Feb. 21, 2013

Blues City Classic
February 22-24, 2013 - Southaven, Miss. - (Greenbrook Park)
Memphis Tigers		Indiana State Sycamores		Detroit Titans		Southeast Missouri Redhawks
(2-8, 0-0 C-USA)		(6-4, 0-0 MVC)		(1-4, 0-0 Horizon)		(2-3, 0-0 OVC)
Memphis Notes		ISU Notes		Detroit Notes		SEMO Notes
Media Guide		Media Guide
C-USA Notes
		Feb. 22 - 6 pm		Feb. 23 - 4 pm		Feb. 24 - 2:30 pm
		Live Video		Live Video		Live Video

MEMPHIS -The University of Memphis softball team is hosting its sixth annual Blues City Classic at Greenbrook Park in Southaven, Miss., from Friday thru Sunday.

This year's classic is the largest in program history with 12 teams competing in the tournament. Memphis (2-8) will play Indiana State (6-4) on Friday at 6 p.m., Detroit (1-4) on Saturday at 4 p.m. and Southeast Missouri (2-3) on Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

Other teams competing in the tournament are Belmont, Mississippi State, Nicholls State, Samford, SIU-Edwardsville, UMKC, Wichita State and Wright State.

Thursday weather pushed back the start time of Friday's action with the first games scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.

Admission to the tournament is free. Greenbrook Park is located at 800 Stowewood, Southaven, MS.

For more information, visit the Blues City Classic Tournament Page at http://www.gotigersgo.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/2013-blues-city-softbl-tourney.html.

Sixth Annual Blues City Classic

• Memphis hosts the Sixth Annual Blues City Classic from Feb. 22-24 at Greenbrook Park in Southaven, Miss. 
• The Tigers host 11 other teams in the tournament. 
• The games are being played across the state line at Greenbrook Park where the Tigers played their first couple of years in 2006 and 2007 while the Tigers Softball Complex was being constructed. 
• The Blues City Classic was also held at Greenbrook Park in 2007 and 2008. 
• Memphis has finished second in the tournament in three of the four years placement took place. 
• Last year the Tigers finished fourth out of six teams in the tournament with a 2-3 mark. 
• Memphis is 10-8 all-time in the Blues City Classic. 
• Ellen Roberts and Breslin Perry were both named to the Blues City Classic All-Tournament team in 2012. 
• Head coach Natalie Poole led McNeese State to a Blues City Classic Championship in 2010 with a 4-1 mark. The only loss was a 2-1, eight-inning loss to Memphis.

Memphis Quick Hits

• Memphis hit eight extra base hits in five games last week, including seven doubles. The Tigers have 13 extra base hits on the season. 
• Last week, the Tigers were 7-for-7 in stolen base attempts, while opponents were 1-for-5. The Tigers have nine stolen bases on the year. 
• Junior Ellen Roberts leads the Tigers in the circle with a 3.35 ERA with 25 strikeouts and 16 walks in 39.2 innings.

Gunning Them Down

• Junior catcher Amber Lindahl set a new school career record for runners thrown out stealing, surpassing the previous record of 30 set by Kimmi Hayden (2006-08). Lindahl has thrown out 33 runners in her three years. 
• Lindahl threw out four of five attempts (80%) last week and has thrown out nine of 13 attempts (69%) in the first two weeks of the season. 
• Lindahl set the school-single season record last year with 21, which tied for the lead in Conference USA.

Mosby Named to All-Tournament Team

• Senior second baseman Morgan Mosby was named to the LSU Purple & Gold Challenge All-Tournament Team. 
• Mosby led the Tigers with a .313 batting average and went 3-for-4 with a two-run triple against No. 10/11 LSU in a 5-4 loss. 
• Mosby leads the team this season with a .310 average, three RBI and is tied for the team lead in runs scored with three.

Last Week

• Memphis went 1-4 at the LSU Purple & Gold Challenge in Baton Rouge, La. 
• The Tigers defeated Nicholls State 3-2 for the lone win the in the tournament. 
• Memphis came an out away from topping #10/11 LSU, but the LSU Tigers scored two runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to earn a 5-4 comeback victory. 
• The Tigers also fell to Virginia 2-0 and twice to North Dakota State, 4-0 and 4-1.

Tigers in Tournament Play

• The Tigers have participated in 25 different tournaments in eight seasons and carry a 56-64 record into the Blues City Classic
• Last year, Memphis finished 4-14 in four regular season tournaments.

Nice to Meet You

• Memphis will play one opponents in the Blues City Classic for the first time in Detroit. 
• The Tigers are scheduled to play eight opponents in 2013 for the first time: Campbell, Detroit, Jackson State, Nicholls State, Texas, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Virginia and Western Kentucky. 
• Memphis is 52-60 all-time in first meetings.

Up Next

• Memphis travels to Hawai'i next week for five games on the island. 
• The Tigers will play Hawai'i on Wednesday, Feb. 27, before competing in the Bank of Hawai'i Invitational on March 1-3. 
• Memphis will also play Campbell and Western Kentucky in the tournament.

The Last Meeting Indiana State 1 Memphis 0 February 20, 2010 Memphis, Tenn. Another Pitching Gem For Hummel Not Enough As Sycamores Defeat Tigers, 1-0 Bailey Wittenauer's bloop single in the top of the sixth inning drove in what proved to be the winning run for the Indiana State Sycamores as they defeated the Memphis Tigers on Sat., Feb. 20 in the 2010 Blues City Classic at the Tiger Softball Complex. The Tigers fall to 2-3 on the season. Indiana State improves to 1-3 on the year. Recap | Box Score | Notes

Memphis vs Indiana State

• Memphis and Indiana State have met one previous time, competing against each other in the 2010 Blues City Classic. 
• The Sycamores won the only other meeting, 1-0. 
• Natalie Poole is 1-0 all-time against Indiana State.

Scouting Indiana State

• Indiana State finished the 2012 season with a 19-34 record and had a RPI ranked 224th. 
• The Sycamores are 6-4 after the first two weeks of play. • Last week, Indiana State went 2-3 at a tournament hosted by Auburn. The Sycamores had wins against Bryant (10-2) and Tennessee State (9-6), and losses to Auburn (7-1), Kansas (8-0) and Chattanooga (9-2). 
• Indiana State features eight returners and 10 newcomers. 
• Sophomore Megan Stone leads the team with a .448 average and has two home runs, nine RBI and five runs scored. 
• Indiana State has four players hitting over .400 and is hitting .313 as a team with a .401 on-base percentage. 
• Sophomore Stephanie Fougerousse leads the team in the circle with a 3-2 record and has a 4.00 ERA with 17 strikeouts and 13 walks in 35.0 innings. 
• The Sycamores have a 4.24 team ERA and opponents are hitting .295 off the staff. 
• Indiana State finished 6-20 in the Missouri Valley Conference in 2012.

Memphis vs the Missouri Valley

• Memphis is 1-5 all-time against current members of the Missouri Valley Conference. 
• Coach Natalie Poole holds a 2-3 all-time record against the conference. 
• Memphis will also play a doubleheader against Missouri State at home later in the season.

Scouting Detroit

• Detroit finished 10-41 in 2012 and had a RPI ranked 262nd. 
• The Titans finished 2-19 (9th) in the Horizon League. 
• The team returns six of nine starters and 11 of 14 letterwinners. • Liz Young is in her first year as the head coach of the Titans. 
• Detroit opened the season 1-4 and last played on February 10 in a tournament hosted by UNC-Wilmington. 
• The Titans lone win is a 10-4 victory against UNC-Wilmington. 
• Detroit is hitting .202 as a team and have been outscored by its opponents 35-17. 
• Freshman Katy Severson is leading the offense with a .286 average. 
• In the circle, the Titans have a staff ERA of 8.53 with 11 strikeouts and 19 walks in 31.2 innings. 
• Junior Karyn McCarty has the team's lone win and has a 5.62 ERA with one strikeout and six walks in eight innings.

Memphis vs the Horizon League

• Memphis is 1-0 all-time against current members of the Horizon League. 
• Coach Natalie Poole holds a 0-2 all-time record against the conference. 
• The game marks the only contest for the Tigers against the Horizon League in 2013.

The Last Meeting Memphis 1 SEMO 0 February 26, 2012 Memphis, Tenn. Memphis Splits a Pair of 1-0 Games in Final Day of Blues City Classic The University of Memphis softball team split a pair of one-run games in the final day of the Blues City Classic at the Tiger Softball Complex. Memphis (4-12) dropped a 1-0 decision to Missouri State before beating Southeast Missouri State, 1-0. Recap | Box Score

Memphis vs Southeast Missouri

• Memphis leads the series with Southeast Missouri State, 5-2. 
• This will be the fourth meeting between the two schools in the Blues City Classic. Memphis is 3-0 against SEMO in the tournament. 
• The Tigers are 3-1 all-time against the Redhawks in games played in Southaven, Miss., at Greenbrook Park. 
• Memphis is 5-1 all-time at home against SEMO. 
• Five of the seven games have been decided by a run in the series with one other decided by two runs. 
• Memphis has outscored SEMO 23-11 in the series. 
• The two teams last met last year in the Blues City Classic with Memphis winning 1-0 for the only shutout in the series. 
• Natalie Poole is 2-0 all-time against SEMO.

Scouting Southeast Missouri

• Southeast Missouri opened the season 2-3 at the Mardi Gras Classic in Monroe, La. 
• The Redhawks had wins against Mississippi Valley State (3-2) and Grambling State (6-3) with losses to Jackson State (1-0), Louisiana-Monroe (5-1) and Northwestern (8-0). 
• SEMO's last game was on February 10. 
• The Redhawks went 25-30 in 2012 and had an RPI ranked 207th. 
• SEMO finished 13-16 in the Ohio Valley Conference. 
• The team returns five starters and nine letterwinners. 
• Senior Kaitlin Zink leads the team with a .353 average and three runs scored. 
• The Redhawks are hitting .204 and have been outscored 19-10. 
• Senior Taylor Cowan leads the team in the circle with a 1-2 record and a 1.65 ERA. She has nine strikeouts with seven walks in 17 innings pitched. 
• Southeast Missouri has a team ERA of 3.35 and opponents are hitting .297 off the staff. The team is allowing 1.1 hits/walks per inning.

Memphis vs the Ohio Valley

• Memphis is 27-12 all-time against current members of the Ohio Valley Conference. 
• Coach Natalie Poole holds a 9-5 all-time record against the conference. 
• Memphis will face three other teams from the Ohio Valley Conference in 2013. The Tigers will play a doubleheader at Belmont (4/2), a single game at UT Martin (4/24) and close the regular season with a doubleheader at Murray State (5/1).