May 16, 2007

HOUSTON - With just three regular season games left on the 2007 schedule, Memphis will face its toughest test of the season, as it makes the trip to Houston to take on the second-ranked Rice Owls on Thurs., May 17 through Sat., May 19. First pitch for games one and two are set for 7 p.m., while Saturday's regular season and series finale is slated for 2 p.m. Memphis currently sits in a third-place tie with Houston, but could finish the season anywhere from second to sixth in the final Conference USA standings.

The Tigers bring a 33-20 mark into the second series of the year versus a top-10 opponent. Memphis defeated UT-Martin 5-3 in its non-conference finale on Tuesday night. The league's second best offense with a .302 average, the U of M leads the league in hits and total bases, while ranking second in slugging, runs scored, RBI, doubles and home runs. Michael Murray leads the Tigers and C-USA with a .385 average. He ranks second in doubles. Classmate Bill Moss is tops in the league in slugging (.593), and is tied with Joey Lieberman for the conference lead with 12 homers. Lieberman and Moss also ranks first and second, respectively with 52 and 49 RBI. The duo is third and second in total bases. Adam Amar checks in with a .347 average at the plate. He is also among the top hitters in the league with 68 hits. Junior K.K. Chalmers continues the lead the conference with 28 stolen bases, while ranking second with 53 runs scored.

Ranked as the nation's No. 1 ranked RPI team, Rice has already clinched the C-USA regular season title for the second consecutive season. The Owls (44-11, 19-2 C-USA) have dropped just two league games this year and four in its two seasons of C-USA competition. Rice is the league's top hitting team, with a .304 average after a 13-0 rout of Baylor on Tuesday night. Offensively, the Owls are led by two-way star Joe Savery's .364 batting average, 76 hits, 46 runs scored and 45 RBI--all team-highs. Brian Friday, who led the league in hitting versus C-USA pitching last year, paces the team and the conference with 21 doubles. He ranks in the league's top 10 with a .332 batting average, 69 hits and 45 runs. As a team Rice leads Conference USA in runs scored (378), on base percentage (.401), RBI (340), doubles (118) and walks (250).

Pitching is the strong point of the Rice Owl roster. The staff leads C-USA in ERA (2.70), opposing batting average (.229), wins (42) and saves (13). Its 402 strikeouts are second in the conference. Rice pitchers hold the top four spots in the conference in ERA. Three-time C-USA Pitcher of the Week honoree, Ryan Berry has a 2.32 ERA and hold opponents to a .218 average in a league-high 89.1 innings of work. Berry leads the staff with 87 strikeouts. He and Ryne Tacker are tied the league lead with eight wins. Matt Langwell is the conference ERA and opposing batter average leader, coming into the series with a 2.20 ERA, while limiting the opposition to a .208 clip at the plate. Cole St. Clair and Bobby Bramhall have four saves each.

Memphis is 0-4 all-time versus Rice. The Owls came into Memphis last season with a No. 2 national ranking and lived up to its billing, defeating the Tigers by an average of 11 runs per game. Memphis hung with Rice in the series opener, but eventually fell 7-3. But the Owls hammered the Tigers in the next two games, 22-6 and 19-8. The Tigers and Owls met for the first time at Reckling Park in the semifinal round of the 2006 Conference USA tournament. Rice took a 5-1 lead, but a bases-loaded triple by Murray cut the Tiger deficit to just one run. That was as close as Memphis could get as Rice ended the Tigers' season in a 7-4 decision.