University of Memphis Athletics
Baseball Hosts First Annual AutoZone Classic
Mar 01, 2007 | Baseball
March 1, 2007
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - For the first time ever, the University of Memphis baseball program will host a regular season tournament at AutoZone Park. The Tigers will welcome Eastern Illinois, Indiana and Northern Iowa to the AutoZone Classic this weekend with competition beginning on Fri., Mar. 2 and continuing through Sun., Mar. 4. Memphis will play Northern Iowa on Friday at 3:30 p.m. before taking on Indiana on Saturday and Eastern Illinois on Sunday.
Memphis comes into the weekend Classic riding the momentum of a four-game win streak that started last weekend versus BYU in the Service Academies Spring Classic. Strong pitching has been the story of the Tigers' early successes. After giving up 12 runs in a season-opening loss at No. 11 Ole Miss, the Memphis pitching staff has not allowed more than two runs in any of the last four games, including holding Missouri and UT-Martin to just one run each. The staff has posted a 1.22 ERA in the four wins.
Offensively, the Tiger bats have been quieted to a .267 team average. Seniors Bill Moss and Michael Murray lead the team with .450 and .421 averages, respectively. Moss has a team-high three doubles to go with a homer. Senior Ben Grisham, who has driven in the game-winning run in two of the last three contests, leads Schoenrock's crew with four RBI.
UNI brings a 4-3 mark into the weekend. The Panthers opened the season with three-straight losses, but have since won three of their last four outings.
Dane Embury and Brandon Douglas lead the offensive charge, batting .438 and .314, respectively. Brett Featherston provides the power numbers, with a team-best three homers and nine RBI. Northern Iowa hits .257 as a team.
Jr Aaron Jenkins is the staff's ace. The junior is 1-0 with a 1.38 ERA in 13 innings of work. He has fanned 21 and has held opponents to just .119 hitting. Guido Fonseca and Jason Barry are both 1-0. Fonseca posts a 1.59 ERA and a .059 opponents batting average.
Memphis is 2-0 all-time against Northern Iowa. The two institutions played a pair in the 1990 season, with the Tigers coming away with wins of 4-3 and 10-5.
Indiana is 1-2 with losses to Troy and C-USA's Southern Miss. The Hoosiers, who hit just .216 as a team, are led by freshman infielder Evan Crawford's .500 average. Crawford and senior Keith Haas both have driven in three runs to lead the squad.
The Tigers are 2-2 in the all-time series versus Indiana. The Tigers and Hoosiers met three times in the 1974 campaign, and did not meet again until the 2005 Service Academies Spring Classic. Memphis put a strong 10th-inning rally, but it fell short as Indiana outlasted the Tigers 9-8.
EIU (2-1) is led by Casey Spears, who is batting .500, with a team-best five hits. Richie Derbak is second on the team with a .444 average, and Adam Varrassi bats .429.
The Panther pitching staff has been solid, posting a 2.74 ERA. Tyler Kehrer is 1-0 and has yet to give up a run this year, while Alex Guttosch has a 2.25 ERA. Brandon Murphy rounds out the staff's top three hurlers with a 3.00 ERA.
Memphis is 9-2 against Eastern Illinois. The Tigers posted some of the program's best single-game numbers the last time the two schools met. Former Tiger and current Florida Marlin second baseman Dan Uggla hit a career-high tying three home runs and added nine RBI in a 23-15 U of M win.
The University of Memphis began its relationship with the St. Louis Cardinals AAA Affiliate, Memphis Redbirds in 2001, and has play 28 games at the downtown ballpark since.
