Tigers Ready for American Opener at Cincinnati

Friday, March 31

Cincinnati, Ohio

5:00 PM

University of Memphis

Cincinnati

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Mar 30, 2017 | Baseball

Game Notes vs. Cincinnati

Memphis hits the road for the league-opener before playing at Belmont Monday

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – After having a six-game winning streak snapped Tuesday, Memphis heads on the road to Cincinnati for the first weekend of American Athletic Conference play. The Tigers and Bearcats will play Friday, Saturday and Sunday before Memphis travels to Nashville to play Belmont Monday.

The Tigers were selected to finish tied for seventh in the preseason league poll, while the Bearcats were picked fifth. Memphis currently sits in fifth in the standings through the first six weeks and Cincinnati is seventh. Memphis and Cincinnati, who play six times annually, will meet again in league play, May 5-7 at FedExPark.

GAME INFORMATION:
Memphis (16-8) at Cincinnati (12-12)
Date: March 31-April 2, 2017
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
Venue: Marge Schott Stadium
Twitter Updates: @MemphisBaseball

Friday, March 31 | 5 p.m. CT
Audio: WUMR 91.7 FM
Video: Bearcats TV
Live Stats: Statbroadcast
MEM: So. RHP Alex Hicks (3-1, 3.62 ERA)
UC: Sr. RHP Andrew Zellner (2-1, 3.00 ERA)

Saturday, April 1 | 3 p.m. CT
Audio: WUMR 91.7 FM
Video: Bearcats TV
Live Stats: Statbroadcast
MEM: Jr. LHP Drew Crosby (4-0, 3.16 ERA)
UC: Jr. LHP J.T. Perez (1-4, 4.29 ERA)

Sunday, April 2 | 12 p.m. CT
Audio: WUMR 91.7 FM
Video: Bearcats TV
Live Stats: Statbroadcast
MEM: Jr. RHP Connor Alexander (4-1, 3.67 ERA)
UC: TBA

Leading Off
• Memphis travels to Cincinnati for the opening weekend of American Athletic Conference Play. The Tigers have struggled against the Bearcats since the teams joined the American in 2014, going 6-10 without a series win.
• Memphis enters American Athletic Conference play having won five-straight weekend series – over Illinois State, Georgia Southern, Southern Illinois, Missouri State and Southern University. The Tigers won just three weekend series all of last season.
• Memphis had a season-long six-game winning streak snapped Tuesday against Mississippi State at AutoZone Park. The win streak included two wins at Missouri State and a win over No. 11 Ole Miss.
• The Tigers finished off the season sweep of nationally-ranked Ole Miss with a 2-1 walk-off win at AutoZone Park March 21. The sweep of the Rebels is the first since 2013.
• With the loss to Mississippi State, Memphis is 17-17 against teams from the nation's toughest conference, the SEC, over the last five seasons. The Tigers are 3-3 so far this season with two games against Arkansas in April still scheduled.
• As part the Tigers Feb. 24-26 sweep of Illinois State, Memphis rallied from an 11-0 deficit to win 12-11 in extra innings during the second game of the series. The comeback win is the largest in the Daron Schoenrock era of Memphis baseball.
• Jonathan Bowlan and Andy Bowman were both named the American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll March 27. Bowlan tossed a career-high 8 1/3 innings against Ole Miss, allowing just one run with a career-high eight strikeouts. Bowman had a hit in all four games last week, batting .417 with a double and a home run. He drove in a team-high seven runs and scored four runs.
• Memphis had a junior pitcher named to the American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll after the first four weeks of the season. RHP Connor Alexander twice received the recognition after starts against Illinois State and Southern Illinois. RHP Colton Hathcock was honored after recording three saves in a four game stretch and LHP Drew Crosby was recognized after his opening weekend start against Tennessee.
• After the first three weeks of the season, Memphis starting pitching had compiled a 7.16 ERA through 12 starts and 44 innings pitched. The weekend rotation of Alex Hicks, Drew Crosby and Connor Alexander has bounced back though, with six quality starts over the last three weekends.
• Memphis had a record-setting opening weekend against Tennessee at FedExPark. The two teams squared off Sunday Feb. 19 in front of the largest crowd in FedExPark history of 2,188. The three-game series set another facility record, attracting 4,793 fans throughout the weekend.
• Memphis started the season with 15 of its first 16 games at home and the Tigers played five-of-six weekends at home in non-conference play. In all Memphis will play 35 home games, including two at AutoZone Park.
• More than 70-percent of the Tigers' innings pitched last season were by freshmen and sophomores and all 10 of those players return this season. This year's pitching staff is rounded out by the addition of four incoming freshmen pitchers and two junior college transfers.