April 28, 2008

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The University of Memphis baseball team will wrap up its season series with Ole Miss on Tuesday, April 29, when the Tigers host the Rebels at Nat Buring Stadium at 6:30 p.m.

About the Tigers
The road has been tough for the Tigers in the 2008 season, and the weekend versus Tulane was more of the same as Memphis was outscored 32-7 en route to being swept by the Green Wave in a two-game, rain-shortened series. Sunday's series finale was rained out.

Freshman Chad Zurcher had a solid week for the Tigers, hitting .526 (10-for-19) in four games. That raised his batting average to a team-high .295 clip. The bright spot in the Memphis lineup, Zurcher leads the team in hits and runs, while ranking second in doubles and stolen bases.

Tiger pitching took a hit in the ERA over the weekend, but still remains under 6.00. Scott McGregor leads the starter pitching corps with a 4.14 ERA. He also has a staff-best 48 strikeouts--two shy of his career-high 50 K's set in 2007. Behind McGregor, Neil Schenk and Marcus Barnes have been solid left-handed middle relief options out of the bullpen. Schenk, a senior, has a staff-low 2.20 ERA and holds opponents to a .209 batting average. He has fanned 33 batters. Barnes has 31 K's to go with a 3.96 ERA. Tuesday starter Brennon Martin is 4-1 with a 4.76 ERA.

Scouting the Rebels
The Rebels have gone 11-6 since playing Memphis on April 2, to improve to 28-17 on the year. In that stretch, Ole Miss swept No. 6 Vanderbilt and won the series against LSU (1-2). However, the last two weekends have been unkind as they have suffered series losses at No. 10 South Carolina (1-2) and at home versus Arkansas (1-2).

With seven .300 hitters in the lineup, the Rebels swing to the tune of a .304 team batting average. Logan Power's .357 batting average leads the crew, while Munford High product Cody Overbeck hits at a strong .351 clip. Overbeck, who has accounted four 102 Rebel runs, is the team leader with 61 hits, 41 RBI, 13 doubles and 12 home runs. Power is second on the squad with 60 hits and 37 runs driven in. Fuller Smith hits .348 with 10 doubles and four homers, while Matt Smith adds 10 round-trippers. The Rebels have been thrown out just five times in 45 stolen base attempts. Jordan Henry is the team leader with 10 bags.

On the hill, Ole Miss boasts a team ERA of 3.64. Of the Rebels' 15 pitchers, only four have ERA's over 5.00. Scott Bittle and Rory McKean both have ERA's under 2.00, at 1.72 and 1.77, respectively. Bittle combines an opponent's batting of .116, a staff-high 86 strikeouts and six saves to the gaudy ERA. McKean, who claimed the decision on April 2, is a perfect 4-0.

The Memphis-Ole Miss Series
The Memphis-Ole Miss rivalry is one of the longest standing series for the Tiger baseball team. The series goes way back to the 1915 season with Ole Miss holding an 89-52-1 advantage after defeating Memphis 5-4 in Oxford on April 2.

The Tigers have dropped nine straight to the Rebels and have been swept in seven (1999-2000, 2002 and 2004-07) of the last nine season series. Since the 1999 season, Ole Miss has claimed 17 of 20 games.

The last Memphis win came on April 23, 2003, when it snapped a six-game skid with a 6-3 win over the Rebels in Oxford. Then-true freshman Stephen Gostkowski kept the Rebels off the scoreboard in his three innings of work, allowing just one run and striking out three in his first outing as a collegian in his home state.

The Rebels have not played at Nat Buring Stadium since April 25, 2000--eight years and three days ago--when they posted an 11-5 win over the Tigers.

Last Time
Ole Miss 5, Memphis 4
Memphis jumped out to a 4-0 lead with four runs in the first inning and Brach Davis fanned a career-high seven in five innings, but Ole Miss came back to score five unanswered runs to send the Tigers to their sixth straight loss in a 5-4 decision at Oxford-University Stadium. Davis cruised through the first four stanzas, no hitting the Rebels and tying his former career-high with six strikeouts. The southpaw gave up his first hit in the bottom of the fifth as Michael Guerrero grounded and infield single just under the glove of Bowen at third.

From there the Ole Miss offense gained momentum with Zach Miller following Guerrero's single with a single to right centerfield. Both Guerrero and Miller had two hits each to lead the Rebels. Jeremy Travis gave Memphis the big blow two batters later. The Ole Miss rightfielder blasted his home run of the year over the leftfield wall to cut into the Tiger lead for a 4-3 contest. Catcher Brett Basham then reached on a push-bunt single. After Davis was called for a balk on a pick-off throw to first, Logan Power drove Basham home with an RBI-single to knot the tilt at 4-4.

Ole Miss completed the comeback in the sixth on a home run by Guerrero for the 5-4 lead.

Memphis could only manage to get one hit and two base runners over the final three innings of play.

Philip Utley was the losing pitcher after giving up a run on two hits in one-third of an inning. Neil Schenk and Matt Yokley also worked in relief, with both holding Ole Miss scoreless. Yokley fanned two in one inning.

Ole Miss reliever Rory McKean was the winner. He gave up just one hit in two innings of relief work. Cordova High product Nathan Baker came on the in relief of Irwin in the first and scattered five hits in 4.2 innings. Scott Bittle and Justin Cryer each logged an inning of work, with Cryer earning the save.