Tigers Open Conference Play Against UCF

Friday, April 1

FedExPark

6:30 PM

University of Memphis

UCF

Tickets

Photo by: Michael Gardner

Mar 31, 2016 | Baseball

A new season begins for Memphis in conference play

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Memphis will open American Athletic Conference play with a three-game weekend series against UCF that gets underway Friday at 6:30 p.m. at FedExPark. The series marks the beginning of a new month, after Memphis went just 5-13 in March, and the beginning of a new season with a clean slate.

GAME INFORMATION:
Memphis (9-15) vs. UCF (15-12)
Date: April 1-3, 2016
Location: Memphis, Tenn.
Venue: FedExPark
Twitter Updates: @MemphisBaseball

Friday, April 1 | 6:30 p.m. CT
Audio: WUMR 91.7 FM
Video: Memphis Tiger Network
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
MEM: So. RHP Colton Hathcock (2-3, 4.65 ERA)
UCF: So. RHP Cre Finfrock (2-1, 2.41 ERA)

Saturday, April 2 | 2 p.m. CT
Audio: WUMR 91.7 FM
Video: Memphis Tiger Network
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
MEM: So. RHP Connor Alexander (2-2, 3.70 ERA)
UCF: Jr. RHP Robby Howell (5-0, 1.29 ERA)

Sunday, April 3 | 12 p.m. CT
Audio: WUMR 91.7 FM
Video: Memphis Tiger Network
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
MEM: Sr. RHP Matt Ferguson (3-3, 2.87 ERA)
UCF: TBA

Leading Off
• A new season begins for Memphis, opening American Athletic Conference play against UCF this weekend. Last year the Tigers finished fifth in the league with a 12-12 record while UCF was seventh after going 10-14.
• Memphis was picked to finish seventh in the American Athletic Conference by the league's head coaches, while UCF was tabbed to finish sixth.
• Last season the Knights won the series over the Tigers in Orlando, Fla. Connor Alexander took the loss in the finale, tossing 6 1/3 innings and allowing four runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts.
• Memphis is happy to be finished with the month of March, after going just 5-13 and playing 10 of the 18 games away from home.
• 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 a few two weeks ago. Tubbs has his batting average back up to .283 after it dipped as low as .233. The junior has four multiple-hit performances in the last seven games.
• Jacob Elliott has started the last nine games at first base for Memphis and has at least one hit in seven of the nine starts. The sophomore is batting .333 with 13 RBI and eight runs scored in 11 starts.
• Jake Little is shining at the plate in his senior season for the Tigers. The four-year Memphis player is batting a team-high .330 with 14 RBI and 19 runs scored after suffering an injury-plagued season in 2014.
• 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 UCF
Memphis and UCF have historically played close and the Tigers hold a narrow lead in the all-time series, 17-14, with the first meeting back in 2006. The Knights won the series in Orlando, Fla. last season and took two-of-three last time the teams met at FedExPark in 2014. Prior to that Memphis had won seven straight over UCF.

Scouting the Knights
UCF has several new faces this season after the departures of 13 seniors. The Knights have had to replace the losses of seven position starters, including their four leading hitters, as well as Friday night starting pitcher Zach Rodgers. Infielder Austin Griffin, a junior college transfer, ranks in the top-15 in the country with 32 runs batted in. The junior has eight doubles and eight home runs. As a team, UCF has 40 doubles and 20 home runs. The Knights also run well, with 30 stolen bases on 44 attempts. The Knights' weekend rotation is headlined by a pair of returning pitchers, Cre Finfrock and Robby Howell, who pitched against the Tigers last season.

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 freshmen have already contributed on the mound for the Tigers early in their collegiate careers. They have combined to make 34 appearances and log 60 2/3 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. As can be expected with some inexperienced arms, they have been wild at times with 38 walks, 10 hit batters and 12 wild pitches. The six youngsters have combined for a 4.60 ERA.

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 38-of-47 bases which ranks them in the top-30 nationally. Jake Little and Chris Carrier lead the team with eight stolen bases each. Darien Tubbs is just behind them with seven, while Zach Schritenthal has five. 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 nine starts and played in 18 games, despite only batting .083 so far. Senior Damo DeMatteo has been in the starting lineup 10 times and appeared in 16 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 10 in the NCAA with 12 triples through the first 24 games of the season. With four triples apiece, Darien Tubbs and Zach Schritenthal are tied for sixth 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 32 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 24 games his team has had a few too many defensive miscues. The Tigers have 35 errors and are fielding .962. Memphis does have the ability to play clean though and has played six errorless 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.

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 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.