Memphis Hits the Road for Tri-Star Classic

Friday, March 2

Knoxville, Tenn.

6 p.m.

University of Memphis

vs. Middle Tennessee

Tickets

Mar 01, 2018 | Baseball

Memphis Baseball Notes - Tri-Star Classic

First weekend road trip on-deck

By: Kevin Rodriguez

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Memphis hits the road for its first weekend trip of the season, to the Tri-Star Classic played at Tennessee's Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The Tigers will play Middle Tennessee for the 33rd consecutive season, Tennessee for a third straight season and East Tennessee for the first time since 1978.

TRI-STAR CLASSIC INFORMATION:
Date: March 2-4, 2018
Location: Knoxville, Tenn.
Venue: Lindsey Nelson Stadium
Twitter Updates: @MemphisBaseball
Live Stats: UTSports.com

The Tigers snapped a four-game losing streak with Tuesday's walk-off win over Southeast Missouri. Going back to last season, Memphis has three walk-off wins in its last 15 games. The Tigers beat Murray State, 11-10, in 12 innings on May 16, 2017 and knocked off Cincinnati, 15-14, in 10 innings on May 24, 2017 in the American Athletic Conference Tournament.

This trip will mark just the second time in the last 20-plus years that Memphis has gone to Knoxville to play baseball. The Tigers and Volunteers played a single game at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in 2012, with the Vols winning 6-3. Prior to 2012, the last time the Tigers went to Knoxville was in 1995. The teams played regularly in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Senior outfielder Tyler Webb has a hit in all seven games he has played this season and has reached base in 26-straight contests dating back to last season. Webb is the Tigers' leading hitter with a .462 batting average, four doubles, four RBI and five runs scored.

Appalachian Men
Memphis has a pair of first-year players that will have somewhat of a homecoming this weekend. Kyle Ouellette (Johnson City) and Payton Marshall (Kingsport) both hail from East Tennessee and attended Walters State Community College in the eastern part of the state. Both players' hometowns are located approximately 100 miles from Knoxville. Johnson City is also the home of East Tennessee State, who the Tigers will play on Sunday.

More Smoky Mountain Connections
Memphis assistant coach Clay Greene has connections to two of the three teams the Tigers will play this weekend. Greene spent six seasons as an assistant at East Tennessee State from 2006-11 and three seasons as an assistant at Tennessee in 2003-06. He also played for the Volunteers from 1996-97. Former Memphis All-American and 2018 M Club Hall of Fame inductee, Chad Zurcher, is in his third season as the Director of Baseball Operations at the University of Tennessee. Zurcher, an infielder, claimed the 2011 NCAA batting title with a .443 batting average.

First Time in A Long Time
Memphis and East Tennessee have not played each other in a baseball game since 1978, which is the longest the Tigers have gone without playing any Division I in-state rival. The last match-up came in the 1978 NCAA Tournament and the Tigers won 5-0. There are 11 NCAA Division I baseball programs in the state of Tennessee and Memphis and ETSU represent the furthest distance between any of the schools. 488 miles separates the two campuses. The Tigers have played seven of the 11 in-state schools since 2010.

Road Warriors
Memphis embarks on it's first of two long road swings in the month of March. The Tigers will make the nearly 400-mile trek across the state before returning home Sunday. After staying home one day, Memphis will head back on the road to Murfreesboro for two games against Middle Tennessee Tuesday and Wednesday. The Tigers second long trip of the month will start with a midweek game at Auburn before a weekend series at North Florida in Jacksonville. Memphis will hit the road after the series and travel more than 700 miles back to campus. Memphis finishes the month with a trip to Houston for the conference opener. In all, Memphis plays 12-of-20 games on the road in March.

Clean-Up on Aisle Four
The fourth spot in the batting order is traditionally reserved for run producers, and so far this season Memphis is still searching for the right player to fill that role. This season the Tigers' clean-up hitters have combined to bat just .133 with only four hits in 30 at-bats, the worst of any position in the Tigers batting order. The clean-up spot has produced just two RBI and left 12 men on base through the first seven games. Memphis has tried four different players in the four-hole: Cale Henneman (4), Kyle Ouellette (2) Alec Trela (1) and Nick Vaage (1). Memphis has gotten the most run production out of the eighth spot in the batting order, with seven RBI.

On-Base Machine
Outfielder Tyler Webb has reached base safely in 26 games dating back to last season. The senior has a hit in all seven games played this year, leading the team with a .462 batting average, 12 hits and four doubles. Webb was the Tigers only representative on the American Athletic Conference preseason All-Conference team. The Prosper, Texas, native batted .305 with 65 hits, 16 doubles and 43 runs scored last season.

The Masked Crusader
While no Bruce Wayne, Memphis junior catcher Jason Santana has struck down his share of would-be thieves on the bases this season. Santana has allowed only three stolen bases, throwing out six runners in the process. Last season, Santana threw out 24 total runners on the bases. The Chicago, Ill., product will have his hands full this weekend though. Middle Tennessee has already swiped 17 bases on 22 attempts and Tennessee has 12 stolen bases on 14 tries. Santana has yet to get his bat going this season though, with just two hits in 19 at-bats.

Jekyll And Hyde
During the Opening Weekend against Western Kentucky Memphis pitching was lights out, allowing just four total runs (three earned) over 27 innings pitched. The Tigers struck out 30 batters and only walked seven. The trio of starting pitchers – Riley Cabral, Jonathan Bowlan and Alex Hicks – allowed just one earned run and two of the three pitched six-plus innings. It was a different story against Eastern Illinois a week later, as the Tigers allowed 19 runs in 27 innings and struck out 22 with 13 walks. None of the three Memphis starting pitchers made it out of the fifth inning and each gave up three or more runs.

The Bullpen
A number of Tiger relief pitchers have had a solid start to the season. Despite a rough weekend against Eastern Illinois, there are still five relievers that have yet to allow a run. RHP James Muse has made three appearances this season and in 5.2 innings pitched has allowed just three hits and struck out seven. Blake Bennett has five scoreless relief appearances, spanning 4.2 innings. Alex Smith, Drew Talley and Taylor Bobo have also all kept the opposition off the board. Hunter Smith has been solid so far out of the pen, allowing just one run in 6.2 innings pitched with 10 strikeouts.

Scuffling
Prior to the Feb. 27 walk-off win over Southeast Missouri, Memphis had lost four-straight games. The Tigers have been in nearly every game though, with four of the team's five losses coming by two runs or less. In all four of those close losses, Memphis had the tying run either on base or at the plate. The walk-off win was the first time Memphis has won a game decided by three or less runs this season.