March 24, 2009

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The search for a midweek win continues for the University of Memphis baseball team as it makes the trip to Starkville, Miss., to face Mississippi State in a non-conference tilt on Wednesday, March 25. First pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m. at Dudy Noble Field/Polk-Dement Stadium.

Scouting the Tigers
Memphis (9-12) is coming off a tough C-USA series loss to Marshall over the weekend. A team that hits .271, the Tigers is guided by junior Trey Wiedman. Wiedman carries a 10-game hit streak into midweek play and hits a team-high .381 with a .508 slugging percentage. He is followed by Drew Martinez, Chris Newsom and Shawn Ablett. Martinez, a freshman, leads the squad with 27 hits. He is tied with Brett Bowen for the team lead of seven doubles. Newsom has hit his way into the starting lineup and sports a .324 average on 12 singles. Ablett is one of the team's top clutch hitters and bats .300 with a team-high two triples. Bowen has scored 19 runs, while Cole Shelton has a club-best 16 RBI.

Junior Josh Ross will toe the rubber for his first Division I start on Wednesday. Ross comes into the contest with a 21.60 ERA in four relief outings. Tiger pitchers have had a tough season, giving up 169 runs (eight runs per game) and yielding a 7.30 ERA. Opponents hit .318 against the staff.

Last Time Out
Marshall 8, Memphis 7
Marshall (10-10; 2-1 C-USA) 000 012 302 - 8 13 4
Memphis (9-12; 1-2 C-USA) 007 000 000 - 7 5 2

MILLINGTON, Tenn.--Memphis scored seven runs in the third inning, but a two-out, two-run single, in the ninth inning, by Brandon Casamassima completed Marshall's comeback and gave the Thundering Herd an 8-7 win over the Tigers in the series finale on Sunday at USA Stadium. Marshall clinched the opening series of Conference USA play with the victory.

The Memphis offense was held to five hits in the game, and just one over the last six innings. Brett Bowen posted three of the five hits in a 3-for-5 effort. He banged out two doubles.

Freshman Heith Hatfield was tagged with the loss. The freshman worked out a jam in the eighth to maintain the one-run lead, but was unable to hold the Thundering Herd off in the ninth. He fanned two in two innings. Memphis got a strong start from Brach Davis. The southpaw held Marshall off the scoreboard for 4.2 innings. He ran into trouble in the fifth and sixth, before being relieved in the seventh. Davis gave up five runs on nine hits.

Scouting Mississippi State
Mississippi State was ranked 25th in last week's poll, but dropped out after being swept by No. 3 Georgia in SEC weekend play. First-year skipper John Cohen returns 20 letterwinners, including eight position starters and 10 pitchers, from last year's club that went 23-33 and finished 12 overall in the SEC standings. The 2009 edition of Mississippi State baseball sports a 13-9 record, but has dropped five of its last six.

The State offense hits a collective .287 with 13 home runs and 33 stolen bases. The charge is paced by senior catcher Scott DeLoach. The Bulldogs backstop hits a blistering .425 and is assisted by three other hitters with averages above .300. Junior Ryan Duffy hits .373 and slugs a team-best .549, while Jett Butler bats .368. Russ Sneed checks in a .313 and is tied with Connor Power with a team-high three home runs. Power is the primary offensive leader, with a club-best 19 RBI, 17 hits and six doubles. Speedster Grant Hogue is 12-12 in the stolen bases category.

On the mound, the Bulldogs have a 4.56 ERA, 171 strikeouts and seven saves. The staff holds opponents to a .258 average at the plate. MSU pitchers are averaging over seven strikeouts per game. Wednesday's starter Drew Hollinghead is 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA. He has been tough on opposing hitters, limiting them to a .178 batting average in 13 innings. Relievers Greg Houston and Chad Crosswhite anchor the staff. Houston is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in nine appearances. Crosswhite has four of the staff's seven saves.

Last Time vs. Mississippi State
Mississippi State 4, Memphis 1

Memphis (16-36)               010 000 000 - 1 4 1
Mississippi State (21-32)     003 000 10x - 4 9 0

Starkville, Miss.--Mississippi State pitcher Chad Crosswhite recorded eight of his team's 13 strikeouts to lead the Bulldogs to a 4-1 win over Memphis in the final non-conference game of the season for both squads.

The Tigers outlasted the Bulldogs, 9-8, in 10 innings on April 8. However, in the final meeting between Head Coach Daron Schoenrock and his mentor Ron Polk, it was the teacher that came out victorious in pitcher's dual.

Memphis took a 1-0 lead in the second after Cole Shelton ripped a single to rightfield and then swiped second for his first collegiate stolen base. He moved to third on a ground out by Robby Graham and another ground out--this one by K.K. Chalmers--brought him in. But from there the Tigers could only muster three hits, while striking out nine times. Chris Newsom, Eric Farrell and Tyler Huelsing had the other three hits in the game.

Brennon Martin gave up three runs on seven hits, while sitting down six Bulldogs on strikes. Matt Yokley, Garrett Hachtel and Chris Kirkland also saw time on the hill for Memphis.

All-Time Series vs. Mississippi State
Memphis trails the all-time series that dates back to the 1950 season, 21-45. The 45 losses are the third-most suffered by Memphis against any opponent. The Tigers have defeated the Bulldogs just three times in the last 20 meetings, with one of those wins coming last year at AutoZone Park. Memphis has not beaten Mississippi State in Starkville since 1996--a span of 10 games.

The two teams split last year's series, with both teams winning at home. In the U of M's last win, Cole Shelton ripped an RBI-single in the bottom of the 10th inning to drive home the game-winning run for a 9-8 triumph to snap an eight-game losing streak to the Bulldogs.