Memphis & UConn Meet in Tournament First Round Wednesday

Wednesday, May 25

Clearwater, Fla.

2:00 PM

University of Memphis

No. 3 UConn

Photo by: Ben Solomon

Memphis & UConn Meet in Tournament First Round Wednesday

May 24, 2016 | Baseball

Sixth-seeded Tigers hope to win tournament opener for first time since 2013

CLEARWATER, Fla. – Memphis will square off with UConn in the first round of the American Athletic Conference Tournament Wednesday at 2 p.m. (CT) at Bright House Field. The Tigers dropped two-of-three to the Huskies in the regular season series at FedExPark. The winner between the Tigers and Huskies will face the winner of the match-up between No. 2 East Carolina and No. 7 USF. The losers will play in an elimination game Thursday at 10 a.m. (CT).

GAME INFORMATION:
Wednesday, May 25 | 2 p.m. CT
No. 6 Memphis (19-37) vs. No. 3 UConn (33-22)
Location: Clearwater, Fla.
Venue: Bright House Field
Twitter Updates: @MemphisBaseball
Audio: WUMR 91.7 FM
Video: American Digital Network
Live Stats: StatBroadcast

Leading Off
• Memphis earned the sixth seed in the American Athletic Conference Tournament and will play against No. 3 UConn on Wednesday at 2 p.m. (CT).
• The winner between the Tigers and Huskies will face the winner of the match-up between No. 2 East Carolina and No. 7 USF. The losers will play in an elimination game Thursday at 10 a.m. (CT).
• The Memphis trio of Brandon Grudzielanek, Jake Little and Darien Tubbs have been named to the All-American Athletic Conference second team.
• For a sixth consecutive weekend Memphis avoided being swept in an American Athletic Conference series by winning one game of the three-game series. Memphis has not been swept in a three-game conference series since 2012 against Southern Mississippi.
• Memphis rested its top two starting pitchers, Colton Hathcock and Matt Ferguson, on the final weekend of the regular season. The pair have each made 13 starts and both hold an ERA under 4.00. Hathcock was used in a short relief roll during the weekend while Ferguson was fully rested.
• Matt Ferguson has been dominant on the mound recently, recording career highs for innings pitched in three of his last four starts, culminating with his first career complete-game last week against Tulane.
• Jake Little suffered through an injury-plagued junior season in 2015 but has recovered to lead the team in hitting with a .314 batting average as a senior. He is one of the team's most productive offensive players with 35 runs scored, 27 RBI and 12 stolen bases.
• Next to Jake Little, newcomer Brandon Grudzielanek is the only other Tiger to start every game this season. The JuCo transfer is batting .287 with 31 RBI and 34 runs scored while starting games at second base, shortstop and third base.
• The Tigers started the season with a platoon at first base before sophomore Jacob Elliott took over at the position. Elliott has now started 42 games at first base for Memphis and is batting .277 with 27 RBI and 21 runs scored.
• Darien Tubbs has been hot recently with a five-game hitting streak and hits in 11 of his last 12 games. In that stretch he has had a four-hit game with three doubles against Tulane and career-high tying five-hit game against Cincinnati. He is batting .301 with 21 RBI and 37 runs scored in 52 starts.
• Preseason All-American Nolan Blackwood recorded his 22nd career save in the April 9 win over USF and now holds the program record for career saves.
• Memphis stands in the top 50 in the NCAA with 77 stolen bases this season. The Tigers have been successful on the base paths as an entire team and no Memphis player is in the individual top 50 in the country in stolen bases.
• One of Memphis' strengths last season was its bullpen which compiled a 3.50 ERA with a 15-6 record and 16 saves. This season the relief corps has struggled with a 5.76 ERA, a 5-11 record and only six saves.