Games 12-13
ARKANSAS STATE RED WOLVES (7-4)
vs. SIU-Edwardsville Cougars (5-5)
March 6-7, 2012 6:30 p.m. & 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 (7-4) wrap up a string of 10 consecutive home games Tuesday and Wednesday when they host the Cougars of Southern Illinois-Edwardsville (5-5) in a two-game midweek series at Tomlinson Stadium and Kell Field. Winners of four straight and seven of their last eight, the Red Wolves will bring a record of 7-4 into the series with the Cougars, including a 7-1 mark at Tomlinson Stadium and Kell Field. The series will get underway Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday's game is scheduled for a 3:00 p.m. start. 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: Arkansas State will take the field Tuesday evening fresh off of a three-game sweep of South Dakota State last weekend at Tomlinson Stadium. The Red Wolves opened the series with a 15-5 victory in Friday's series opener, then clinched the series victory with a 12-7 win Saturday afternoon. Arkansas State completed the sweep of the Jackrabbits with a 10-1 win in Sunday's game three. SIU-Edwardsville improved to an even 5-5 record on the season last weekend with a 4-1 series victory over North Dakota State. The Cougars opened the series with a 14-6 victory before splitting a Saturday doubleheader, winning 10-2 in game one before the Bison captured game two with an 11-4 win. The Cougars won the series Sunday afternoon when they edged NDSU 6-5.
THE SIU-E SERIES: Southern Illinois-Edwardsville leads the series 7-6. The Cougars took both games of a two-game series last year in Edwardsville, both by a single run. SIU-Edwardsville edged ASU 2-1 in the Tuesday game and 6-5 in Wednesday's contest.
ON THE MOUND FOR ASU: A pair of freshman lefties will start for the Red Wolves in the midweek series with the Cougars. Chandler Hawkins (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will open the series on the mound Tuesday, making his fourth appearance of the year and first start. In four innings of work this season, Hawkins has given up just one hit and has not surrendered a run or issued a walk, striking out three batters along the way. He has held opposing batters to a .077 average, the lowest among ASU pitchers. Levi Shordon will also be making his fourth appearance, and his second start, when he starts for the Red Wolves Wednesday afternoon. Shordon (1-0, 5.79 ERA) has worked 4.2 innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on six hits, with four walks and one strikeout.
OFFENSE COMES ALIVE: The Arkansas State offense exploded for 37 runs in the Red Wolves' three-game sweep over South Dakota State March 2-4, blasting 40 hits along the way. The Red Wolves slugged eight doubles, two triples and two home runs in the three games against the Jackrabbits and posted a team batting average of .354. ASU's 37 runs in the series was the most since the Red Wolves scored 38 against New Orleans in 2010.
STEALING THE SHOW: The Red Wolves were a perfect 6-of-6 on stolen base attempts last weekend against South Dakota State. Arkansas State was led by junior outfielder Michael Faulkner, who finished the weekend with four stolen bases on four attempts.
KYLE SHUTS DOWN JACKRABBITS: With a 30 mph wind blowing out that had already played a part in five runs through the first four innings for South Dakota State, senior reliever Cory Kyle went to the mound and shut down the Jackrabbits through the final five innings, striking out six in ASU's 15-5 win March 2. Kyle picked up the win after holding the Jackrabbits to just one hit after SDSU had belted out eight in the first four frames. Kyle allowed just two baserunners in the final five innings, walking one and giving up one single.
MARCHING THROUGH MARCH: The Red Wolves have gotten off to a 3-0 start in the month of March, and stand at 32-27 (.542) in the month of March under head coach Tommy Raffo. With their 7-1 start at home this season, Arkansas State has also improved to 58-38 (.604) at home during Raffo's four seasons at ASU.
EMERY COMES THROUGH: Junior outfielder/designated hitter Ryan Emery led the ASU batting attack during the week of Feb. 20-26, hitting .467 with two game-winning RBI hits to help the Red Wolves to a 4-2 record. With the Red Wolves trailing 4-3 in the eighth inning of game two against Evansville, Emery hit a two-run single to erase the deficit and send home the winning run in ASU's 5-4 win. He came up big again in the Sunday finale, delivering an RBI single up the middle in the eighth that again proved to be the winning run in a 3-2 victory for the Red Wolves. For the week, Emery went 7-for-15 with four RBIs, a run scored, a walk and a sacrifice.
ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL HOME DEBUT: With their 11-3 victory over Murray State Feb. 22, Red Wolves extended their winning streak in home openers to 22 games, a run that dates back to the 1991 season.
LEE ON PACE: Senior right-hander Jacob Lee is on pace to become the Red Wolves' career strikeout leader. With 207 strikeouts in his career, the 2011 preseason SBC Pitcher of the Year needs 45 strikeouts to break the 40-plus year-old record of 251 set by Rusty Bourg in 1967-70.
4-K INNING FOR FARLEY: Arkansas State senior right-hander Brandon Farley notched a rare four-strikeout inning in the Red Wolves' 11-3 victory over Murray State Feb. 22. After Murray State's Ty Stetson reached on a dropped third strike to lead off the seventh inning, Farley proceeded to mow down the next three batters to close out the frame with four strikeouts. Farley faced seven batters on the afternoon, striking out five without giving up a hit or issuing a walk.
FIRST WIN FOR SHORDON: True freshman Levi Shordon made the most of his first career start against Murray State Feb. 22, picking up the win in ASU's 11-3 victory. In four innings of work, the lefty from Simi Valley, Calif. gave up just three hits and one run, while striking out one. Shordon gave up the run in the first, then settled in and pitched three and one-thirds innings of shutout baseball to earn his first win.
CAREER HIGH FOR FAULKNER: Arkansas State junior Michael Faulkner drove in a career-high four runs in the Red Wolves' 11-3 victory over Murray State Feb. 22. Faulkner's previous career high was three runs, set in 2001 against Memphis and again against Louisiana-Lafayette.
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.
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.
