Courtesy Arkansas State University Athletics Department
GAMES 4-5
Dates: Feb. 19-20
First Pitch: Tuesday: 4 p.m.
Wednesday: 6:30 p.m.
Location: Tuesday: Memphis, Tenn.
Wednesday: Jonesboro, Ar.
Stadium: Tue: FedEx Park (2,000)
Wed: Tomlinson Stadium(1,200)
Radio: East Arkansas Broadcasters
95.3 FM The Ticket
970 AM KNEA
Radio Talent: Brad Bobo (Tuesday)
Matt Stolz (Wednesday)
SERIES
vs Memphis 53-89-1 (ASU Trails)
vs Lyon 9-1 (ASU Leads)
Raffo Record vs Memphis : 5-3
Raffo Record vs Lyon 1-0
MULTIMEDIA
Online Audio: AStateRedWolves.com
Live Stats: AStateRedWolves.com
LEADING OFF: Arkansas State will play a pair of midweek games this week, beginning with a trip to Memphis on Tuesday to take on the Tigers at FedEx Park at 4 p.m. The Red Wolves will return home on Wednesday to take on Lyon College at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday’s game has also been desiginated as “Web Wednesday” with fans having an opportunity to win prizes by following Arkansas State Athletics Department at Facebook.com/AStateRedWolves or on Twitter @AStateRedWolves.
THE TEAMS: Arkansas State is coming off a three-game series sweep of Bradley that saw A-State score 32 runs and give up just eight. John Koch struckout a career-high 11 batters on Friday night and as a team the Red Wolves struck out a school record 19 batters. The Red Wolves are off to their first 3-0 start since the 1997 season and opened the year with a three-game series sweep for the first time since 1971. The A-State pitching staff combined for 37 strikeouts over the weekend, including a 2.67 ERA and just seven walks.
Memphis enters the game with 1-2 record after a pair of losses to Illinois State over the weekend. The Tigers are hitting .250 as a team and have a team ERA of 3.33.
Lyon College enters the game on Wednesday with an 8-2 record and having won seven straight games. The Scots are hitting .283 as a team with 61 runs scored on the year. Their pitching staff has a team ERA of 2.42 ERA in 78 innings of work this season.
ASU/MEMPHIS SERIES HISTORY
• Memphis leads the all-time series 89-53-1, including a 9-7 victory over A-State at FedEx Park last season.
• The Tigers will start left-hander Michael Wills, who started both games against ASU last season.
• By design A-State used eight arms in Memphis last season, with each throwing one inning. Memphis jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first two innings, and led 7-0 before ASU scored its lone run in the seventh.
• ASU earned a 4-2 victory over Memphis in Jonesboro on April 10 last year, on a night where John Koch tied the all-time record for saves in a season at ASU.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
• Memphis returns 20 letterman from its 2012 squad, including five position players.
• Derrick Thomas returns after hitting .273 last seasin with four home runs and 37 RBIs.
• Sam Moll went 5-5 in 2012 with a 3.48 ERA and 59 strike outs.
• The Tigers lost Jacob Wilson to the MLB draft in the 10 round to the Cardinals. Wilson hit .320 with 17 home runs and 64 RBIs.
ASU/LYON SERIES HISTORY
• ASU leads the all-time series 9-1 over Lyon.
• The last time ASU and Lyon played was in 2011 with A-State earning a 12-5 victory.
• This is only the third game between the two schools since the 2000 season.
• The series dates back to the 1950 season.
SCOUTING THE SCOTS
• Lyon has a .283 team batting average and has scored 61 runs in 11 games this season.
• The pitching staff has an ERA of 2.42 in 78 innings of work this season.
PITCHING STAFF SHINES
• The A-State pitching staff recorded a school record 19 strike outs in the 10-5 victory over Bradley on Opening night on Feb. 15.
• The previous record was 18 strikeouts, which ASU did twice. The first was in 1995 against Memphis and the second was against Kansas State in 1960.
• On opening weekend, A-State recorded 37 strikeouts and allowed just eight runs and walked 7 batters in 27 innings.
KOCH SETS CAREER HIGH
• In his first career start, senior John Koch struck out a career-high 11 batters on Feb. 15.
• Koch pitched five innings, gave up three runs on nine hits to earn his first win as a starter.
GRANTHAM MAKES MOST OF FIRST START
• True freshman Adam Grantham earned his first career win on Feb. 17 in a 12-2 victory over Bradley.
• Grantham threw four innings, struck out five and did not allow any runs in his first career start.
• Grantham was a 32nd round draft selection of the Atlanta Braves coming out of high school.
BAKER GOES DEEP
• True freshman Austin Baker hit a home run on the first pitch he saw in his collegiate career on Feb. 16
• Baker went 3-for-3 on the day and was a triple from the cycle. He had three RBIs on the day and was walked once.
OPENING SERIES SWEEP
• ASU recorded a three-game series sweep for the first time since 1971 and for only the second time in school history.
ASU IN HOME OPENERS
• Arkansas State won its 23rd striaght home opener dating back to the 1991 season.
ASU IN SEASON OPENERS
• The Red Wolves are 33-32 all-time on opening day.
• The Red Wolves are 3-2 in season openers under head coach Tommy Raffo, defeating Texas 4-3 in 2009 and Southern Illinois 14-5 in 2010.
4-K INNING
• Arkansas State senior right-hander John Koch notched a rare four strike out inning in the Red Wolves 10-5 victory over Bradley Feb. 15. After Bradley’s David Compitello reached on a dropped third strike out in the fourth inning with one out, Koch proceeded to strike out two more batters to end the inning.
LOOKING BACK AT 2012
• ASU had one of the most succesful seasons in school history, finishing with a 34-23 overall record and a 19-9 record in Sun Belt Conference play.
• A-State finished second overall in the SBC and the 34 victories were the most for any team in the Sun Belt Conference and the most in head coach Tommy Raffo’s four seasons.
• ASU’s 34 victories are also the most since winning 35 games in 1997 and the fourth-most in school history.
SBC CHAMPIONSHIP
• ASU advanced to the championship game of the SBC Tournament for the first time since 1996.
PRESEASON HONORS
• Senior outfielder Logan Uxa and junior shortstop Dustin Jones were named to the Sun Belt Conference Preseason All-Conference team.
• Uxa led the Red Wolves with 10 home runs a year ago and drove in a team-high 44 runs. His .477 slugging percentage and .434 on-base percentage were each the second highest on the team, and he led the Red Wolves with 48 runs scored.
• Jones had a .279 batting average last season including 50 hits, 25 runs scored and seven doubles. He had a 10-game hitting and started 55 games at shortstop. In the field, he had a .966 fielding percentage and committed just eight errors on the year.
EXPERIENCE RETURNING
• Eight starting position players return for the 2012 team. John Koch, ASU’s all-time career saves leader, will move to the starting rotation this season, while fellow senior Daniel Wright returns after posting a 5.14 ERA last season. He had a strong season in the New England Coast Baseball League where he helped his team win the NECBL Championship Series after posting a 6-0 record in the regular season and a 3.92 ERA.
STREAKS TO WATCH
• Kaleb Brown extended his hitting streak to six straight dating back to to last season.
• Alex Potts now has a five game hitting streak dating back to the 2012 season.
• Claude Johnson has reached base safely in 10 straight games, while Kaleb Brown has done so in nine straight games. Stuart Levy has a six game on base streak and Ryan Emery has a 4 game streak.
CLOSING OUT 2012
• The Red Wolves were a perfect 28-0 in 2012 in games in which they held a lead after 8 innings.
• They were 27-3 when leading after seven innings and 24-4 when leading after six frames.
SEASON OF FIRSTS
• Last season’s weekend series sweep of South Alabama May 4-6 was the first-ever sweep of the Jaguars by Arkansas State, adding to a string offirsts by the 2012 Red Wolves.
• The season saw not only the first series victories at Troy and Middle Tennessee, but also the first series win ever against Troy.
• The series victory at MTSU, coupled with a three-game sweep of the Raiders in 2011 also gives the Red Wolves their first-ever back-to-back series wins over MTSU.
GOING TO THE SHOW
• A-State had three players drafted from last year’s squad, led by Jacob Lee who was drafted in the ninth round by the Cleveland Indians.
• Lee was the highest player ever drafted from the ASU baseball program.
• Michael Faulkner was taken in the 12th round by Seattle, making him the second highest selection ever in program history.
• Brandon Farley was taken in the 33rd round by the San Francisco Giants, while incoming freshman Adam Grantham was a 32nd round pick of the Atlanta Braves.
SUN BELT NETWORK TO AIR ASU-UALR GAME
• The Sun Belt Conference has announced that the Arkansas State baseball game against UALR on May 18 will be televised by the Sun Belt Network through its partnership with Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast (CSS) and Cox Sports Television (CST). An official start time for the game will be announced at a later date.
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