Arkansas State (8-4) vs UAB (6-7)

GAMES 13-15

Dates: March 8-10

First Pitch: Friday, 6:00 p.m.

                    Saturday, 4:00 p.m.

                    Sunday, 1:00 p.m.

Location: Jonesboro, Ark. 

Stadium: Tomlinson Stadium (1,200)

Radio: East Arkansas Broadcasters

            95.3 FM The Ticket 

            970 AM KNEA

Radio Talent: Mickey Ryan

SERIES

ASU vs UAB: 0-1 (ASU Trails)

Raffo Record vs UAB: 0-1

Last Meeting: 2011

Current Streak: ASU 1 Loss

MULTIMEDIA

Online Audio: AStateRedWolves.com

Live Stats: AStateRedWolves.com

TapStats

LEADING OFF: Arkansas State will host UAB for a three-game series beginning Friday, March 8. This will be just the second meeting all-time between ASU and UAB. The first matchup occurred during the 2011 season when the Red Wolves participated in a tournament at Auburn. A-State dropped the game 5-3. The Red Wolves will start right-handed senior Daniel Wright on Friday night, while sophomore right-hander Chandler Hawkins will make his first start of the season on Saturday. Bradley Wallace will be the starter on Sunday, after coming off a solid performance against UT-Martin this past Tuesday. The Blazers with counter with senior right-hander Tanner Bryant on Friday and sophomore righty James Naile on Saturday. The squad has not announced a starter for Sunday's game. 

THE TEAMS: Arkansas State ended a two-game losing skid with a 9-0 victory over UT-Martin on Tuesday. It was ASU's first shutout of the season and the first time ASU had shutout a non-conference opponent since 2010. The Red Wolves enter the weekend with a 6-3 record in weekend games. Logan Uxa is tied for the leads in hits in the SBC with 20, while A-State also owns the league's best field percentage.

UAB enters with a 6-7 overall record and a 4-5 record on the weekend after being swept by Georgia in its last weekend series. The Blazers picked up a pair of wins over Saint Joseph's during the midweek.

ASU/UAB SERIES HISTORY

• This will be just the second meeting ever between the Blazers and the Red Wolves.

• The first meeting occurred during the 2011 season when ASU took on UAB in Auburn, Ala., at a tournament hosted by the Tigers.

• The Blazers won the matchup 5-3. 

SCOUTING THE BLAZERS

• The Blazers are 6-7 on the season and have won their last two games. 

• UAB holds a 4-5 record during weekend series and was swept by Georgia in its last weekend series March 1-3

• UAB has given up an average of 5.6 runs a game this season, while managing just 2.7 runs per contest.

• The Blazers are among some of the best in the nation at getting on base via a hit-by-pitch. UAB has already taken 15 hit by pitches this season, with Ryan Prinzing accounting for five instances.

• Friday night starter Tanner Bryant ranks 64th in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings pitches with an average of 10.66.

• This will be Bryant's third straight Friday night start for the Blazers with his best outing coming against Southern Illinois on a Sunday where he struck out eight in 5.2 innings, and gave up just one run on five hits.

• James Naile has pitched in every weekend series as well for the Blazers and has a team-best 3.86 ERA in 18.2 innings pitched.

GETTING THE SHUTOUT

• Arkansas State recorded its first shutout of the season on Tuesday, March 5 against UT-Martin.   

    The Red Wolves picked up a 9-0 victory over the Skyhawks and faced just one batter of the mininum. 

•The last time ASU shutout an opponent was April 13 of last year when A-State picked up a 5-0 win over Western Kentucky.

• The last time ASU recorded a shutout against a non-conference opponent was against Portland in 2010 in a 7-0 victory.

• It was the first shutout for ASU during a midweek game since 2006 when the team defeated Murray State 11-0 on a Wednesday (The team also defeated Freed-Hardeman 8-0 on Sun, April 16 of that year. ASU played Freed-Hardeman in a Sunday-Monday two game series.)

FITZPATRICK FIRST START

• Freshman Kevin Fitzpatrick made his first career start on March 3.

• The true freshman made a start in left field and batted in the leadoff position. He went 1-    for-4 with two runs scored.

• He recorded his first career RBI on Tuesday, March 5 against UT-Martin.

IN THE POLLS

• Arkansas State received votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Top 30 poll earlier this season.

• Records indicate that the  last time an A-State baseball team was ranked was during the the 1970 season when Arkansas State finished the season ranked 24th in the nation in the final Collegiate Baseball poll. 

WALLACE TIES CAREER HIGH

• Junior Bradley Wallace tied a career-high with seven strikeouts in 4.2 inning of work on Feb. 26 against Vanderbilt. 

• Wallace is leading the Sun Belt with 24 strikeouts in 16.2 innings pitched this year.

• Wallace has struckout 10 batters looking this season, which leads the SBC.

UXA'S HOT START

• Senior Logan Uxa is tied for the Sun Belt Conference lead with 20 hits on the year.

• He has had a hit in all but two games this year. 

• He also ranks third in doubles in the league with six and is also third in batting average (.400).

PROTECTING HOME FIELD

• ASU currently has a 6-1 record at home.

• ASU's best start to a season was 10-0 which happened twice. The first time was in 1993 and the team matched the performance in 1994.

• ASU has a .325 batting average at home this season and has a 2.57 ERA, compared to just a .240 batting average and a 5.65 ERA on the road.

COMPARED TO THE NATION

• Alex Potts is tied for the lead in the nation with eight sacrifice bunts on the year. 

• As a team, ASU ranks sixth in the nation in sacrifice bunts with 16 on the year.

• The team also ranks fourth in the nation with 74 walks already on the year. 

• The team's .985 fielding percentage ranks 10th in the nation.

• Ryan Emery is ranked sixth in the nation, averaging 1.36 walks. 

• Emery ranks second in the nation with 15 walks.

A-STATE VS RANKED TEAMS

• ASU is 10-32 against ranked teams since the 2003 season.

• A-State defeated #2 Ole Miss 7-5 in 2008. With the win, ASU defeated the highest ranked team it had faced since 2003. 

• The last win over a ranked team was during the 2012 season when the Red Wolves defeated Ole Miss 10-5 in Jonesboro on May 15. 

GETTING QUALITY STARTS

• The A-State starting pitching staff has racked up five quality starts on the year thus far. 

• John Koch and Daniel Wright have had two each, while Bradley Wallace picked up a quality start against at Memphis.

EXTRA-INNING HEROICS

• The Red Wolves were down to their last out, but rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat Memphis 3-2 on Feb. 19.

• Collin Massanelli drove in two runs in the top of the ninth inning to tie the game at 2-2.

• Ryan Emery followed with a game winning RBI single in the top of the 10th inning and Tanner Ring closed out the game in the bottom of the 10th to give A-State the win.

MCWILLIAMS SHUTS THEM DOWN

• Senior Seth McWilliams earned two wins in relief action out of the bullpen during the week of Feb. 18-24.

• The right-hander threw 2.2 innings of relief against Memphis on Feb. 19 and earned the victory  in ASU's 3-2 comeback victory.

• McWilliams also earned the victory after pitching 2.1 innings in the Red Wolves 14-6 win over Western Illinois on Feb. 24. 

• For the week, McWilliams tossed five innings in relief, struck out seven and did not give up a run. 

RING GETS FIRST SAVE

• Freshman Tanner Ring picked up his first career save at Memphis on Feb. 19.

• Ring entered the game in bottom of the ninth inning as a defensive replacement at second base and then moved to the mound in the bottom of the 10th inning. 

 

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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. 

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.

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.