March 20, 2009

Weekly Release

For Immediate Release
Contact: Brandon Kolditz
wkolditz@memphis.edu; (901) 871-5475

MEMPHIS - The University of Memphis softball team opens its Conference USA home schedule with Tulsa in a three-game series beginning Saturday at the Tiger Softball Complex. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. and close with a single game on Sunday at noon.

Tulsa (17-9, 3-2 C-USA) holds a 9-1 all-time advantage over Memphis (13-13, 1-2), and the Tigers are still looking for their first regular season victory against the Golden Hurricane. The lone U of M victory came in the 2007 C-USA Championship in Orlando, Fla., with Memphis defeating Tulsa 2-1.

The Golden Hurricane holds a 72-18 all-time scoring advantage over the Tigers in the 10 games. Tulsa swept a three-game series in its only other appearance in Memphis on April 6-7, 2007. The series also marked the official grand opening of the Tiger Softball Complex.

Last week, Memphis competed in the Chevron Spring Fling Tournament hosted by the University of Hawai'i in Honolulu, finishing 2-3 in the tournament. The Tigers opened against No. 9/11 Cal and held the Golden Bears to two hits in a 1-0 loss. The U of M then defeated Utah, 5-1, and St. John's, 7-1 in eight innings. Memphis then dropped a 4-2 contest to Radford and lost 5-3 in a rain shortened five-inning match-up with Hawai'i. The final day of the tournament was cancelled due to inclement weather.

The Memphis pitching staff put together some of its best performances of the season last week in Hawai'i. Sophomore Janelle Valle started for the Tigers in the opening game against No. 9/11 California and held the Golden Bears to just two hits and one run in a 1-0 loss. Later that day against Utah, Memphis received its first victory of the tournament in a 5-1 win led by sophomore Kimber Bossom. Junior Vanessa Walle then pitched an eight inning 7-1 victory over St. John's and held the team scoreless through the first seven frames. She also held Hawai'i scoreless in four innings of relief. Memphis entered the tournament after allowing 34 runs in a three-game series against UTEP and followed it up with three-straight one-run games.

All three games with Tulsa can be followed through live stats provided by CBS College Sports GameTracker. Live streaming video is also available through Memphis All-Access with Dan O'Brien calling the play-by-play. Links to the live broadcasts can be found at GoTigersGo.com.