Games 3 & 4
ARKANSAS STATE RED WOLVES
at No. 20 Ole Miss Rebels
February 21, 2012 3:00 p.m.
Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field (10,323) Oxford, Mississippi
vs. Murray State Thoroughbreds
February 22, 2012 3:00 p.m.
Tomlinson Stadium & Kell Field (1,200) Jonesboro, Arkansas
Radio: KNEA 970 AM & AStateRedWolves.com
LiveStats at AStateRedWolves.com
LEADING OFF: The Arkansas State Red Wolves (0-2) will take the field for a pair of midweek games, traveling to Oxford, Miss. Feb. 21 to take on the 20th-ranked Ole Miss Rebels before returning to Jonesboro Feb. 22 for the 2012 home opener against Murray State. Tuesday's game at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field is scheduled for a 3:00 p.m. start, and the first pitch against Murray State is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. as well at Tomlinson Stadium and Kell Field. All ASU baseball games may be heard on KNEA 970 AM and through the StateZone portion of AStateRedWolves.com. LiveStats may also be accessed by logging on to AStateRedWolves.com.
THE TEAMS: After an 0-2 start at the Lamar Classic last weekend, the Red Wolves will be looking for their first win on the season when they take the field Tuesday at Ole Miss. Arkansas State came up short in the season opener, falling 2-1 to Lamar, and the Cardinals closed out the Classic with a 10-2 win over the Red Wolves Sunday afternoon. Ole Miss enters Tuesday's game at 1-1 on the season after splitting their opening-weekend series at No. 10 TCU. Ole Miss defeated the Horned Frogs 7-4 in Friday's season opener before suffering a 5-3 setback in Sunday's game. Saturday's game was rained out. Murray State finished the opening weekend with a 1-2 record. The Thoroughbreds fell 5-2 in Friday's series opener against Valparaiso before evening their record with a 2-1 victory in Saturday's game. Valparaiso took the series with a 7-4 victory Sunday afternoon. Murray State will host Mid-Continent Tuesday before traveling to Jonesboro for Wednesday's game.
THE OLE MISS SERIES: Ole Miss leads the overall series 64-20, including a pair of narrow victories over the Red Wolves during the 2011 season. Ole Miss edged ASU 4-3 in Oxford and 11-9 in Jonesboro. The last ASU victory in the series was a 7-5 win in Oxford in 2008 over the then-No. 2 Rebels.
THE MURRAY STATE SERIES: Murray State holds a slim 49-46-1 advantage in the series, but the Red Wolves have narrowed the gap as of late. Arkansas State has won three straight against the Thoroughbreds, including two wins during the 2011 season. The Red Wolves defeated Murray State 8-4 in Jonesboro and 5-1 in Murray in 2011.
ON THE MOUND FOR ASU: Senior right-hander Cory Kyle is the probable starter when the Red Wolves take the field Tuesday at Ole Miss. Kyle worked one inning of the Red Wolves' 2-1 season-opening loss at Lamar, giving up one run on one hit, with a strikeout and a walk. In 2011, Kyle made 22 appearances on the mound, starting two games. He compiled an ERA of 3.86 in 46.2 innings of work, giving up 23 runs (20 earned) on 37 hits. Kyle struck out 34 batters and walked 26 and finished 4-3 on the season. Sophomore right-hander Cody Woodhouse is scheduled to start Wednesday against Murray State. Woodhouse pitched one inning in relief last weekend against Lamar, giving up no runs on one hit. He made six appearances on the mound last year, starting in five. In 15 innings of work during the 2011 season, Woodhouse gave up 14 runs (12 earned) on 21 hits, striking out six and walking seven. He finished the season with an ERA of 7.20 and an 0-1 record.
LEE ON PACE: Senior right-hander Jacob Lee is on pace to become the Red Wolves' career strikeout leader. With 199 strikeouts in his career, the 2011 preseason SBC Pitcher of the Year needs 53 strikeouts to break the 40-plus year-old record of 251 set by Rusty Bourg in 1967-70.
MOTHER NATURE UNKIND: The Red Wolves came up on the short end of a 2-1 score against Lamar in the season opener, with both the Cardinals and Mother Nature playing a role in the loss. Trailing 2-1 in the top of the ninth, Arkansas State was poised to tie the game or take the lead when the game was called due to weather. The Red Wolves had runners at first and second with just one out when heavy rainfall forced officials to call the game, giving Lamar the win.
HITTING STREAKS CARRY OVER: Three Red Wolves will take hitting streaks of eight or more games into this week's action. First baseman Zach George and outfielder Ryan Emery both picked up a hit in each of the Red Wolves' games at Lamar last weekend and both carried hitting streaks over from 2011. George stands at 10 games after getting a hit in ASU's final eight games in 2011 and Emery is at eight after a six-game hitting streak to close out last season. Outfielder Michael Faulkner did not play at Lamar, but carries a nine-game hitting streak over from the 2011 season.
STRONG DEBUT FOR LEE: Arkansas State senior Jacob Lee was outstanding in the season opener for the Red Wolves, striking out five batters in six shutout innings of work on the road at Lamar. Lee walked just one batter and surrendered just five hits – all singles. Lee stands at 199 strikeouts in his career and now needs just 53 strikeouts on the season to become the all-time strikeout leader at Arkansas State.
FIRST HOME RUN: Arkansas State sophomore Claude Johnson slugged his first career home run during the Red Wolves' opening weekend at Lamar. Johnson went 1-for-2 in Sunday's finale to notch the home run. As a freshman last year, Johnson hit .220, going 11-for-50 with three doubles and two RBIs.
NEWCOMERS SHINE: Newcomers Stuart Levy and Drew Burks both enjoyed solid outings in their first two games as Red Wolves last weekend, each hitting .333 in a pair of games against Lamar. Burks, a junior transfer from Coffeyville CC, started at DH and went 2-for-6 with a double and a walk to post an on-base percentage of .429. Levy, a true freshman from Little Rock, drew one start at catcher and went 1-for-3 and was hit by a pitch to record an on-base percentage of .500.
ASU IN SEASON OPENERS: The Red Wolves are 32-32 all-time on opening day. Arkansas State dropped its season opener Feb. 17, falling 2-1 on the road at Lamar. The Red Wolves are 2-2 in season openers under head coach Tommy Raffo, defeating Texas State 4-3 in 2009 and Southern Illinois 14-5 in 2010.
SUCCESS UNDER RAFFO: Arkansas State has won two games at the Sun Belt Conference tournament each of the past two seasons under fourth-year head coach Tommy Raffo. Prior to Raffo's coming to Jonesboro, Arkansas State had not won a game at the SBC Tournament since the 1997 season. The Red Wolves advanced to the tournament semifinals in 2010 and went 2-1 in pool play a year ago - with the only setback being a 13-inning loss to eventual runner-up Florida International.
