The University of Mississippi Athletics
No. 11 Ole Miss To Face Memphis Wednesday
3/16/2004 | Baseball
March 16, 2004
Live Audio (6:40 p.m., air time)
OXFORD, Miss. - No. 11 (Baseball America/Collegiate Baseball) Ole Miss will travel to Memphis Wednesday for a 7 p.m., game with the Memphis Tigers at AutoZone Park.
The Rebels will bring a 14-1 record into Wednesday's game, with the 14-1 mark being the best 15-game start in school history. Memphis is 10-3 on the year after going 3-1 at last weekend's Easton/USA Challenge in Millington, Tenn.
Sophomore LHP Eric Fowler (1-0, 8.59 ERA) is scheduled to start on the mound for Ole Miss. The Rebel pitching staff posted three straight shutouts in this past weekend's sweep of Nicholls State, and has a streak of 30 consecutive scoreless innings entering Wednesday's game. Last weekend's shutouts marked just the third time in school history Ole Miss has recorded three consecutive shutouts. The other times came in 1910 and 1964.
Sophomore 1B Stephen Head continues to pace the Rebels at the plate with a .455 average. He also leads the team in HRs (7) and RBIs (29). Head enters the week tied for first in the Southeastern Conference in RBIs, and is tied for second in HRs and is third in batting average.
Junior C Barry Gunther is hitting .441 with eight RBIs to rank fifth in the conference in batting.
"We always look forward to playing Memphis at AutoZone Park," said Ole Miss Head Coach Mike Bianco. "It's a beautiful ball park and it gives our fans in the Memphis-area a chance to come out and see us play.
"We're very pleased with our start this season, but we know we still have things to improve on as we begin conference play this weekend. Memphis will be another tough test for us as they are off to a good start as well."
The Tigers are expected to send senior RHP Nick Bradshaw (0-0, 2.00 ERA) to the mound against the Rebels.
Memphis is hitting .296 as a team, led by freshman INF Adam Amar's .400-average. Amar is also tied for the team lead in HRs with two. Senior OF Josh Payne is batting .354 with two HRs and has recorded a team-best 18 RBIs.
The Tiger pitching staff has a team ERA of 2.37 and opponents are batting .192 against them with three HRs.
This will be the fourth straight year the two teams have played at the home stadium of the Pacific Coast League's Memphis Redbirds. Memphis won the first game 3-1 in 2001, however, the Rebels have won the last two, 12-0 in 2002 and 5-1 last year.
All-time, the Rebels hold a 74-45 advantage in the series. The two teams split last year's two-game season series, with Ole Miss winning at AutoZone Park and Memphis winning 6-3 later in the year in Oxford.
Following Wednesday's game, the Rebels return home to open SEC play with a three-game series against the 22nd-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores (13-2). The Commodores played host to Tennessee-Martin Tuesday afternoon in Nashville.
WEDNESDAY'S PROBABLE PITCHING MATCH-UP
UM- Eric Fowler (So., LHP, 1-0, 8.59 ERA)
MEM- Nick Bradshaw (Sr., RHP, 0-0, 2.00 ERA)
