Tiger Family Day Flyer

April 24, 2008

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Sitting in seventh place with the C-USA Tournament race heating up, the University of Memphis will take on Tulane in what could prove to be a critical league series this weekend at Nat Buring Stadium. The Tigers and Green Wave will battle it out in the three-game set that begins on Friday, April 25. First pitch for the series-opener is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

Pitching Matchups
Friday, April 25, 2008 • 6:30 p.m.
Tulane - Jr., RHP, Shooter Hunt (6-1, 1.59 ERA)
Memphis - Jr., RHP, Scott McGregor (1-4, 4.26 ERA)

Saturday, April 26, 2008• 2 p.m.
Tulane - Fr., LHP, Nick Pepitone (2-1, 3.57 ERA)
Memphis - So., LHP, Brach Davis (2-1, 5.20 ERA)

Sunday, April 27, 2008• 1 p.m.
Tulane - So., RHP, Taylor Rogers (3-0, 2.73 ERA)
Memphis - Jr., RHP, Will Hudgens (1-5, 7.34 ERA)

About the Tigers
Memphis's marathon-game win over Middle Tennessee improved its record to 16-25 on the year and gave the young Tigers some steam going into the final stretch of the Conference USA schedule.

The young crew has shown signs of improvement lately, banging out 10 or more hits in six of the last 10 outings and averaging 7.5 runs per contest. The Memphis offense is led by freshman Chad Zurcher. The freshman middle infielder hits .289 and has scored a team-best 31 runs. Having struck out just nine times in 149 at-bats, he is ranked as the 48th toughest batter to strike out in the country. Trey Wiedman is the major run-producer for the Tigers. The Houston High product has accounted for 56 runs, including driving in a team-high 29. Brett Bowen, who has been sidelined with an elbow injury, leads the way with 10 doubles. He and Wiedman both have five home runs.

Tiger pitchers have a combined ERA of 5.35 and rank 32nd in the nation with 8.2 strikeouts per nine innings. Memphis is fourth in C-USA with 327 strikeouts. Scott McGregor leads those strikeout numbers with a staff-high 42 K's, while Brach Davis and Neil Schenk have struck out 35 and 33, respectively. Schenk has been the best option out the bullpen for Coach Daron Schoenrock. The senior southpaw has a team-leading 2.20 ERA and hold opposing hitters to a .209 clip at the plate.

Tigers Host Tiger Family Day on Saturday
University of Memphis athletics will host Tiger Family Day on Saturday, April 26. Admission is $5 for everyone and gives fans to all events and festivities at the Park Avenue Campus.
Events:
1p.m.: Tiger Softball vs. ECU
Bounce House, 22-Foot Tiger Slide
1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m.: Kidz Kountry Petting Zoo - Family Area
TOM II - Family Area
2:00 p.m.: Tiger Baseball vs. Tulane
3:00 p.m.: Softball vs. ECU

Pouncer and the Tiger Cheerleaders will be in attendance. Fun promotions and prizes will be given away all day. Come meet and greet the Baseball and Softball teams after the games.

Scouting the Green Wave
Over the years, Tulane has been a perennial power in Conference USA and 2008 is no exception. The Green Wave, who were picked to finish fourth in the league's Preseason poll, enter the weekend with a strong 27-13-1 overall record and a 6-5-1 league mark that sits them in third place with four more league weekends remaining.

They are solid in all facets of the game. They lead the league and ranking 23rd nationally with a .972 fielding percentage. TU's 45 defensive miscues are the lowest in C-USA. On the mound, the Green Wave sports the league's strongest pitching staff, as they check in at No. 1 in the league and 16th in the country with a 3.74 ERA. They hold opposing hitters to a league-low .235 batting average. When runners have reached, the Wave pitchers have picked them off, leading C-USA with 13 pickoffs. The staff is third in the conference with 334 strikeouts and 10 saves.

Those loftly numbers are propelled by Green Wave ace, Shooter Hunt. Hunt, a Preseason All-C-USA selection, has also garnered preseason notoriety from national publications. He was tabbed a Second Team Preseason All-American by Baseball America and was a member of the Wallace Watch List as well as the Golden Spikes Award ledger. Hunt ranks fifth in the nation with 12.38 strikeouts per nine innings and sixth with 78 total strikeouts. He leads the league in strikeouts (78), batter struck out looking (34), ERA (1.59) and opposing batting average (.126). His six wins are tied for second in the league. The two-time C-USA Pitcher of the Week has struck 10 or more batters three times this year. Hunt is backed by Robby Broach, who is 4-1 and rates ninth in the league with a 3.51 ERA. Broach's 39 strikeouts are second to Hunt's 78. Closer Mason Griffin has logged six saves on the year, good for a tie for second in the league.

At the plate, the Green Wave hits .291 as team and leads the league with 17 triples. The offensive is led by Seth Henry's .336 batting average. The junior is on a 17-game hit streak and is one of four Wave hitters with 10 or more doubles and his 39 RBI and four triples ranks in the league's top-10. Freshman Rob Segedin also hits .336, with 12 doubles. In addition, the current C-USA Hitter of the Week has five home runs a team-high 41 RBI. Anthony Scelfo had legged out five triples--35th nationally, while Andrew Rodgers eight home runs are tied for fifth among C-USA players. Warren McFadden leads the club with 13 doubles.

All-Time Series vs. Tulane
Memphis trails the all-time series with Tulane 29-36. The series dates back to the two institution's days in the Metro Conference in 1976. The Tigers traveled to New Orleans last year and snapped a 10-year string of series losses to the Green Wave with a 2-1 win in the three-game set. Memphis defeated Tulane, who was ranked 21st nationally at the time, 14-5 and 5-3 in the first two games to earn the series win. However, walks costs the U of M a chance to sweep the Wave in a 9-5 loss on Sunday's series finale.

Tulane last came to Memphis in 2006 and won the series 2-1, despite Memphis efforts in an 11-4 route in the opener. Adam Amar went 4-for-5 with three home runs and seven RBI, while Scott McGregor struck out eight and held the 14th-ranked Green Wave to just four unearned runs as Memphis raced to an 11-4 win in the Conference USA opener for both teams. The win snapped a four-game losing streak to the Green Wave over the last two years.

Last Time Out
Memphis 17, Middle Tennessee 11 (14 innings)
Murfreesboro, Tenn. - Memphis built an 11-4 lead and carried it into the ninth inning only to watch it slip away as Middle Tennessee got two three-run homers in a seven-run ninth to tie the game at 11 and force extra frames.

Senior Neil Schenk was masterful in the extra stanzas, tossing 4.1 innings of shutout ball and limiting the potent MT offense to just one hit.

Memphis finally broke the 11-11 tie in the 14th when Trey Wiedman knocked a two-run through the leftside. The Tigers, who got two hits in the inning from freshman Chad Zurcher, went on two score four more runs on doubles by Zurcher and Eric Farrell to recapture the win. Zurcher tied the C-USA and Memphis records for at-bats, with nine. He led Memphis with four hits.

The game last 5:22 and is the longest baseball game (time-wise) in Memphis baseball history. The previous record was a five hour, 21-inning game that ended in a 4-4 tie at Evansville in 1999. The 21 innings remains the longest game in terms of innings played.