Tigers Back on the Road for Big AAC Series at UAB

Friday, May 10

Birmingham, Ala.

5 P.M.

University of Memphis

UAB

Jonah Sutton at Arkansas State, May 7, 2024 by Brock Busick

Photo by: Brock Busick

May 09, 2024 | Baseball

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The University of Memphis baseball team hits the road and heads to Birmingham, Alabama, for a three-game American Athletic Conference series at UAB this weekend, Friday through Sunday at Young Memorial Field.

First pitch is slated for 5 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. for Sunday's finale. All three games can be streamed live on ESPN+, and Jeff Brightwell will have the audio calls on GoTigersGo.com all weekend long.

The Tigers (21-28, 8-13 AAC) dropped their midweek game Tuesday night at Arkansas State, 7-4, after a road series win last weekend at Tulane (26-23, 10-11 AAC). The Blazers (22-25, 9-12 AAC) have dropped two in a row after a midweek loss at Jacksonville State on Tuesday night. UAB took a conference series two games to one over Florida Atlantic (24-22, 10-11 AAC) in Boca Raton, Florida, last weekend.

Young Memorial Field will play host to the 88^th, 89^th and 90^th all-time meetings between the two teams, with the Tigers leading the all-time series, 45-42. Memphis has won 10 of the past 12 meetings with UAB, but the Tigers and Blazers have not met on the diamond since 2013.

With just two conference weekends left in the regular season, Memphis (8-13) occupies 10^th place in the league standings but remains just two games out of fourth place. With a pair of series remaining against UAB (9-12) and Wichita State (10-11), the Tigers still largely control their own destiny when it comes to making the top-eight and advancing to the AAC Tournament in Clearwater, Florida.

The Memphis offense is averaging 6.6 runs per game to rank fourth in The American (323 total). The Tigers' 64 long balls rank second in the AAC and 82^nd in the nation while their 92 doubles rank 84^th in the NCAA and third in the league.

Defensively, Memphis has turned the third-most double plays in the country (50) and trails only Michigan (56) and Rice (51) for the NCAA lead. The Tigers' 77 stolen bases rank second in the conference and 46^th nationally while their 254 walks drawn rank 44^th in the NCAA to lead The American.

Bahamian second baseman Daunte Stuart leads the team with a .328 batting average after a 7-for-14 (.500) week at the dish to help the Tigers go 3-1 a week ago. He was named American Athletic Conference Player of the Week on Monday for his performances, including a 3-for-5 effort with a home run in Sunday's series-clinching, 10-inning win at Tulane. Stuart hit safely in all four games the Tigers played and registered a pair of multi-hit efforts. He carried a 1.579 OPS, tallied 13 total bases with a pair of home runs, four RBI and five runs scored (.929 SLG, .650 OBP, 4 BB, 2 HBP) on the week.

Junior outfielder Pierre Seals is slashing a healthy .318/.564/.421 on the season with 15 stolen bases to lead the club (fifth-most in AAC). His 101 total bases are tied for the team lead with Stuart and Jacob Compton and rank fifth in the conference, while his 10 home runs are second-most on the squad to only Compton. Seals was named to the AAC's Weekly Honor Roll on April 15 after leading the league in hitting (.583 AVG.) with a pair of home runs against UTSA (April 11-13).

Compton, the 2022 American RBI leader, trails AAC leaders Derek Williams (Wichita State) and Jack Riedel (Rice) by one home run for the conference lead with 13 long balls on the season and ranks third in the league with 50 RBI. He's slashing .281/.567/.370 to go with 10 doubles and a triple on the season.

Closer Brayden Sanders has recorded eight saves – good for 16^th-most in the country and the conference lead. He had a big weekend on the mound at Tulane, locking down a save with a hitless inning in Saturday's 3-0 shutout of the Green Wave and doubled back to throw two hitless innings and earn the win in Sunday's series-clinching win. In 26.2 innings, the hard-throwing junior holds a 3.04 ERA with 34 punch outs.

RHP David Warren was named AAC Pitcher of the Week on April 2 after his career outing vs. Florida Atlantic on March 28. He went 7.1 innings and notched a career-high 10 strikeouts to help Memphis to its second conference win of the season against Florida Atlantic. He came back and threw a career-high 8.0 innings April 5 at Rice (3 R, 7 H, 3 K, 1 BB) to help the Tigers win a 15-inning thriller. On the year, Warren is 4-4 with a 5.61 ERA over 67.1 innings of work with 47 strikeouts to lead the squad. The staff veteran has gone five-plus innings in all but four of his starts this season, and seven-plus innings in a third of his dozen starts.

How to follow the Tigers: For complete information on Memphis Tiger Baseball and to purchase tickets, visit www.GoTigersGo.com and follow the team's social media channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.