Coming off its fifth consecutive 30-win season, the University of Memphis baseball team returns to diamond this weekend when it faces off against the University of Tennessee Volunteers, in a three-game series.
After narrowly missing the NCAA Tournament last season, Tigers’ baseball coach Daron Schoenrock, who’s entering his twelfth season with Memphis baseball, said he’s excited to finally play another team after a successful fall practice.
“You spend so much time with your team through a long fall practice and preseason,” Schoenrock said. “Then the next step is being able to do it against someone in another uniform. That’s where this club is at now.”
The series against the Volunteers, on the road in Chattanooga, makes up three of the 10 road games Memphis plays in its first 14 games this season.
Memphis, currently, holds a 17-12 advantage over its SEC opponent, dating back to 1979. It’s the first time Memphis and Tennessee are opponents on the diamond since 2012, and the first three-game series between them since 1981.
“Playing Tennessee on the weekend is almost something you have to do because of the distance,” said Schoenrock, when asked about his thoughts about renewing the Tigers rivalry with the Vols. “We worked for a couple of years on trying to get this series established. With as young as we are, I wish it wasn’t our opening series but I’m still excited to play them.”
The Tigers have five returning position starters led by senior fielders Jake Little and Jake Overbey. However, a new-look pitching staff contains seven freshmen and four sophomores following the departures of senior starting pitchers Dylan Toscano, Caleb Wallingford and Alex Gunn plus senior relievers Craig Caufield and Blake Myers.
New senior starting pitchers Connor Alexander and Matt Ferguson are among the players who will be counted on to replace the experience from last year’s pitching staff.
Schoenrock said he’s spoken to his team about handling the many speed bumps that will come along the way.
“I think this is a team that is going to get better and better,” he said. “We have leadership on this team to it’s just got to unfold. There are some guys who are going to be asked to lead, who haven’t been in the past.”
In addition, Memphis had two players named to the American Athletic Conference Preseason All-Conference Team. Relief pitcher Nolan Blackwood, who was also named an NCBWA second-team All-American. And junior centerfielder Darien Tubbs, who was also named the AAC Preseason Player of the Year after leading the team with a .321 batting average last season.
Though Memphis, which finished 37-21 last season, was voted to finish just seventh in the AAC, Schoenrock said the goal remains the same for the Tigers: to be a NCAA Regional team.
“We’ve been really close the last two years,” he said. “It always comes down to one series, one play. The AAC is a phenomenal baseball conference. All this preseason stuff we’re doing now is to get us ready for league play. You want to win every game, but the ultimate goal is to learn as much about your team as you can in the early weekends in order to get ready for a tough conference slate. ”
Memphis and Tennessee will face off this weekend at AT&T Field in Chattanooga. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday and noon Saturday and Sunday.
University of Memphis junior centerfielder Darien Tubbs taking a swing with his bat last season. Tubbs recorded 75 hits and 38 RBIs in the 2015 season.
