LEADING OFF: Arkansas State travels to Emerson, Ga., to play seventh-ranked Louisville at the Perfect Game Park South Complex. The Red Wolves were set to travel to Natchitoches, La., to face Creighton and Northwestern State in a doubleheader Feb. 21, but due to the threat of inclement weather opted to play the Cardinals. A-State and Louisville both enter the weekend with records of 2-1 and both had to postpone midweek games due to the winter weather that has moved through the area recently.
Friday's contest is set to begin at 11 a.m. (CT) and can be heard on 95.3 FM The Ticket and 970 AM KNEA. Saturday's doubleheader begins at 11 a.m. (CT) with the second game set to begin at approximately 2 p.m. The first game will air on 95.3 FM The Ticket/970 AM KNEA, while the second game will be on 101.3 FM KBTM/1230 AM KBTM.
A-STATE/LOUISVILLE SERIES HISTORY
• This weekend's series will mark the fourth, fifth, and sixth meetings between the Red Wolves and Cardinals all-time. The first three meetings occurred in a 1992 three-game series in Jonesboro. Louisville won the first game of the series by a score of 12-7 before Arkansas State evened the series with an 11-7 victory. The Cardinals won the rubber match 5-3 to earn the series win.
• This is the second straight year that A-State has moved a series to a neutral location. Last season the Red Wolves moved their series with Creighton to Millington, Tenn., because of winter weather. The last game of the series actually returned to Jonesboro on that Monday for the final game due to the field conditions improving drastically.
• Both teams enter the weekend with records of 2-1. A-State lost its season-opener to Illinois State 3-0 Friday night before bouncing back to sweep a doubleheader over the Redbirds by scores of 13-4 and 11-5. Louisville defeated Alabama State (5-1) and South Florida (7-3) before dropping an 8-6 decision to No. 17 Cal State Fullerton. Both teams had midweek games scheduled but lost them due to the winter weather. A-State had to push its game at Ole Miss back to Feb. 24 at 3 p.m. and moved the SEMO game that was originally set for that day to the next day (Feb. 25) with first pitch still set for 6 p.m. at Tomlinson Stadium. Louisville was scheduled to play Eastern Kentucky at home on Feb. 18 at 2 p.m., but has pushed the contest back to Feb. 25.
COOL RUNNINGS
• The Red Wolves continued being aggressive on the base paths in the season-opening series against Illinois State as the Red Wolves stole eight bases out of nine attempts over the weekend. Eight different players stole a base for Arkansas State. Stuart Levy was the only player caught, but did steal one other base. Levy also threw out the lone Illinois State runner that attempted to steal this past weekend.
• A-State finished with 63 stolen bases out of 84 attempts a season ago, which was the fourth most in the Sun Belt Conference. The 63 stolen bases were more than double the team's total of 28 in 2013.
• Austin Baker led the Red Wolves with 12 stolen bases, while Lucas Feddersen also reached double digits with 10. Throughout the course of the season 14 different players stole at least one base for Arkansas State.
IMPRESSIVE DEBUTS
• Junior College transfer Ty White started all three games in right field for the Red Wolves and had an impressive opening weekend. He was 5-for-10 (.500) to lead A-State in batting average and also walked twice for a .583 on-base percentage. He also had the team's only triple of the weekend, had four RBIs, and stole one base. He also had an assist on an impressive throw to the relay man to cut a runner down at third base that was trying to stretch a double into a triple.
• Freshman Jeremy Brown started all three games at shortstop and had some trouble adjusting to collegiate pitching, but the one hit he had over the weekend was a huge one as he hit a first inning grand slam in the series finale that extended A-State's lead from 1-0 to 5-0. He also played well defensively as he had no errors in 11 chances. The Red Wolves only grand slam last season also came against Illinois State (Matt Burgess on Feb. 23, 2014).
MULTIPLE INNING SAVES GALORE
• All three games of A-State's series with Illinois State featured multiple inning saves.
The Redbirds' Steve Heilenbach pitched three scoreless innings to close Illinois State's 3-0 win on Friday night. A-State's Derek Birginske followed suit in the second game of the series as he pitched the final four innings in A-State's 13-4 victory to earn his first career save. Birginske allowed one run on four hits with five strikeouts and only one walk. Colton Kibler threw three scoreless innings in the series finale to close out A-State's 11-5 win for his second career save. Kibler gave three hits and struck out seven batters with no walks.
A-STATE IN SEASON AND HOME OPENERS
• The Red Wolves are 34-33 in season-openers after losing 3-0 to Illinois State in Friday night's opener. It was also A-State's first home-opening loss since 1991 snapping a streak of 24 wins.
• Head coach Tommy Raffo is 4-3 in season openers with the wins coming against Texas State (2009), Southern Illinois-Carbondale (2010), Bradley (2013), and Miami (Ohio) (2014). The two losses came from Auburn (2011) and Lamar (2012).
• Raffo is 1-5 in road openers at Arkansas State with the lone win coming at Memphis in the 2013 season (3-2 in 10 innings).
SERIES FINALE PERFECTION
• Last season, Arkansas State was 14-0 in the final game of every single weekend series the team played. The Red Wolves won the final game in each of its 10 conference series and also took the last game against Miami (Ohio), Illinois State, UAB, and Creighton in nonconference action. With the 11-5 win over Illinois State in Saturday's series finale, the Red Wolves have now won 15 straight weekend series-ending games in a row.
• However, A-State was actually 11-1 in Sunday games. The Red Wolves lost to Creighton on Sunday in the second game of that series after weather pushed the series start day back to Saturday. A-State also played the final game of both UALR series on Saturday. The first series concluded with a Saturday doubleheader to prepare for inclement weather on Sunday and the final series of the regular season always runs Thursday through Saturday.
JUST BROWSING
• Arkansas State's pitching staff led the Sun Belt Conference a season ago in most strikeouts looking with 152 for the season, four more than ULM's 148.
• David Owen was third in the conference with 31 batters struck out looking, while Chandler Hawkins was tied for fourth in the category with 27.
• A-State's pitchers picked up where they left off a season ago as the Red Wolves lead the league in strikeouts looking with 17 in the young season, seven more than second place Georgia State's 10. David Owen leads the conference with five strikeouts looking, while Derek Birginske is second with four. Colton Kibler is tied for third with two other players with three. The Red Wolves rank third in the SBC with 35 strikeouts overall.
BURGESS, OWEN RECEIVE PRESEASON HONORS
• Junior first baseman Matt Burgess and Junior starting pitcher David Owen were both named to the preseason All-SBC team that was released on Jan. 28. Both playeres were then selected to the College Sports Madness Preseason All-SBC First Team Feb. 7.
• Burgess led the team a season ago with 72 hits, a .313 batting average, and 58 RBIs, with the RBI total ranking second in the SBC and 15th in the nation. Additionally, he was second on the squad in home runs (4), slugging percentage (.422), tied for second in on-base percentage (.390), and tied for third in doubles with 13.
• A year ago, Owen recorded a 4.19 ERA with a team-high 76 strikeouts in 77.1 innings pitched and his strikeout total ranked sixth in the league. He was tied for the team lead in wins with five and held hitters to a .254 batting average, the lowest among A-State starting pitchers.
WALLACE SELECTED IN MLB DRAFT
• Arkansas State's Bradley Wallace became the second-highest draft pick in Arkansas State history when the Tampa Bay Rays selected him with the 307th pick in the 10th round on June 6, 2014.
• Wallace finished his senior campaign with a 4-5 record and a 4.37 ERA in 15 starts. He led the pitching staff with 78.1 innings pitched and was second on the staff with 69 strikeouts. Opposing batters hit just .280 against him and his WHIP of 1.48 was the lowest among any of the Red Wolves' starters. As a junior, HE went 5-2 with a 4.33 ERA and struck out a career best 78 batters. He fanned 12 against Western Kentucky on 93 pitches and also retired 18 in a row during the game.
• A-State has now had a player drafted in each of the last five seasons and Wallace is the ninth player drafted from Arkansas State during the Tommy Raffo era. He is also the 18th pitcher that pitching coach Tighe Dickinson has had drafted in his coaching career and the fifth from Arkansas State in four seasons.
WATCH ON THE RED WOLVES DIGITAL NETWORK
• Fans can now purchase a 24-Hour Pass to the Red Wolves Digital Network, the official audio and video portal of AStateRedWolves.com. With a one-time payment of $4.95, fans can watch live video broadcasts of A-State athletic home events for 24 straight hours from the time of the purchase.
• The Red Wolves Digital Network offers fans unlimited access to the largest A-State sports video library. Other packages offered by the Red Wolves Digital Network include a one-month deal for the price of $8.95, four months for $29.95, or one year for $79.95.
