jr., RHP, Scott McGregor (0-1, 0.00 ERA)

Saturday, March 1, 2008 • 2 p.m.
Ohio - Jr., LHP, Zach Elmer (1-0, 1.80 ERA)
Memphis - So., RHP, Marc Ashley (0-1, 1.80 ERA)

Sunday, March 2, 2008 • Noon
Ohio - TBA
Memphis - Sr., RHP, Philip Utley (0-0, 4.50 ERA)

Tiger Tracks
Memphis (2-3) split its two midweek contests, outslugging UT-Martin on Tuesday for a 10-7 win, before falling to Murray State 9-8 on Wednesday.

The Tiger bats finally woke up a bit as the squad cranked out over 10 hits in both games. Memphis' inexperience at the plate has shown as its offense has struggled, hitting just .250 with runners in scoring position. However, the offense raised its batting average 78 points in the two games and now hits .259. Trey Wiedman hit just .083 (1-for-12) in the opening weekend, but bounced back with a 5-for-5 outing versus UT-Martin and a 2-for-2 night against Murray State. He now leads the team with a .421 batting average. Junior Brett Bowen has hit safely in four of the five games Memphis has played and is second on the squad with a .400 average. He and Wiedman have the Tigers' only two home runs of the year. Freshman Robby Graham has enjoyed success in the early portion of his career, hitting .333 and tying for the team lead with six RBI. JUCO transfer Cole Shelton hits .316.

The Tiger pitching has been exactly what the coaching staff hoped for as they have held opposing hitters to a .250 average. Junior Scott McGregor, Matt Yokley and Marcus Barnes all have 0.00 ERA's McGregor (0-1) gave up two unearned runs in the seaosn-opening loss to Seton Hall, while Yokley and Barnes have worked two scoreless innings each. Marc Ashley (0-1) and Will Hudgens (0-1) both have 1.80 ERA's after giving up one earned run in five innings of work. Freshman Ryan Holland leads the staff with eight strikeouts--all coming in his collegiate debut versus Murray on Wednesday.

Scouting the Bobcats
Ohio is coached by Joe Carbone, who is in his 20th season at the helm of the program. The Bobcats, finished the 2007 season 23-31 overall and 8-19 in the Mid American Conference. However, with 17 letterwinners back, including six position starters, the Bobcats were picked to finish third in the MAC East division this year. With its 17 returning players, Ohio welcomes 15 newcomers this season, with 12 incoming freshmen and three transfers.

Ohio went 2-1 in its opening weekend at Charleston Southern. They won the games one and two, 9-1 and 6-2, but were unable to complete the sweep on Sunday.

The Bobcats hit .280 as a team, but has three guys that swung the bat well in the opening weekend. Brandon Besl has been the toughest out for the opposition. The junior hit a blistering .538 (7-for-13) in the opening series and banged out two doubles. Shortstop Zach Hartle is 4-for-10 (.400) on the year, while senior centerfielder Matt Stiffler hits .308. A 2007 ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove winner and 2008 Preseason Wallace Watch list member, Stiffler is joined by Besl for the team in RBI with three each.

Led by junior righthander Chris Rigo, Ohio pitchers posted a 3.12 ERA in week one of the 2008 season. Rigo, the ace of the Ohio staff, is coming off a seven inning, one hit effort that garnered him MAC East Pitcher of the Week honors. His .053 opponent's batting average and 1.29 ERA are tops on the staff. Rigo leads a group of seven Bobcat pitchers that held Charleston Southern to a combined .207 average last weekend. Starter Zach Elmer is also 1-0 after guiding Ohio to the 6-2 win in game two last weekend. He allowed just three hits and struck out four in five innings. Transfer Joe Stover is the front runner in the Ohio bullpen. Stover has worked one outing, but was effective, holding Charleston Southern to just one run on one hit in four innings.

All-Time Series vs. Ohio
Memphis and Ohio have never met on the baseball diamond. However, the series does have a small bit of history as the two were scheduled to open the 2006 season at Nat Buring Stadium. Due to forecasted inclement weather, the series was cancelled. The forecasted ice and wintery mix did make its way through the Memphis area and the Tigers finally got the '06 season underway with a marquee shut at Alabama.

Last Time Out
Murray State 9, Memphis 8
Freshman Ryan Holland struck out eight in his collegiate debut, but several defensive mistakes allowed Murray State to score five unearned runs as Memphis missed an opportunity to extend its win streak to three games with a 9-8 loss on Wednesday.

Cole Shelton, Trey Wiedman and Chad Zurcher posted multiple hits in the game. Wiedman extended his streak of consecutive hits to a program record tying seven straight at-bats with a 2-for-2 outing.

Through the First Five
Memphis is 2-3 for the first time since the 2002 season when it dropped consecutive contests to Villanova, Navy and Air Force after opening the year 2-0. The 2002 club finished the year 20-31.

First Time for Everything
Tuesday night's win over UT-Martin provided the Tigers with several career firsts. Senior K.K. Chalmers made his 2008 debut and singled in his first at-bat. Senior Neil Schenk nailed down his first career save. Sophomore Trey Wiedman slammed his first career home run and also the Tigers first round-tripper of the year.

Runnin' Down Records
Senior K.K. Chalmers legged out his 13th career triple in the win over Martin on Tuesday. That moves him into a tie with Cary Fenton for the program's all-time lead of 13 triples. Fenton banged out 13 triples in two seasons with the Tigers (1993-94).

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines
Chalmers got his senior season off to a fast start, lacing a single into rightfield and promptly stole second. The 5-7 senior swiped three bases (his 90th, 91st and 92nd) to move into fourth place all-time in Conference USA. He is just three steals away from moving past Brandon Caraway (97-00) of Houston with 95 career steals. Here is a look at where Chalmers ranks on the all-time C-USA list

14 and Counting
Memphis' win vs. UT-Martin was its 14th straight triumph over the Skyhawks. The Tigers are now 30-3 all-time versus UTM-the highest winning percentage against any other opponent.

Lucky No. 7
Just 23 games into his collegiate career, sophomore Trey Wiedman placed his name in the Tiger baseball record books by posting hits in seven consecutive plate appearances. Wiedman went 5-for-5 with a home run in Tuesday night's win over UT-Martin and followed that performance with lining two singles into rightfield in his first two at-bats on Wednesday. The seven hits in seven consecutive plate appearances/at-bats tied the program's record held by three former Tigers--Doug Granger (1978), Jeff Robinson (1978) and Steve Moss (1990). Wiedman did have two other plate appearances in the game and neither counted as official at-bats. He hit a sac fly to rightfield and was walked to finish the night 2-for-2.

Tigers Bats Wake Up
After hitting a dismal .181 in the first three games of the season, the Memphis bats finally came alive--despite the cold--in the two midweek games. The Tigers recorded just 17 hits and five runs in the Service Academies Classic, but rebounded to put up a combined 26 hits and 18 runs in midweek vs. UT-Martin and Murray. Led by Trey Wiedman, Memphis hit .361 (26-for-72) in its last two games.

Make `em Earn It
The Tigers could very well be sitting at 4-1 through five games. However a total of seven unearned runs have cost Memphis one victory and possibly two. Memphis fell 3-1 to Seton Hall in the opener, but gave up two unearned scores. The Tigers allowed Murray State to cross five unearned runs on Wednesday in a 9-8 loss.

You May Think You Know...
Despite the 2-3 record and the early struggles at the plate, the Tiger offense is not far off of the pace of the 2007 team that was known for its offensive power. A tale of the tape shows that there is a bright future for this young club.

2008        Category         2007     Dif.
.259     Batting Average     .267     -8
166          At-bats          172     -6
23            Runs             23      0
43            Hits             46     -3
5            Doubles           11     -6
1            Triples            1      0
2           Home Runs           2      0
18             RBI             21     -3
24            Walks            16     +8
45         Strikeouts          31    +14

Zurcher Solid at Short
Many thought that the Memphis defense would suffer a big let down with the graduation of two-year letterwinner Michael Murray at shortstop. Through five games, freshman Chad Zurcher has put that thought to rest, fielding at a 93% clip. Even more impressive is that Zurcher has made just one true fielding error in 27 chances (.962 fld%). His other error came when the ball was kicked out of his glove by a runner sliding into second base.

Scotty Mac Attack
Junior pitcher Scott McGregor put up one of his strongest performances in a Tiger uniform in the club's 3-1 season-opening loss to Seton Hall. McGregor scattered five hit, struck out five and allowed just two unearned runs in his best outing since he fanned eight and held Tulane to four unearned runs in the first complete-game victory of his career. His outing vs. Seton Hall is a 180-degree difference from his season-opening performance at Ole Miss in 2007. Here is a look at McGregor's three season debuts.

Date     Opponent    IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   W/L   Score
2/24/06	Oklahoma   6.0  3   1   0    4    3     W     2-1
2/20/07	Ole Miss   1.1  8  10   9    0    0     L    9-12
2/22/08	Seton Hall 6.0  5   2   0    0    5     L     1-3

No Freebies
Memphis's pitching has been dominant, but it has aided its dominance by not walking batters. Tiger pitchers have posted a 24:2 strikeouts to walks ratio in the first five games. Scott McGregor, Will Hudgens, Marc Ashley and Philip Utley have not allowed a walk in a combined 22 innings of work.

Barnes Blows `Em Away
Freshman pitcher Marcus Barnes had a collegiate debut worth remembering in Sunday's 4-3 win over Air Force. The freshman entered a tie ballgame in the seventh inning and promptly proved his ability by fanning the first batter he faced. He then went on to strike out five of the six outs he recorded and held Air Force hitless in two innings of work en route to picking up Memphis's first win of the season, which was also the first victory of his college career.

Freshman Debuts
While Memphis starts freshmen at shortstop and rightfield and platoons a freshman at first base, Marcus Barnes and Ryan Holland are the only freshmen to see time on the mound. Both have been impressive. The two rookies account for one of the two Memphis wins and 27% of the team's strikeout totals. Here is a look at their numbers.

                  ERA  W-L  APP GS  CG  CBO  SV  IP  H  R  ER  BB SO  Avg.
8  Marcus Barnes 0.00  1-0   1   0   0  0/0   0 2.0  0  0   0   1  5 .000
32 Ryan Holland  4.50  0-0   1   1   0  0/0   0 2.2  4  6   2   3  8 .250
Totals           4.29  1-0   2   1   0  0/0   0 4.2  4  6   2   4 13 .181

On Deck
Memphis will round out its seven-game homestand with a two-game midweek series vs. 2007 NCAA Regional participant Creighton. The Tigers and Blue Jays will face off at 4 p.m. on both Tues., Mar. 4 and Wed., Mar. 5. Memphis is 0-1 vs. 2007 NCAA teams this year.