March 27, 2008

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The University of Memphis baseball team will attempt to remain perfect in Conference USA play this weekend when it hits the road for Charleston, W. Va. to take on the Marshall Thundering Herd in a three-game league set at Appalachian Power Park. Game times are slated for 7 p.m., 4 p.m. and 10 a.m., respectively. All times are Eastern.

About the Tigers
After stringing together a season-long five-game win streak, Memphis dropped both midweek contests this week. The Tigers fell to Austin Peay, 4-2 on Tuesday and lost a 7-4 decision to Arkansas State on Wednesday. Despite the midweek setbacks, the Tigers take a perfect 3-0 C-USA mark into the weekend series after sweeping UAB last week. Memphis is tied with Rice for first place in the league standings. This road trip marks just the second true road test for the U of M, who has played 19 of its first 23 games in the Memphis area. The Tigers played a three-game weekend at Georgia in early March and made the short trip to Jonesboro, Ark., for a game versus Arkansas State on March 11. Memphis is 2-2 in the four road games.

Memphis has struggled and is ranked ninth in the league with a team batting average of .249. Trey Wiedman is the lone Tigers hitting above .300, as he carries a team-best .341 clip into the weekend series. The sophomore leads the club with 28 hits, 19 RBI, 16 runs scored, five home runs and a .573 slugging percentage. Senior K.K. Chalmers has hit safely in each of the last eight games (14-for-33, .420) to raise his average from .208 to .291. The speedy outfielder leads the team with 12 stolen bases and is just the third player in C-USA history to reach the 100-stolen bases milestone. Chalmers became the program's all-time leader in runs in the loss to Arkansas State on Wednesday. Freshman Chad Zurcher has put together a 12-game hitting streak to increase his batting average to .284. Junior Brett Bowen hits .283 and is the team leader with seven doubles. Bowen also as 17 RBI.

Scott McGregor leads the Memphis pitching staff with a 4.32 ERA in a staff-high 33.1 innings. The junior has fanned 28 batters, compared to just five walks in five starts. The have gotten a pleasant surprise from redshirt Andrew Haley. The southpaw has yielded only one hit and has sat down five hitters on strikes in 2.1 innings of work. Closer Matt Yokley has been dominant, logging a 1.59 ERA with 19 strikeouts and three saves. Yokley has held opposing hitters to a .122 batting average. Lefthanders Neil Schenk and Marcus Barnes continue to produce out of the Memphis bullpen. Schenk has posted a 2.25 ERA and has fanned 21, while the freshman Barnes has a 2.45 ERA and 18 K's in 14.2 innings of action.

Scouting the Thundering Herd
Marshall checks in with a 9-12 overall record and a 0-3 mark in C-USA action after being swept by Rice in the opening weekend of league play. Picked to finish ninth in the C-USA preseason poll, the Herd split a doubleheader with NC State on Wednesday.

A solid club offensively, Marshall hits .294 as a team. Junior Nate Lape is among the league leaders in hitting (.449), slugging (.846), runs scored (29), hits (35), RBI (22) and on base percentage (.521). He leads Marshall's attack with eight homers and seven doubles. Lape earned C-USA Hitter of the Week honors on March 17. The Herd has gotten solid contributions from sophomore Josh Valle (.342, 14 RBI) and freshman Victor Gomez (.339). Adam Yeager leads the team with 12 stolen bases.

On the mound, Marshall pitchers have put together a 5.68 ERA, with 131 strikeouts and an opponents average of .261. All three of its weekend starters have logged a 2-2 record. Andrew Blain leads all starting hurlers with a 2.42 ERA. He has not gotten much help from his defense as he has been tagged with six unearned runs in 26 innings. Sophomore Dan Straily has a staff-best 28 strikeouts in 26.1 innings of work. He has a 5.47 ERA in five starts. Freshman Arik Sikula has worked into the closer role and has nailed down three saves. He is 0-1, with a strong 1.98 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 13.2 innings. Opponents hit just .163 when he is on the mound.

The Series
The Tigers are 4-2 all-time versus the Herd. Memphis swept Marshall in the first-ever meeting between the two schools in the 2006 season. Memphis sandwiched a pair of late-inning comebacks to claim extra-inning wins on Friday and Sunday between a 14-4 route in Saturday's game. Last year was not so successful for the Tigers. Behind the arm of Ben Grisham Memphis won the series opener on Friday night, but the Marshall bats woke up and exploded for 32 runs (21-7; 11-0) over the next two games to win the series.