Memphis Hosts Arkansas at AutoZone Park Wednesday

Wednesday, April 6

AutoZone Park

6:30 PM

University of Memphis

Arkansas

Tickets

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Apr 05, 2016 | Baseball

Tigers ready to welcome Razorbacks for first downtown game this season

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – After having its first scheduled game at AutoZone Park postponed due to weather, Memphis will welcome No. 21 Arkansas to downtown Memphis Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. The Tigers and Razorbacks split a pair of midweek games last season at minor league ballparks with Arkansas winning the game at AutoZone Park.

GAME INFORMATION:
Memphis (10-17) vs. #21 Arkansas (19-9)
Date: April 6, 2016
Location: Memphis, Tenn.
Venue: AutoZone Park
Twitter Updates: @MemphisBaseball

Wednesday, April 6 | 6:30 p.m. CT
Radio: WUMR 91.7 FM
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Video: Memphis Tiger Network
Memphis: Fr. RHP Jonathan Bowlan (1-2, 3.00 ERA)
Arkansas: Fr. RHP Isaiah Campbell (2-0, 6.14 ERA)

Leading Off
• Memphis and Arkansas both come into the week after dropping a conference series, despite winning the opening game.
• The Razorbacks lead the series with the Tigers 11-3-1. The teams played twice last season and split the games, with Memphis recording its first win in the series since 1993.
• The Tigers are having a similar start as the 2012 team that opened with a 12-17 record and went on to win 12 of the final 15 regular season games to end the year with a 31-28 record.
• Preseason All-American Nolan Blackwood recorded his 21st career save and tied the program record for career saves with Jonathan Van Eaton who pitched from 2010-13.
• Darien Tubbs, the preseason American Athletic Conference Player of the Year, has rebounded nicely from a tough stretch a few two weeks ago. Tubbs has his batting average back up to .291 after it dipped as low as .233.
• Jake Little is shining at the plate in his senior season for the Tigers. The four-year Memphis player is batting a team-high .327 with 17 RBI and 20 runs scored after suffering an injury-plagued season in 2014.
• Jacob Elliott has started the last 12 games at first base for Memphis and is batting .281 with 14 RBI and nine runs scored.
• Memphis stands in the top 30 in the NCAA with 38 stolen bases through 24 games this season. The Tigers have been successful on the base paths as an entire team and no Memphis player is in the top 50 in the country in stolen bases.
• Despite not having a triple in the last five games, Memphis is still top-10 nationally with 12 triples.
• All home games are streamed live online by the Memphis Tiger Network at GoTigersGo.com/Watch. WUMR U 92-FM carries the radio broadcasts throughout the season with Jeff Brightwell and Greg Gaston on the call.
• The Memphis baseball program is in its fourth season as a partner with Baden Sports and swings the Axe Bat exclusively.

The Series with Arkansas
Memphis and Arkansas split a pair of games last season at minor league ballparks. The Tigers earned their first win over the Razorbacks since 1993, a season in which Memphis beat Arkansas twice. Arkansas has had the better of the series though, winning 11 of the 14 meetings since 1986. The two teams also played to a 2-2 tie in one of four game played during the 1987 season.

Scouting the Razorbacks
Arkansas had a strong start to the season, sweeping a trio of ranked teams, Rice, Houston and Texas Tech, at the Houston College Classic to jump out to an 8-0 record. The team has had a mixed start to SEC play though, getting swept by South Carolina before sweeping Auburn and then dropping two-of-three to Missouri. Infielder Carson Shaddy is the leading hitter with a .356 record, four doubles, five home runs and 25 RBI. The team's top run producer is Michael Bernal, who has six doubles, six homers and 28 RBI. The Razorbacks are batting .285 as a team and the pitching staff has compiled a 4.20 ERA.

Youth 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 true freshmen have already contributed on the mound for the Tigers early in their collegiate careers. They have combined to make 37 appearances and log 63 1/3 innings through the first 27 games. Only the Memphis sophomore class, which includes starters Connor Alexander and Colton Hathcock, has pitched more innings this season. As can be expected with some inexperienced arms, they have been wild at times with 40 walks, 10 hit batters and 13 wild pitches. The six youngsters have combined for a 4.83 ERA.

Speed on the Bases
Memphis hasn't been as consistent offensively as they would have liked through the first seven weeks of the season, but the team has still managed to swipe 44 of-54 bases which ranks them in the top-30 nationally. Darien Tubbs leads the team with 10 stolen bases, while Jake Little and Chris Carrier are just behind him with eight swiped bags 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. Senior Damo DeMatteo has been in the starting lineup 12 times and appeared in 18 games while freshman Jason Santana has made 10 starts and played in 19 games. In an attempt to get more offensive production from the position, senior Corey Chafin has made five of his 15 starts at catcher.

Chicks Dig the... Triple?
Memphis stands in the top 15 in the NCAA with 12 triples through the first 27 games of the season. With four triples apiece, Darien Tubbs and Zach Schritenthal are tied for tenth 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 29 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 27 games his team has had a few too many defensive miscues. The Tigers have 38 errors and are fielding .963. Memphis does have the ability to play clean though and has played seven errorless games with a 5-2 record in those games.

Bounce Back
Sometimes players can put too much pressure on themselves and one could wonder if that was 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. Tubbs now has his batting average up to .283 and is tied for second on the team with 19 runs scored.

Blackwood in the Record Book
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 four saves to tie the program record for career saves with 21. He is tied with Jonathan Van Eaton, who pitched for the Tigers from 2010-13. Blackwood already holds the school record for saves in a season after he notched 14 last year.