Memphis Hosts Tulane for Regular-Season Finale

Thursday, May 14

Memphis, Tenn.

6:30 PM

University of Memphis

Tulane

Photo by: Joe Murphy

May 13, 2015 | Baseball

Tigers playing for seeding in next week's American Athletic Conference Tournament

By: Kevin Rodriguez

Memphis will welcome Tulane for the final three-game series of the regular season this weekend, starting Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at FedExPark. The Tigers and Green Wave both have an 11-10 record in American Athletic Conference play and sit in a four-way tie for third place.

This weekend's series is scheduled to continue Friday at 6:30 p.m. before the finale Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Saturday will be the final regular-season home game for eight Memphis seniors -- Kane Barrow, Alex Gunn, Blake Myers, Nate Rupiper, Dylan Toscano, Tucker Tubbs, Caleb Wallingford and Carter White.

The two teams are playing for seeding in next week's American Athletic Conference Tournament, played at Bright House Field in Clearwater, Fla. The top six teams in the league standings are separated by just two games going into the final weekend.

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS:
GAME ONE: LHP Alex Gunn (5-1, 3.38 ERA) vs. RHP Corey Merrill (4-4, 174 ERA)
GAME TWO: RHP Dylan Toscano (8-1, 3.01 ERA) vs. RHP Alex Massey (5-3, 3.47 ERA)
GAME THREE: RHP Connor Alexander (4-1, 2.64 ERA) vs. RHP Emerson Gibbs (4-2, 2.94 ERA)

Barrow has started 105 games over the last two seasons since coming to Memphis from Jackson State CC. The former junior college All-American is a career .327 hitter with 63 runs scored and 66 RBI. With a .333 batting average this season the Tigers left fielder has led Memphis in hitting in both years with the program.

Gunn has started 24 games on the mound in two seasons for the Tigers. The lefty has a career 3.23 ERA in 114 1/3 innings pitched. After missing the 2014 season through injury he has compiled a 5-1 record this season, pitching in wins over Arkansas, Ole Miss and Mississippi State.

A reliever for the Tigers, Myers has appeared in 64 career games and sports a 4.04 ERA. This season the left-hander has made a team-high 27 appearances, while compiling a 2.43 ERA and a 4-0 record.

Playing as a catcher and designated hitter, Rupiper has played in 93 games in his four-year career. He is a career .309 hitter with 31 runs scored and 27 RBI. This season after recovering from surgery Rupiper is batting .304 in 25 games played.

Toscano, a four-year player, has thrived this season as one of the Tigers' weekend starters. Anchoring the pitching staff, he has already met or eclipsed his season highs for starts, wins, innings pitched and strikeouts. Toscano is 8-1 with a 3.01 ERA this season while he has a 3.67 career ERA in 45 appearances.

One of the nation's leading power hitters, Tubbs' 16 home runs are the fourth most in the NCAA this season. He is having his best season as a Tiger with a .323 batting average and 52 RBI, while starting every game at first base. Tubbs has played in nearly 200 games and has a career batting average of .296 with 135 RBI and 109 runs scored.

A starting pitcher the last two seasons, Wallingford has a 2.94 career ERA in 28 appearances. The lefty has more than 100 career strikeouts in 156 innings pitched. This season as the Friday night starter he has a 3.61 earned run average in 67 1/3 innings pitched.

White is a career .300 hitter while serving as the Tigers primary backstop for almost his entire four-year tenure at Memphis. He has played in 178 games with 174 hits, 74 RBI and 88 runs scored. This season he is batting .266 and has been called on to play behind the plate in nearly every game.

Tulane dropped its final midweek game of the season, 8-4, to Southern Miss. Despite Tuesday's setback the Green Wave did win last weekend's series over USF after losing the opener.

The team is batting .246 overall while the pitching staff has an ERA of 3.09. Shortstop Stephen Alemais is the leading hitter with a .324 batting average and 38 runs scored.