University of Memphis Athletics
Wednesday, March 14
Auburn, Ala.
3 p.m.
University of Memphis
at
Auburn
Photo by: Matthew Smith
Memphis Travels to No. 5 Auburn Wednesday
Mar 13, 2018 | Baseball
Tigers to face nationally ranked team on the road
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Memphis begins a six-day road swing with a trip to Alabama to play No. 5 Auburn at Plainsman Park Wednesday. The Tigers (6-10) will play their second game on the road against a ranked team this season.
GAME INFORMATION
Date: March 14, 2018
Location: Auburn, Ala.
Venue: Plainsman Park
Radio: WUMR 91.7
Video: SECNetwork+
Twitter Updates: @MemphisBaseball
Live Stats: AuburnTigers.com
Memphis and Auburn play for just the 11th time in history Wednesday at Plainsman Park. The two teams last met in 2011, with the Auburn Tigers winning 6-2. Auburn holds a 6-4 advantage in the series.
The two teams met six times during the 1978 season, including in the NCAA South Regional in Auburn, Ala. Memphis posted a 4-2 record against Auburn that season and upset the Tigers on the way to the regional final against North Carolina.
Auburn head coach Butch Thompson and Memphis head coach Daron Schoenrock have crossed paths a number of times over the years. Schoenrock recruited Thompson to play at Birmingham Southern, coaching him from 1991-92, and then the two served together as assistant coaches at Birmingham Southern from 1994-96. Thompson later replaced Schoenrock on the staff at Birmingham Southern in 1998, and again at Georgia in 2002. The two coaches went head-to-head as assistants in the SEC from 2002-04.
Memphis continues it's grueling road swing in the month of March. The Tigers played their first five games in March on the road and will play seven of the next eight away from home. In all, Memphis starts the month with 12-of-16 on the road.
The Tigers have been unable to get a winning-streak started so far this season, winning back-to-back games only once this season. This is the first time since 2012 that the Tigers have failed to win at least three-straight games at any point during the first four weeks of the season.
So far this season, the Tigers' pitching staff has compiled an earned run average under 4.00. If Memphis can keep its ERA under 4.00, it would be the first time since 2015 for the Tigers to do so. The last two seasons Memphis has had a staff ERA over 5.00.
Memphis recorded its first save of the season, March 9 against Little Rock. The Tigers had gone through the first 13 games without a save, the longest such streak to start a season since 2010.
Junior lefty Hunter Smith has been the Tigers' most reliable bullpen arm so far this season, pitching eight times and allowing just one run over 16.2 innings. Smith has struck out 19 and walked just two. He owns a 1-0 record with one save and an 0.54 ERA.
Road Warriors
The Tigers are spending six-consecutive days on the road this week, having left Memphis for Auburn, Ala. on Tuesday and continuing on to Jacksonville, Fla. this weekend. After its three-game series with North Florida, Memphis will bus more than 700 miles back to campus. The Tigers host Mississippi Valley State March 20 and leave town again, for the conference opener at Houston to cap a stretch of playing 12-of-16 games on the road.
Coaching Ties
Butch Thompson has followed in the footsteps of current Memphis coaches for nearly his entire career, first replacing Daron Schoenrock on the coaching staff at Birmingham Southern in 1998 and later replacing him as an assistant at Georgia in 2002. Several years later in 2009, Thompson also replaced Russ McNickle on the coaching staff at Mississippi State. This season, Thompson has added former Baylor head coach Steve Smith to his coaching staff. Smith has a bit of history with Memphis as well, coaching Baylor against the Tigers in 1996, 1997 and 2012. Memphis will host his former school, Baylor, for a three-game series in April.
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 .196 with only 11 hits in 56 at-bats, the worst of any position in the Tigers batting order. The clean-up spot has produced just seven RBI and left 19 men on base. Memphis has tried four different players in the four-hole: Kyle Ouellette (6), Cale Henneman (5), Nick Vaage (4)and Alec Trela (1).
Hit Machine
Outfielder Tyler Webb has a hit in 14-of-15 games played this year, leading the team with a .356 batting average, 21 hits and seven doubles. He had reached base safely in 27-straight games dating back to last season before having that streak snapped March 3 against Tennessee. 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 five stolen bases, throwing out nine runners in the process. Last season, Santana threw out 24 total runners on the bases. In his three-year career, he has thrown out 41 runners.
Bad Luck Bowlan
Jonathan Bowlan has been good in his last eight starts dating back to last season, really good. The 6-6 right-hander has compiled a 1.78 ERA in 50.2 innings pitched with 56 strikeouts and just 10 walks. Bowlan has six quality starts in his last eight outings and has allowed two or fewer runs in 7-of-8. In his last start, he struck out 13 batters in seven innings. The only problem? Memphis is winless in those eight starts. In fact, the Tigers last win with Bowlan on the mound was April 23, 2017 versus USF.
GAME INFORMATION
Date: March 14, 2018
Location: Auburn, Ala.
Venue: Plainsman Park
Radio: WUMR 91.7
Video: SECNetwork+
Twitter Updates: @MemphisBaseball
Live Stats: AuburnTigers.com
Memphis and Auburn play for just the 11th time in history Wednesday at Plainsman Park. The two teams last met in 2011, with the Auburn Tigers winning 6-2. Auburn holds a 6-4 advantage in the series.
The two teams met six times during the 1978 season, including in the NCAA South Regional in Auburn, Ala. Memphis posted a 4-2 record against Auburn that season and upset the Tigers on the way to the regional final against North Carolina.
Auburn head coach Butch Thompson and Memphis head coach Daron Schoenrock have crossed paths a number of times over the years. Schoenrock recruited Thompson to play at Birmingham Southern, coaching him from 1991-92, and then the two served together as assistant coaches at Birmingham Southern from 1994-96. Thompson later replaced Schoenrock on the staff at Birmingham Southern in 1998, and again at Georgia in 2002. The two coaches went head-to-head as assistants in the SEC from 2002-04.
Memphis continues it's grueling road swing in the month of March. The Tigers played their first five games in March on the road and will play seven of the next eight away from home. In all, Memphis starts the month with 12-of-16 on the road.
The Tigers have been unable to get a winning-streak started so far this season, winning back-to-back games only once this season. This is the first time since 2012 that the Tigers have failed to win at least three-straight games at any point during the first four weeks of the season.
So far this season, the Tigers' pitching staff has compiled an earned run average under 4.00. If Memphis can keep its ERA under 4.00, it would be the first time since 2015 for the Tigers to do so. The last two seasons Memphis has had a staff ERA over 5.00.
Memphis recorded its first save of the season, March 9 against Little Rock. The Tigers had gone through the first 13 games without a save, the longest such streak to start a season since 2010.
Junior lefty Hunter Smith has been the Tigers' most reliable bullpen arm so far this season, pitching eight times and allowing just one run over 16.2 innings. Smith has struck out 19 and walked just two. He owns a 1-0 record with one save and an 0.54 ERA.
Road Warriors
The Tigers are spending six-consecutive days on the road this week, having left Memphis for Auburn, Ala. on Tuesday and continuing on to Jacksonville, Fla. this weekend. After its three-game series with North Florida, Memphis will bus more than 700 miles back to campus. The Tigers host Mississippi Valley State March 20 and leave town again, for the conference opener at Houston to cap a stretch of playing 12-of-16 games on the road.
Coaching Ties
Butch Thompson has followed in the footsteps of current Memphis coaches for nearly his entire career, first replacing Daron Schoenrock on the coaching staff at Birmingham Southern in 1998 and later replacing him as an assistant at Georgia in 2002. Several years later in 2009, Thompson also replaced Russ McNickle on the coaching staff at Mississippi State. This season, Thompson has added former Baylor head coach Steve Smith to his coaching staff. Smith has a bit of history with Memphis as well, coaching Baylor against the Tigers in 1996, 1997 and 2012. Memphis will host his former school, Baylor, for a three-game series in April.
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 .196 with only 11 hits in 56 at-bats, the worst of any position in the Tigers batting order. The clean-up spot has produced just seven RBI and left 19 men on base. Memphis has tried four different players in the four-hole: Kyle Ouellette (6), Cale Henneman (5), Nick Vaage (4)and Alec Trela (1).
Hit Machine
Outfielder Tyler Webb has a hit in 14-of-15 games played this year, leading the team with a .356 batting average, 21 hits and seven doubles. He had reached base safely in 27-straight games dating back to last season before having that streak snapped March 3 against Tennessee. 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 five stolen bases, throwing out nine runners in the process. Last season, Santana threw out 24 total runners on the bases. In his three-year career, he has thrown out 41 runners.
Bad Luck Bowlan
Jonathan Bowlan has been good in his last eight starts dating back to last season, really good. The 6-6 right-hander has compiled a 1.78 ERA in 50.2 innings pitched with 56 strikeouts and just 10 walks. Bowlan has six quality starts in his last eight outings and has allowed two or fewer runs in 7-of-8. In his last start, he struck out 13 batters in seven innings. The only problem? Memphis is winless in those eight starts. In fact, the Tigers last win with Bowlan on the mound was April 23, 2017 versus USF.
Players Mentioned
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