Friday Game Time Pushed Back to 5PM

Mizzou Baseball Game at Memphis Pushed Back to 5 p.m.
bit.ly/YHRWBu

— Mizzou Baseball (@MUTigerBaseball) February 22, 2013

MIZZOU MATCHUP: University of Memphis Tigers

Head Coach: Daron Schoenrock 
 (207-250 in 8 years at Memphis)

FedEx Park in Memphis, TN

Friday @ 4 PM CT
Saturday @ 2 PM CT
Sunday @ 1 PM CT

Missouri (0-3, 0-0 SEC) @ Memphis (1-3, 0-0 Conference USA)

Mizzou will try and right the ship early in the season against another Conference USA opponent in the Memphis Tigers. Memphis finished last year tied for third in their conference, going 31-28 and 16-13 at home.

The Tigers have a slightly different look this year as they only have five returning starters from last year. Players that they have lost include 3B Jacob Wilson, whose .320 BA and 17 HR earned him a 10th round selection by the St. Louis Cardinals and Player of the Year in Conference USA. Also, utility man Adam McClain graduated, leaving his senior season hitting .392. Lastly, their workhorse SP Dan Langfield left his 10.67 K/9, 2.79 ERA, and .208 BAA to sign with the Cincinnati Reds after they drafted him in the third round last June. All three players earned First Team All-Conference

THE BATTERS

With losing those key players comes youth. The Memphis Tigers have zero starting seniors in their lineup. C/1B/DH Carter White had a great start to the season, collecting 6 hits in his first four games. This is no fluke though, as he finished last season second in the conference in batting for players with more than 50 AB, hitting .358.

Second baseman Zach Willis is a run creator for the Tigers, as his 24 walks in 2012 boosted his OBP to a respectable .408. He will likely be the leadoff man for the Tigers, as he has had those duties in the team’s last three games, adding 2 SB so far this year.

One man that is looking to get things turned around early in the season is SS Ethan Gross. He has really struggled in Memphis’ first four contests, only getting one hit in his 16 ABs, striking out six times.

Going into the season, there was a bit of a question who Memphis’ starting third baseman was going to be, but junior Drew Griffin’s hot start has gotten him the nod in all four games so far. He started the year hitting .412 (7-for-17), adding 2 doubles, and a team leading 3 RBIs.

Without sugarcoating it at all, the Memphis outfield has been a mess so far in 2013. They have had six starting outfielders so far, CF Ford Wilson being the only consistent one starting all four games, has been inconsistent at the plate only getting one hit in 13 ABs. They haven’t had the same starting left fielder twice yet, with time being split between Austin Hatfield (1-for-4), Jake Little (1-for-5), Zac Carter (0-for-2), and Bryce Beeler, who will probably emerge as a starter in one of the two corner outfield spots as he started hot hitting .400.

Projected Lineup
2B Zach Willis .287
DH Carter White .429
1B Tucker Tubbs .273
3B Drew Griffin .412
RF Bryce Beeler .400
C Keaton Aldridge .250
SS Ethan Gross .063
CF Ford Wilson .077
LF Jake Little .200

THE PITCHERS

Assuming Memphis goes with the same three weekend starters they did against Illinois State, Sam Moll will get the nod on Friday. Moll struggled in the season opener, giving up 3 ER in 4 IP. While he did rack up 7 Ks, he did allow 4 walks and had to be pulled in the 5th inning after he let the first three batters of the inning reach base.

Saturday starter Erik Schoenrock was looking great through five innings last weekend but only recorded one out in the sixth, surrendering 3 ER before he was pulled. Of the 16 outs he recorded, 10 were via the strikeout. The concern for the lefty during that start was efficiency, as he threw 98 pitches in only 5.1 innings.

Although he only pitched 3 innings on Sunday, southpaw Alex Gunn shined in his Tiger debut. Giving up only one hit and no walks, he struck out one throwing a very efficient 41 pitches.

On Sunday the Tigers saw another pitcher dominate in his debut. Junior transfer John Reed threw 5 innings, giving up 2 runs on 2 hits, striking out 5, and walking none.

Projected Matchups:
Friday: Rob Zastrynzny (0-1, 5.06 ERA) vs. Sam Moll (0-1, 6.75 ERA)
Saturday: Brett Graves (0-0, 1.80 ERA) vs. Erik Schoenrock (0-0, 5.06 ERA)
Sunday: Jace James (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Alex Gunn (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

MATCHUP WRAP-UP

Missouri will have to jump on this Memphis pitching staff early in the count, as their starters racked up 19 K’s in only 12.1 IP over the weekend. Missouri batters will find it hard to win games if they let the Memphis pitchers get ahead in the count, maybe with the exception of Moll, who showed slight control issues. The matchup I look forward to most is James vs. Gunn. Both did not give up an earned run in their debuts in D-I baseball, and I assume they will be allowed to go a bit deeper into the game this Sunday.

Other SEC games this weekend:
Alabama @ Florida Atlantic 2/22-24
Evansville @ 3 Arkansas 2/22-24
Florida Gulf Coast @ 17 Florida 2/22-24
Belmont @ Georgia 2/22-24
Rhode Island @ 8 Ole Miss 2/22-24
Albany @ 7 South Carolina 2/22-24
Arizona State @ Tennessee 2/22-24
Pepperdine @ Texas A&M 2/22-24
Monmouth @ 2 Vanderbilt 2/22-24
Auburn Tournament
Auburn vs. Middle Tennessee State 2/22
Auburn vs. College of Charlston 2/23
Auburn vs. Indiana State 2/24
Caravelle Resort Baseball at the Beach in Myrtle Beach, SC
11 Kentucky vs. Kansas State 2/21
11 Kentucky vs. Elon 2/22
11 Kentucky vs. Coastal Carolina 2/23
LSU Tournament
9 LSU vs. BYU 2/21, 23
9 LSU vs. SE Louisiana 2/22
Diamond Classic in Starkville, MS
5 Mississippi State vs. Purdue 2/22-23
5 Mississippi State vs. Samford 2/23-24


Rankings from Baseball America

HI NOTES: Everett Out, EA In, Memphis Down, KU Still Sucks

INJURY UPDATE

H is for Hamate
Photo by Akay Miller flickr.com

Hopefully, SS Shane Segovia is going to be back in time for this weekend, because the infield is suffering from attrition.

Wishing @dilloneverett2 the best of luck in surgery today
— Kyle Barbeck (@KyleBarbs) February 20, 2013

@mutigerbaseball 2B/SS @dilloneverett2 has a broken hamate bone in his right hand. Had surgery today, will miss 10 days to 3 wks. #Mizzou
— Alex M. Silverman (@AlexMSilverman) February 20, 2013

On the "other hand"...

@mutigerbaseball pitcher @jacerock will likely be in the bullpen against @uofmbaseball as @easports44 returns to rotation for #Mizzou. #SEC
— Alex M. Silverman (@AlexMSilverman) February 20, 2013

MEMPHIS TIGERS

Memphis is struggling.  Watch for Sam Nasci's MIZZOU MATCHUP at noon today here at SimmonsField.com for all the details about the Memphis Tigers.  And watch this interview with their coach after a mid-week loss:

MIZZOU BASEBALL IN THE MAJORS?



KU STILL SUCKS

♦ And this display of wimpification from our old pals in Lawrence and our home opener opponents:

#Northwestern vs #Kansas this weekend has been canceled due to snow and low temperatures forecasted bit.ly/12MO4or #Big10 #Big12
— CB Daily (@CB_Daily) February 20, 2013

HI NOTES: Tepesch Gets a Look, Everett Injured

MIZZOU BASEBALL IN THE MINORS

♦ Tepesch Gets Early Look as Starter (Rangers.MLB.com)

The Rangers play their two intrasquad games at noon MT on Tuesday and Wednesday on the Nolan Ryan Field. Three of the four starting pitchers will be in the Rangers' rotation: Yu Darvish and Alexi Ogando on Tuesday and Matt Harrison on Wednesday. The fourth starter will be rookie right-hander Nick Tepesch.
. . .
Tepesch is a candidate for the fifth spot in the rotation, but is obviously a long-shot given his lack of experience. But nobody gave Robbie Ross a chance to make the team last season.

"Everybody knows what he did, but I'm not comparing myself to anybody," Tepesch said. "I'm going to do what I can do and whatever happens, happens."...

♦ Pitcher Nick Tepesch recalls historic no-hitter (Fort Worth Star Telegram)

Is the fastball where everything begins for you? Oh, yeah. The fastball is obviously No. 1. You've got to be able to throw strikes and command your fastball.

What else is in your arsenal? I've got a cutter and curveball and changeup. The curveball or cutter, probably one of the two, is my out pitch.

INJURIES

♦ Brandon Weiss reported in his The Extra Nine blog on Sunday that Shane Segovia, Brandon Platts, and Eric Anderson all missed the opening weekend with injuries, and that Segovia and Anderson may be back for the Memphis series this weekend. He also mentioned a day-to-day situation with a ahnd injury to infielder Dillon Everett. The Columbia Missourian's Alex Silverman has more on that with Missouri baseball team loses key infielder to hand injury

The right-handed junior tweeted Monday that he was "goin in for X-rays on the hand." A team spokesperson said Everett is day-to-day and that he will not play this weekend when Missouri travels to Memphis for a three-game series...

MEMPHIS TIGERS

Following in the Ritch Price recruiting and coaching philosophy, Memphis Head Coach Daron Schoenrock has his son in the weekend rotation for the Memphis Tigers. But I got to say, this kid has earned my respect with this wise tweet:

Do the Harlem Sh... No
— Erik Schoenrock (@ESchoenrock13) February 19, 2013

SOUTHERN MISS

♦ USM Sweeps Missouri (Hattiesburg American)

Missouri coach Tim Jamieson said the Tigers’ lack of offense was debilitating.

“I thought we pitched pretty effectively, but we lost control of the series, offensively, and that simply is not the identity of this team at all,” Jamieson said. “We just were not able to get anything.”...

♦ Chat: Talking College Baseball (PerfectGame.org)

Did you expect Southern Miss' relief pitching to be as dominate as they were against Mizzou?

I think so. Jay Myrick, Cameron Giannini and Bradley Roney (Myrick and Roney) especially were arms that were proven to be outstanding at times last season, while Sean Buccholz really stepped up over the weekend. I've said it for a while, but the Golden Eagles have a good rotation and some quality arms in the bullpen. The sky really is the limit with this quad.

SEC BASEBALL

♦ The SEC Numbers Game: Volume 2 (SECDigitalNetwork.com)

Eleven SEC teams won their opening series/matchups, including six either sweeping or going undefeated.
...
No conference fan base in the country supports college baseball better than the SEC. 168,505 people came to watch league games at home this weekend, a phenomenal number. If that total were a United States city, it would be the 141st largest in the entire country.
. . .
According to official figures, seven of the top 10 highest attendance numbers were SEC schools. LSU, Ole Miss, Arkansas, South Carolina and Mississippi State round out the top five of the list, with Texas A&M (7th) and Florida (10th) in the top 10. All 10 league programs that hosted an opening series registered in the top 22. Nearly half of the nation’s top 22 (10/22) featured an SEC team.

The reason all 14 teams aren’t ranked? The remaining four (Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee) were on the road, therefore not applicable to the list...