April 20, 2010

Game Notes

SHERWOOD, Ark. - The University of Memphis softball team will play Arkansas on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in Sherwood, Ark., a suburb of Little Rock. The neutral match-up is the only game scheduled for Memphis this week as the team has a bye week in Conference USA play.

The Tigers head into the game with a 23-19 record and are 7-10 in C-USA. Last week, Memphis went 4-3 at home. The U of M swept a doubleheader with Alabama State, split a doubleheader with Middle Tennessee and won one of three games against Southern Miss. The lone win against the Golden Eagles came in the Tigers' longest game of the season, a 10-inning thriller that saw junior Maddie McKinley knock in Alex Marshall with an RBI single in the 10th inning.

Arkansas is 24-21 on the year and 8-11 in the Southeastern Conference. The Razorbacks were swept by No. 13 LSU over the weekend in Baton Rouge, La.

McKinley leads the team in batting average (.300), RBI (21), runs scored (23) and is tied for the team lead in doubles with eight. She also leads the team and is tied for the school season record with 19 stolen bases in 20 attempts. The Tigers as a team stole 21 bases in 23 attempts during the seven games last week. McKinley had five steals in the stretch along with junior shortstop Heather Mott.

Memphis is hitting .221 as a team with a .317 on base percentage. The Tigers have scored 138 runs in 42 games and have a .325 slugging percentage.

In the circle, senior Vanessa Walle leads the team in ERA (1.40) and is 8-8 with 55 K's in 94.2 innings. Freshman Carly Hummel (13-8) leads the team in K's (184), innings pitched (144.0) and opponent batting average (.137). She also sports a 1.65 ERA. The Tigers lead the conference in ERA with a 1.68 mark.

Jessica Bachkora leads Arkansas in batting with a .381 average. She has 13 home runs, 28 RBI and 45 runs scored. Arkansas is hitting .251 as a team with 51 home runs and 193 runs scored in 45 games. the team has a .349 on base percentage and a .430 slugging percentage.

Hope McLemore leads the team in the circle with a 12-9 record, 2.76 ERA and has struck out 126 batters in 129.1 innings. The Razorbacks have a 3.29 team ERA with four shutouts and 234 K's in 304.0 innings.

History: Memphis vs. Arkansas
This will be the first meeting between Memphis and Arkansas. The Tigers are 2-6 all-time against teams from the SEC with the two wins coming against Ole Miss and South Carolina.

Live Coverage
The game with Arkansas can be followed through live stats provided by GameTracker. Additionally, subscription audio is also available through Arkansas. Links to the live broadcasts can be found on the softball schedule page at GoTigersGo.com.

Last Week
Memphis went 4-3 in seven games last week. The Tigers swept a doubleheader with Alabama State, earning a pair of shutouts, 2-0 and 5-0. Both games were no hitters going into the seventh inning. Memphis then split a doubleheader with Middle Tennessee, losing game one 3-0 and winning game two 6-0. The Tigers closed the week with a three-game conference series with Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles won the series, 2-1. Memphis lost both games of the doubleheader on Saturday and then came back to win a 10-inning thriller in game three on Sunday.

Next Up
Memphis will play its final road conference series with a three-game series at UAB in Birmingham, Ala. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday, May 1, and close with a 1 p.m. game on Sunday, May 2.

Down the Fast Lane
Last week, Memphis stole 21 bases in seven games and has stolen 56 of 65 steal attempts this season. Junior Maddie McKinley leads the team and has tied a school season record with 19 steals. Junior Heather Mott is second on the team with 14, which is tied for sixth in the school record books.

Most Season Stolen Bases

1.  19 - Maddie McKinley (19-20)  2010
    19 - Cara Stiles (19-21)      2006
3.  17 - Leandra Hiles (17-19)    2008
4.  16 - Brittany Gooch (16-18)   2009
    16 - Leandra Hines (16-19)    2006
6.  14 - Heather Mott (14-14)     2010
    14 - Leandra Hines (14-17)    2009

Stopping the Run
Junior catcher Keanah Prestridge has tied the school season record for caught stealing by with 16. She is tied with Kimmi Hayden's 16 caught stealing in 2006. Last year, Memphis had just 10 caught stealing by all season. Prestridge leads Conference USA and is tied for first in conference play with six.

Most Season Caught Stealing By

1.  16 - Keanah Prestridge	2010
    16 - Kimmi Hayden   2006
3.  11 - Kimber Bossom  2008
    11 - Kimmi Hayden   2008
4.   9 - Lindsay Kelso  2007
5.   8 - Nicki Johnson  2007
     8 - Jenna Kubesch  2006