May 14, 2009

GREENVILLE, N.C. - With three regular season games remaining, the University of Memphis baseball team clings to the eighth and final spot for the 2009 C-USA Tournament. The Tigers will look to strengthen that hold on a tournament berth this weekend as they take on No. 20 East Carolina.

Scouting the Tigers
At 21-29, Memphis is in control of its own destiny in the final weekend of C-USA play. It is a simple equation for the Tigers. Win, and get into the tournament, or lose and hope UCF does the same. With a half-game lead on the Knights, the Tigers must at least play even with UCF to earn a tournament berth.

Memphis, who won its first league series of the year with a 2-1 win over Southern Miss, is led by freshman centerfield Drew Martinez and junior catcher Shawn Ablett. Martinez holds a team-high .313 batting average with 57 hits. Ablett has stuffed the stat sheet with a .300 average, 29 RBI, six doubles, five home runs and four triples. Trey Wiedman has recorded a hit in each of the last nine games to increase his average to .298. Wiedman has 29 RBI, 11 doubles and three home runs. Adam McClain continues his consistent play and checks in at .297 with 24 RBI, 10 doubles, five homers and three triples.

On the mound, Memphis looks to ace Brennon Martin for stability. Martin, 6-3 with 56 strikeouts, has a solid 4.06 ERA and ranks second in C-USA with 77.2 innings pitched. Brach Davis, who will start on Thursday, is 205 with a 5.98 ERA and 46 strikeouts. Davis won his first outing as No. 1 starter on Friday night versus Southern Miss. In the bullpen, sophomore Marcus Barnes has been the top option. Barnes (2-1) has two saves and holds opposing hitters to a staff-low .211 batting average. The southpaw boasts a 1.93 ERA in league action.

The Tigers dropped their ninth one-run game on Tuesday, falling to Mississippi State, 6-5, in the non-conference finale.

Last Time Out
Mississippi State 6, Memphis 5

Mississippi State (24-27)     030 101 010 - 6 10 1
Memphis (21-29)               023 000 000 - 5  9 0

MEMPHIS, Tenn.-- Drew Martinez and Cole Shelton both had two hits, but it was a solo home run by Mississippi State pinch hitter Ryan Duffy that proved to be the difference as the Bulldogs swept the season series from Memphis with a 6-5 decision at AutoZone Park, Tuesday afternoon.

Duffy's fifth home run in seven games broke a 5-5 tie in the top of the eighth.

MSU reliever Justin Bussey held Memphis to two hits over the final six innings of play and the Bulldogs offense score three times to erase the Tigers' early 5-3 lead.

Trey Wiedman homered for Memphis. Wiedman, Tyler Huelsing, Adam McClain and Shawn Ablett all had a hit and an RBI in the final non-conference matchup of the season. Chris Newsom also had an RBI.

Scouting the Pirates
At 38-15 overall and 14-7 in C-USA play, ECU is in the hunt for the 2009 C-USA regular season crown. The Pirates, who were picked to finish second in the league's preseason poll, are ranked 20th in the country by Baseball America and NCBWA. Winners of six of its last seven, ECU has been nearly unbeatable at home with a stout 25-7 record at Clark -LeClair.

The Pirates possess one of the most powerful offenses in both C-USA and the nation. ECU leads the league and ranks 16th nationally with a .341 team batting average. They are fourth in the nation with 647 hits, 10th with 463 runs, 13th with a .552 slugging percentage, 18th with 86 home runs and 34th with 125 doubles. Player of the Year candidate Ryan Wood leads Conference USA, hitting .381 with a league-best 73 runs scored. His 73 runs are good for 28th in the country. The senior is second in the league with a .489 on-base percentage and 82 hits. He also rates in the top-10 in the league in RBI, doubles and home runs. He teams up with senior outfielder Stephen Batts. Batts, a two-time C-USA Hitter of the Week honoree and Preseason All-C-USA pick is second on the club with 81 hits and ranked 45th nationally in that category in the latest NCAA statistical report. He hits .370. ECU has just three players on the roster that hit below .300.

East Carolina is equally as potent on the mound, boasting a composite 4.24 ERA--24th-best in the NCAA. The Pirates 8.96 hits per nine innings ranks 25th nationally. Sophomore Seth Maness is the ace of the staff and has garnered several preseason accolades, including Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball Third Team All-American, College Baseball Insider Third Team All-American, NCBWA Second Team All-American and The Sporting News First Team All-American. Maness is living up to the hype with an 8-0 record and a 4.22 ERA in a staff-high 81 innings. Chris Heston has been unbeatable as well. He brings a 7-0 record and a 3.24 ERA into his weekend start. He leads the staff with 77 strikeouts in 75 innings. Sophomore closer Seth Simmons has eight of the club's 12 saves and ranks 36th in that category. Simmons has made 27 relief appearances and has struck out 42 batters in 30 innings. Opponent's hit just .183 against him. Freshman Kevin Brandt improved to 7-1 on the season after working 6.1 innings of relief on Sunday.

All-Time Series vs. East Carolina
Memphis and East Carolina have met 21 times, with the Pirates leading the all-time series 14-7. The Tigers snapped a four-game losing streak to ECU with a 7-5 win in the 2008 season finale. However, the Pirates won the series after winning both of the first two games of the set. ECU routed Memphis in both contests, handing the Tigers an 8-1 loss in the series-opener, followed by a 17-3 run-away in game two. This series is the third time (2008, 2007, 2002) that Memphis has matched up with a ranked ECU squad. The Pirates are 8-1 against the Tigers, when ranked.

The last time the U of M made the trip to Greenville, N.C., they took a 10-4 lead in the sixth inning of the series opener, but the 22nd-ranked Pirates responded with eight unanswered runs to claim a 12-10 win. ECU then held Memphis to just one run over the next two games to sweep the Tigers. ECU has blanked Memphis in three of the last six games played in Greenville. Ricky Brooks out-dueled current New England Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski to no-hit Memphis and earn a 3-0 win in the final game of the 2005 series. Memphis is 2-7 against ECU at ECU.

Last Time vs. East Carolina
Memphis 7, East Carolina 5

No. 30 East Carolina (39-17, 13-11 C-USA)    010 220 000 - 5  9 1
Memphis (17-38, 5-18 C-USA)                  021 012 10x - 7 10 2

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Tiger seniors K.K. Chalmers, Philip Utley and Neil Schenk made the final game of their careers memorable ones, as the trio put together solid performances to lead Memphis to a 7-5 win over No. 30 East Carolina in the season final. It was also the final game at Nat Buring Stadium.

Utley and Schenk combined to strike out nine ECU batters, while K.K. Chalmers went 2-for-3 with three stolen bases, two runs scored and an RBI as the Tigers snapped a season-long 13-game losing streak.

Utley set the tone for the Tigers, working 4.2 innings and striking out four. He handed the ball over to Schenk and Memphis's top reliever came up with another strong outing. The southpaw allowed just one hit in 4.1 innings, while fanning five to pick up the win.

Trey Wiedman led the Memphis offense with a 2-for-4 afternoon. He knocked his eighth home run of the year and finished with three RBI.

Memphis wraps up the 2008 campaign with a 17-38 overall record and a 5-18 mark in Conference USA play.

Last Time in Greenville
No. 22 East Carolina 11, Memphis 1 (7)

Memphis (14-9; 0-3 C-USA)                000 001 0 -  1  3 0
No. 22 East Carolina (19-6; 3-0 C-USA)   200 360 X - 11 14 1

GREENVILLE, N.C.-- For the second-straight game Memphis was baffled by East Carolina pitching as Pirate starter Josh Dowdy tossed a gem, holding the Tigers to just three hits in an 11-1 rout at Clark-LeClair Stadium. The Pirates extended their win streak to 13 games with the win.

The Pirates used the long ball to build an insurmountable lead early in the game. Ryan Tousley blasted a two-run shot to right in the first and Dale Mollenhauer added a two-run blast to left in the fourth for a 5-0 cushion.

ECU put the game out of reach with six runs in the fifth. The Pirates, who sent 11 hitters to the plate in the frame, got singles in seven consecutive at-bats and added a sac fly to go ahead 11-0.

Joey Lieberman snapped a string of 17-straight scoreless inning by the Tiger offense when he lifted a sac fly to center to score K.K. Chalmers. After the eight-run sixth inning in the series opener, the U of M offense managed just one run for the remainder of the series.

Memphis starter Marc Ashley took the loss after giving up eight runs on 10 hits in four innings of work in his first C-USA appearance.

On Deck
Pending the results of the this weekend's C-USA series at ECU, and UCF's series versus Houston, Memphis could be making the trip to Hattiesburg, Miss., to compete in the 2009 C-USA Tournament, May 20-24.