Weekend Series at Southern Illinois Starts Thursday

Photo by: Michael Gardner

Weekend Series at Southern Illinois Starts Thursday

Mar 23, 2016 | Baseball

The Tigers will look to win back-to-back series for the first time this season

Memphis will attempt to win back-to-back weekend series for the first time this season when the Tigers play at Southern Illinois Thursday through Saturday at Itchy Jones Stadium in Carbondale, Ill. The Tigers dropped their midweek game at Murray State, 10-6, while the SIU Salukis played a four-game weekend series and did not have a midweek game.

GAME INFORMATION:
Memphis (8-12) at Southern Illinois (12-7-1)
Date: March 24-26, 2016
Location: Carbondale, Ill.
Venue: Itchy Jones Stadium
Twitter Updates: @MemphisBaseball

Thursday, March 24 | 6:30 p.m. CT
Audio: WUMR 91.7 FM
Video: YouTube
Live Stats: MVC Scoreboard
MEM: So. RHP Colton Hathcock (1-3, 4.91 ERA)
SIU: Jr. LHP Joey Marciano (1-2, 1.76 ERA)

Friday, March 25 | 4:30 p.m. CT
Audio: WUMR 91.7 FM
Video: YouTube
Live Stats: MVC Scoreboard
MEM: So. RHP Connor Alexander (2-1, 3.24 ERA)
SIU: Jr. RHP Chad Whitmer (1-0, 2.61 ERA)

Saturday, March 26 | 2 p.m. CT
Audio: WUMR 91.7 FM
Video: YouTube
Live Stats: MVC Scoreboard
MEM: Sr. RHP Matt Ferguson (2-2, 1.96 ERA)
SIU: So. RHP Michael Baird (3-1, 1.30 ERA)

Leading Off
• The Tigers couldn't carry over the momentum from the weekend series win over Eastern Illinois, dropping its fourth out of five midweek games.
• Memphis and Southern Illinois are meeting for just the eighth time since 1982. The Tigers hold a 5-2 advantage.
• Memphis rebounded from a Friday night loss to win the series with Eastern Illinois and had a historic day at the plate in the finale, scoring 23 runs on 19 hits. The scoring output was the most since 2003 when the Tigers beat UT Martin 24-1.
• Preseason All-American Nolan Blackwood recorded his 20th career save, against UAPB (3/15), and is now one shy of tying the school record. He currently trails Jonathan Van Eaton who pitched from 2010-13.
• Darien Tubbs, the preseason American Athletic Conference Player of the Year, rebounded at the plates in the weekend series with Eastern Illinois. After having just one hit in the previous seven games, he had at least a hit in each game and scored seven runs.
• Chris Carrier had his ninth multiple-hit game this season over the weekend. The junior left fielder has a team-high eight doubles this season and a pair of two-double games.
• Zach Schritenthal cleared the bases with a three-run triple against UAPB, which gives the Tigers' junior third baseman two base-clearing triples this season after he hit one against SIUE. He hit another triple in the series against EIU and has four triples so far this season.
• WUMR 92-FM will carry the radio broadcasts for the current four-game road trip. Jeff Brightwell, who is joined by Greg Gaston for home games, will be on the call.
• This season's schedule will see Memphis play games in 10 different states – Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, Texas and of course Tennessee. The team will rack up nearly 8,000 miles trekking across the country during the regular season.
• For the 16th consecutive season Memphis will play select games at AutoZone Park, the home of the St. Louis Cardinals AAA-Affiliate Memphis Redbirds. This year's schedule features two games – against Ole Miss on March 30 and versus Arkansas on April 6.
• The Memphis baseball program is in its fourth season as a partner with Baden Sports and swings the Axe Bat exclusively.

The Series with Southern Illinois
Memphis owns a 5-2 record against Southern Illinois dating back to 1982. This will be the first three-game series between the two teams and the first ever meeting in Carbondale, Ill. The last game between the Tigers and Salukis was in an early season tournament hosted by Memphis in 2011. Southern Illinois won that game despite trailing in the all-time series.

Scouting the Salukis
Southern Illinois stuttered to start the season, dropping its opening weekend series on the road at McNeese State and falling to 1-4 with a midweek loss. Since then the Salukis have played the majority of their games at home at Itchy Jones Stadium, where they have compiled a 10-3-1 record. The team's strength is its pitching staff, which has compiled a 2.69 staff ERA. All three weekend starters have outstanding numbers and sophomore closer Ryan Netemeyer has already recorded four saves. Outfielder Greg Lambert is the team's leading hitter with a .313 batting average with 11 RBI and 10 runs scored. Infielder Logan Blackfan is the leading run producer with 14 RBI, seven doubles and two homers.

Youth Reigning on the Mound
The names Jonathan Bowlan, Alex Hicks, James Muse, Colton Neel, Alex Smith and Hunter Smith are ones that Memphis baseball fans can likely expect to hear for years to come. These six freshmen have already had success on the mound for the Tigers early in their collegiate careers. They have combined to make 23 appearances and log 53 innings through the first 20 games. Only the Memphis sophomore class, which includes starters Connor Alexander and Colton Hathcock, has pitched more innings this season.

Weekend Rotation
The Tigers' starting rotation that features sophomores Connor Alexander and Colton Hatchock and senior Matt Ferguson has been solid through five weekends despite the teams 7-8 weekend record. The trio has combined to log nine quality starts of the 15 total. Hathcock was on the mound for the Tigers' first shutout of the season, logging seven innings against SIUE, but he has been inconsistent at times and leads the team with 14 walks issued. Alexander's last two starts have been his best so far despite getting a no decision in each. In his last outing he pitched a season-high 7 2/3 innings, allowing just one run on three hits. He also held No. 12 Missouri State to just one earned run in the prior start. Ferguson was solid against Eastern Illinois but only needed to log five scoreless innings with the team already ahead 20-0 when he departed.

Speed Kills
Memphis hasn't been as consistent offensively as they would have liked through the first five weeks of the season, but the team has still managed to swipe 34-of-43 bases which ranks them in the top-25 nationally. Jake Little and Chris Carrier lead the team with seven stolen bases each. Darien Tubbs is just behind them with six, while Brandon Grudzielanek and Zach Schritenthal have four apiece. In all, nine different Tigers have at least one stolen base.

Catching Carousel
In the search to replace Carter White, who started 52 games and batted .277 in 2015, the Tigers have seen three players split time behind the plate this season. Freshman Jason Santana has made eight starts and played in 16 games, despite only batting .095 so far. Senior Damo DeMatteo has been in the starting lineup seven times and appeared in 13 games. In an attempt to get more offensive production from the position, senior Corey Chafin has made five of his 13 starts at catcher.

Chicks Dig the... Triple?
Memphis stands in the top five in the NCAA with 12 triples through the first 20 games of the season. With four triples apiece, Darien Tubbs and Zach Schritenthal are tied for fourth in the nation individually. Tubbs now has 12 career triples, which is the third most in school history, and is three shy of tying the program record set by K.K. Chalmers from 2005-08. The Tigers also accomplished something they haven't done in a game since 1986 when they hit three triples in the 23-0 win over Eastern Illinois. With 36 scheduled games remaining, Memphis is on pace to crush last season's total of 16 triples and could eclipse the school record of 25 set in 1981.

Defensive Woes
Head Coach Daron Schoenrock preaches about limiting the amount of "freebies" that the tigers give up during a game. Through 20 games his team has had a few too many defensive miscues. The Tigers have 32 errors and are fielding just .959. Memphis does have the ability to play clean though and has played four errorless games.

Bounce Back
Sometimes players can put too much pressure on themselves and one could wonder if that is the case for Darien Tubbs, who was named the American Athletic Conference Preseason Player of the Year. After starting the season with an eight-game hitting streak and four multiple-hit games, he hit a rough patch and amassed just one hit over the next seven games. Tubbs' batting average dipped to .233 and he was left out of the starting lineup for the first time in 76 games dating back to 2014. During the series against Eastern Illinois, the junior may have broken out of the slump. He had at least one hit in each game of the series and scored seven runs. He has still shown quite a bit of pop in his bat with 10 of his 20 total hits going for extra bases.

X Gon' Give It To Ya
The preseason accolades were heaped on junior closer Nolan Blackwood as well, and despite a few struggles of his own this season he still has recorded three saves to raise his career total to 20. Blackwood now stands just one save shy of tying the program record for career saves. He already holds the school record for saves in a season after he notched 14 last year.