A-STATE/GEORGIA STATE SERIES HISTORY
• A-State trails the all-time series with Georgia State by a count of 2-4 with the first meetings coming in the 2014 season when the Panthers joined the Sun Belt Conference. A-State lost the first two meetings by scores of 5-1 and 7-6 in 10 innings before winning the finale 10-6 in
Atlanta, Ga.
• The two schools played in Jonesboro last season during the regular season, but were only able to play a Sunday doubleheader due to rainfall in the Northeast Arkansas area. The Panthers were able to sweep the Red Wolves 5-4 in 12 innings and 6-3. However, the two teams met again in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament with A-State claiming a 6-2 decision over GSU in Troy, Ala.
• All six meetings with Georgia State have occurred under head coach Tommy Raffo. Georgia State enters play this weekend with a 9-8 record. The Panthers lost to Savannah State 10-6 Tuesday in their last game. This will be Georgia State's first weekend of league play as the Panthers were scheduled to play a nonconference series last weekend. Georgia State was supposed to play Lafayette College (Pa.), but they shut down their campus last weekend due to a recent outbreak of a contagious stomach virus on campus because of norovirus.
RED WOLVES TOP SIU 1-0 IN MIDWEEK HOME OPENER
• A-State improved to 5-3 in its first home midweek contest of the year under head coach Tommy Raffo to snap a two-game losing streak in such game thanks to the 1-0 win over SIU Tuesday night when A-State scored in the bottom of the 10th inning on a walk-off wild pitch.
• Both teams had great pitching performances. A-State saw J.D. Miller, Tanner Kirby, and Coulton Lee all throw three innings each, while Bradey Welsh got one out in the top of the 10th before Tanner Ring came in and registered the final two outs. Ring was the winning pitcher and earned his first win on the mound since March 2, 2014 in a 5-3 win at UAB.
• Arkansas State is now 9-3 in its first home midweek game of the season since the 2005 season.
• The original home midweek opener was scheduled for last Tuesday night against Austin Peay and the teams got through one out in the top of the fifth inning (two outs from becoming an official game) with A-State ahead 6-2, but the rains came and the game had to be called.
LET'S TURN TWO
• A-State is tied for fourth in the nation with Charlotte in double plays turned with 22. The Red Wolves trail North Carolina State (23), North Florida (24), and Georgia Tech (30).
• The team turned two double plays against Southern Illinois-Carbondale last night in back-to- back innings in the third (4-6-3) and fourth (6-4-3) frames.
• The team's season-high for double plays is four against Saint Louis Feb. 27 in the second game of a doubleheader. The team has turned six 4-6-3 double plays and five 6-4-3 double plays. The team has turned a double play 10 different ways this season.
• Arkansas State turned 34 double plays a year ago. The school record for double plays is 59 in both 1998 and 1994.
RED WOLVES TAKE ONE OF THREE FROM UTA
• Arkansas State lost two games to UT Arlington on Saturday in a doubleheader after the Friday night opener had to be moved due to heavy rain in the area in previous days. However, A-State did bounce back to win the final game 4-0.
• A-State lost game one 11-8 after taking a 4-0 advantage in the contest before allowing eight runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. A-State fell in game two 2-0 with Adam Grantham tying a career high with eight strikeouts in 5.1 innings. The shutout was the first since A-State was defeated 5-0 in the second game of the season by UAB.
• The 4-0 win in Sunday's finale was the first time A-State had shut out an opponent since last season against UTA in the first game of a doubleheader 8-0 March 8 in Jackson, Miss. Bryan Ayers earned the win for the Red Wolves with six scoreless innings and is now 2-1 on the year after not pitching in a game since 2014.
• The Red Wolves have lost two straight SBC openers in a row to UTA, the last win in a SBC opener was in 2014 versus Little Rock. Tommy Raffo is now 5-3 in SBC openers with the Red Wolves, and A-State is 5-3 in SBC opening series win/loss under Raffo. The last time A-State won a road league opener was in 2013 by a score of 6-3 at Little Rock.
GRANTHAM WITH A GRAND OUTING
• Senior Adam Grantham turned in another solid start March 12 in the second game of a
doubleheader against UT Arlington as he tied his career high with eight K's in 5.1 innings.
However, he did walk five and gave up two runs and didn't get any run support in the 2-0 loss.
• Grantham turned in one of the best starts of his career Saturday against Milwaukee in the second game of a doubleheader. He tied a career high with six innings pitched and struck out five while walking two as the Kennett, Mo., native held the Panthers to one run (earned) on four hits to earn the win in A-State's 8-1 triumph.
• The win was Grantham's second of his career and first since his freshman season in 2013 when he picked up the win in the first start of his career against Bradley. He was on a strict 75-pitch count and was pulled after four innings, but NCAA rules dictate that a win can be given to a pitcher that is on a pitch count as long as it is announced before the game. He walked three and struck out five in the outing and gave up no runs with two hits allowed.
SO CLOSE, YET SO FAR
• Arkansas State has held the lead in 13 of its 16 games so far this season. A-State led Ole Miss 3-2 in the eighth inning only to lose 4-3 before holding a 1-0 lead in the ninth against Morehead State in the 2-1 walk-off loss Feb. 26. The team also jumped ahead of Omaha 2-0 in the bottom of the first before falling in 11 innings Feb. 28. Most recently, A-State led 4-0 over UT Arlington before giving up eight fifth-inning runs in an 11-8 loss March 12.
• The only games the Red Wolves haven't led in were the 5-0 loss to UAB in the first game of a doubleheader on Feb. 20, the March 6 loss to Milwaukee, and the 2-0 loss to UTA on March 12 in the second game of a doubleheader.
• A-State has already been involved in three walk-off games this season, all three coming in a row against Ole Miss, Morehead State, and Saint Louis. The first two were losses, but the Red Wolves defeated SLU 5-4 when Ty White delivered a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth to plate to score pinch-runner Garrett Huff. It was the team's first walk-off win since May 15, 2015 when Stuart Levy hit a sacrifice fly to defeat UALR 4-3 in 14 innings. It was the team's first walk-off hit since Matt Burgess hit a single to beat UALR on March 15, 2014 in the second game of a doubleheader, which also wound up being a 4-3 win for the Red Wolves in 14 innings.
HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT
• Arkansas State was hit with one pitch in the Tuesday game against Southern Illinois and now has 36 HBPs on the year. That number is tops in the league and ranks second in the nation behind Florida A&M's 37.
• The Red Wolves have a good start on chasing last year's team in the category after the 2015 squad was hit by a pitch 94 times, good for fifth in the country. Zach George led the team a season ago with 16 HBPs.
• Jake Bakamus leads the team with seven hit-by-pitches, which ranks second in the SBC and eighth in the country. Matt Burgess is second with six on the team, while Jeremy Brown is third with five. 11 different players have been hit by a pitch for the team.
TOUCH 'EM ALL JOE (BUT HURRY)
• A-State junior infielder/catcher Joe Schrimpf hit his first home run of the season in the first game against Saint Louis Feb. 27, but it wasn't your normal home run as it was an inside-the-park home run. He smoked a ball to deep center field that hit off of the wall and
ricocheted back towards the infield. By the time the centerfielder was able to get the ball to the cut-off man, Schrimpf was already racing towards the plate. He was able to slide in safely ahead of the throw that wound up being too high for the catcher to corral.
• The inside-the-parker for Schrimpf was the first of his career and the first for the Red Wolves since Austin Baker hit one at Tomlinson Stadium against Memphis on March 25, 2014.
• The round-tripper was the team's third home run of the season after Tanner Ring and Jeremy Brown both left the yard in the first game of the year at UAB. The team has five homers now.
RED WOLVES REWRITE HISTORY WITH SERIES WIN VS UAB
• Arkansas State won two out of three games against UAB to begin the 2016 season and it marks the first time in school history that the Red Wolves have won a three-game set to begin a season in school history.
• The 14-5 win in the opener against the Blazers was the first time A-State has won a season- opener on the road since the 1997 season when A-State defeated Northeast Louisiana, now ULM, by a score of 8-6.
• The opening win on Friday also secured head coach Tommy Raffo his first victory in a road season opener in three tries.
RING NAMED PRESEASON ALL-SBC
• A-State senior infielder/pitcher Tanner Ring was named to the 2016 Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference team as the squad's third baseman.
• The Batesville, Ark., native posted a .275 batting average with a .368 on-base percentage in 2015 after playing in 50 total games, drawing the majority of his starts at third base (25). He registered a slugging percentage of .401 and was third on the team with four home runs. He also hit 11 doubles and tied for third on the team with seven steals.
• Senior first baseman Matt Burgess and senior outfielder Austin Baker were named to the
College Sports Madness Preseason All-SBC team with Burgess earning first-team honors and Baker picking up second-team honors. Burgess, a native of Greenbrier, Ark., hit .257 with a .322 on-base percentage in 2015 and also hit 20 doubles, which was the second most on the team and tied for second most in the conference. Baker, a native of Montesano, Wash., was one of only two players to start all 57 games. He hit .290 with a team-best seven home runs. He scored the most runs on the team (42) and was third in doubles (14) and RBIs (36).
• The Sun Belt Conference coaches selected the Red Wolves to finish eighth in the league with 50 points, seven points behind UT Arlington and 15 points ahead of Little Rock.
RED WOLVES TIE RECORD WITH FOUR MLB DRAFT PICKS
• A-State had four draft picks in the 2015 Major League Baseball draft with David Owen going in the 19th round to the San Francisco Giants, Stuart Levy to the Baltimore Orioles in the 27th round, Chandler Hawkins in the 33rd round to the St. Louis Cardinals, and Zach George in the 35th round to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
• That number ties the amount selected in the 1995 MLB draft when Keith Horn, Chad Soden, Jon David French, and Toby Anglen were all chosen. The Cleveland Indians selected Horn in the 18th round, while the Seattle Mariners picked Soden in the 23rd round. French was selected by the Oakland Athletics in the 35th round, while the Atlanta Braves selected Anglen in the 45th round to close out the A-State picks.
SAVE YOUR RAIN (AND SNOW) DANCES
• A-State has already had five games altered due to potential rain chances causing UAB and the Red Wolves to play a doubleheader opening weekend and move the game with Ole Miss to Wednesday, Feb. 24. The two-game midweek series against Austin Peay was canceled due to rain March 8-9. Most recently the weather in the area forced the Red Wolves and UT Arlington to push back Friday's league opener to part of a Saturday doubleheader March 12.
• The Red Wolves had 26 games altered to weather a season ago with a healthy mix of both rain and snow as the culprits. The Red Wolves optioned to go to the Perfect Game Complex in Emerson, Ga., to play No. 7 Louisville instead of to Northwestern State where rain was likely on Feb. 20-21. The Red Wolves would go on to take two-of-three from the Cardinals.
• The second big alteration to the schedule was when Arkansas State shifted its home-opening Sun Belt Conference series versus UT Arlington to Smith-Wills Stadium in Jackson, Miss., due to winter weather preventing the team from playing in Jonesboro.
• All in all, the Red Wolves ended up playing seven doubleheaders, with the only one that was originally scheduled versus Illinois State on opening weekend. A-State played six consecutive doubleheaders on weekends to open the season.
210 AND COUNTING FOR RAFFO
• A-State head coach Tommy Raffo got to 210 career victories this past weekend with the 1-0 win over Southern Illinois and is now 210-207-1 in his career at Arkansas State.
• The 200th win tied Raffo with Richard Johnson for third-most wins all time in A-State baseball history, while the 201st pushed him into third place for most wins by himself at the end of the 2015 season.
• Coach Raffo only trails Bill Bethea and J.A. Ike Tomlinson on the A-State baseball career wins list.
