Feb. 12, 2008

At the outset of the 2007 season there was much buzz around the University of Memphis baseball program that Head Coach Daron Schoenrock and his staff, combined with a talented and senior-laden squad could earn a berth in the NCAA Regional Tournament--an accomplishment that hadn't been done since the 1994 season. With that lofty feat as the season's goal the 2007 team made history in attaining that NCAA Tournament appearance.

"When the season began, it was the first time in my tenure at Memphis that we actually talked about what a Regional team looked like," said Schoenrock. "You never know if a step like that is going to take place or not, but it was obviously a huge step for the program. For the team to overcome three or four significant pitching injuries at the early part of the season and still reach that milestone was an incredible run especially for that senior class that provided so much leadership."

Despite the loss of a group of solid players and a very capable offensive team its time to move forward. How will the 2008 Tigers follow a history-making 2007 campaign?

Injuries in the pitching staff last year allowed some players to see time that they wouldn't have otherwise gotten. The emergence of some guys gaining experience that wouldn't have gotten experience otherwise, coupled with the challenge of replacing a diligent, leadership laden senior class will give the 2008 edition of Tiger baseball the opportunity to start a new tradition with a new group of guys.

COACHING STAFF
One of the things that have become a key to the Tigers' success over Schoenrock's tenure is coaching continuity and loyalty.

"Obviously our staff is loyal to our cause, the program and the players that they coach everyday." Schoenrock said. "Coach Federico and Coach Zulli have proven to be tireless recruiters and very good evaluators of talent."

Federico will continue to coach the pitching staff, while Zulli will again oversee the U of M offensive strategy as well as the development of the Tiger hitters and outfielders. Both pitching and hitting have progressively improved every year under these two young talented instructors.

The mission of this year's coaching staff will be to keep a group of young position players and a young team focused, and to challenge them everyday.

"One of the encouraging things about our staff is that we coach with passion and compassion," Schoenrock stated. "I think you have to have both. You have to have passion to be successful. You've got to have compassion for the young men that you coach and the daily grind that they go through on and off the field."

Schoenrock has added Cory Barton as the Volunteer assistant and camps coordinator this year. Barton, who has been a part of the Memphis baseball program since Schoenrock's first season in 2005, is the first former player that the Tigers' fourth-year skipper has hired on a full-time basis. Barton, who served as a student assistant in 2007, brings knowledge of Schoenrock's system and his loyalty will be a significant asset to the program.

The addition of Alton Woods to the program as the Director of Operations is invaluable. Woods takes vast burdens and pressure off the day-to-day grind of a season from the coaches and allows them to focus more on scouting and recruiting. He has also been instrumental in fundraising through the Bullpen Club and improving efforts to reach out to Tiger Baseball Alumni.

PITCHING
Memphis enters the 2008 season with its deepest pitching staff in Schoenrock's tenure. Despite not being a strikeout, power-laden staff, this bunch of pitchers will provide Schoenrock and Federico with more options, more healthy bodies and more experience than ever.

The most experienced Tiger pitching staff in three years will be led by returning weekend starter junior Scott McGregor. McGregor is set for his third year as a weekend starter and will be looked to, to provide stability and experience to a young corps of starting pitchers.

"Scott (McGregor) has been in our rotation now for two years and has spent a lot of time in the Friday night role which is huge," said Schoenrock.

The experience at the back end of the bullpen with Matt Yokley in the closer role could be the most important facet of the Tiger pitching staff. Yokley, who has been in the difficult closing role since his freshman season, had remarkable success last year as he set the Memphis record for saves in a single-season with nine. With a definite swing-and-miss strikeout pitch, Yokley emerged as one of the league's premier closers late in the season and is drawing comparisons to Schoenrock's former pupil and Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon.

"Matt (Yokley) is a guy that the team feels very good behind when he's in the game, Schoenrock said. "That's what happens to a closer. I saw the thing happen to Jonathan Papelbon when I coached him at Mississippi State. It doesn't happen overnight, but once the team gains confidence in them, their career can take off."

Memphis will have to replace significant innings and roles provided over the last two years by the likes of Ben Grisham, Dusty Davis and Lance Scoggins. Grisham was solid for the Tigers down the stretch, moving to the Friday night role with the abundance of pitching injuries. Davis provided solid innings as the go-to set up man, while Scoggins gave the Tigers an experienced mid-week starter.

While those things will be missed, the coaching staff is excited about the return of starters Philip Utley, Brach Davis and Marc Ashley from season-ending injuries last year. Schoenrock has added a talented bunch of freshmen that will be in the mix for innings quickly. Freshman Ryan Holland should vie for a starting rotation job at the beginning of the season. Marcus Barnes will likely be one of the top guys out of the bullpen as a true freshman and Duke Williams, a senior transfer from Southern Arkansas, will fit in the mix either as a long reliever or a spot starter. Those three proved this fall they are ready to help the team.

"Philip (Utley), Brach (Davis) and Duke (Williams) are ready to replace the three that we lost," Coach Rock said. "Another returnee that I'm excited about is Will Hudgens and the experience that he gained last year. I'm excited to see if he can take that next step and improve more as a pitcher than just a thrower."

Hudgens, who posted a 5-2 record in his first season of collegiate baseball, returns after a stellar sophomore season in which he defeated the likes of Missouri, No. 6 Clemson, No. 29 Southern Miss and No. 2 Rice. A quarterback on the Tiger football team, Hudgens hadn't played baseball since his senior year in high school.

The experience that sophomore Brennon Martin gained down the stretch will be invaluable. Martin took on the midweek starter role and went on to have perhaps the most successful season of any Tiger starting pitcher with a 4-1 record. He provides the Tigers with a left-hander that has starting experience, along with some big game experience that he got at the tail end of the season. His biggest outing came against Houston in the opening game of the C-USA Championships when he tossed a complete-game victory. Schoenrock and his staff are excited and encouraged with the development of senior Neil Schenk as a potential replacement to Dusty Davis. Schenk, who has pitched in a variety of roles in his three years at Memphis, had an outstanding fall and Schoenrock feels like they finally have him in a role that he can feel comfortable in--as a lefthander out of the bullpen.

The drop-down delivery that has been added to Mark Jobe's rapport will give him a chance to be a factor this year after seeing limited action out of the bullpen as a redshirt freshman. The improvement of Chris Novikoff, especially from a velocity standpoint will also give him an opportunity to challenge for time on the mound. The 6-6 right-hander made vast improvements over the summer and in fall workouts. Two freshmen that should have outstanding futures in the Blue and Gray are Worth Tate and Jonathan Jones. Both of those guys are working hard to gain strength, which is going to be a key to their success.

Sophomore righthander Garrett Hachtel is over injuries that have plagued him during his career and will compete for innings. Dylan Cupples, Dane Sharp and Andrew Haley will hope to rebound quickly from recent arm troubles.

CATCHERS
Returning senior Chris Kirkland is a co-captain on the team and will enter the season as the No.1 catcher. The coaches are very excited with the tremendous offensive progress he made this fall. He's worked hard to gain more strength and it has helped him offensively. He will get help behind the plate from another senior in Alex Fennell. Fennell missed the entire fall season with a back injury. A pair of transfers that arrived on campus in January that the coaches anticipate great things from are Daniel Kaufmann and Cole Shelton. Kaufmann is a proven defender behind the plate from Middle Georgia College. He will be able to handle this pitching staff and be a quality defensive backup. Shelton, a transfer from Alabama, has the offensive skills to definitely hit and challenge for time in the middle of our lineup--either as a catcher, DH or a corner infielder. Memphis will experiment some with Kirkland on the mound in some short-inning, relief-type situations. His health, command and the emergence of the other catchers will determine to what extent this experiment is carried out. Sophomore Chase Sain is back and has improved as a hitter. He will provide depth behind the plate.

INFIELD
The Tiger infield will be the most inexperienced group on the team this season. Memphis lost last year's entire infield to graduation and now will rely on the production of underclassmen.

"An interesting thing about last year's infield is that those guys were together for two years," said Schoenrock. "That's almost unheard in college baseball where you have all four guys two years in a row."

The goal of the recruiting class that was brought in was to develop depth at all four infield positions. Schoenrock is excited about the athleticism that this new group of infielders brings.

"It's a different type of player now," he said. "We are probably more athletic with more foot speed and probably have a little bit more range defensively on the infield than we've had in my three years here, regardless of who plays where."

With more athleticism, range and speed, Schoenrock's job this year will to be to best determine what this team needs at each spot. The goal for the infield, once again, will be to dominate the routine play. Since the Memphis pitching staff is not a strikeout-type staff, a premium is placed on the importance of putting guys in position to make routine plays.

Newcomers Brett Bowen, Chad Zurcher and Adam McClain will all factor into the mix on the infield in some capacity. Returning junior Eric Farrell is a guy the coaches feel confident defensively in all three spots. Redshirt sophomore Zach Clark has improved athletically and true freshman Tyler Roberts will provide valuable depth. A transfer from Pensacola Junior College, Bowen is the Tigers' best option at third base. Zurcher can defend at shortstop and McClain can become a successful offensive second baseman. Schoenrock will look at different options at short, second and third early in the season and come to a conclusion as to what the best combination is by the time Memphis begins C-USA play. For the first time in four years there will be a new face at first base for the Tigers. With the graduation of two-time All-C-USA slugger Adam Amar, redshirt sophomore Trey Wiedman will take over at first base. Wiedman came into the U of M program as an outfielder and has made the transition from outfield to infield rather smoothly. He hit .303 with a pair of doubles in his true freshman season in 2006.

"Trey (Wiedman) worked hard to learn the position this fall and I don't think we'll miss a beat defensively with him taking over there," Schoenrock said.

Freshman Jason Miller will provide a quality left handed bat at first--something the Tigers have not had in the Schoenrock era. Despite the inexperience at first base, Schoenrock likes the athleticism and the consistency that Wiedman and Miller will supply on a daily basis. Newcomer Cole Shelton will also get some early looks there.

OUTFIELD
Returning senior co-captain K.K. Chalmers is Memphis's all-time stolen base leader and has been the lead off hitter for the last two years. Chalmers, who possibly has the best defensive skills of any centerfielder in the conference, will chase several career records in his final collegiate campaign. The experience Tyler Huelsing got in the last half of the season in leftfield and the emergence of freshman Robby Graham as the starter in rightfield completes the fastest Tiger outfield since Schoenrock was hired.

"We'll cover gaps very well and we'll be very athletic," Schoenrock stated. "We'll also be somewhat inexperienced with Robby (Graham) being a true freshman and Tyler (Huelsing) basically only playing half the season."

With two left-handed bats in the outfield now, the goal of the Tiger coaching staff will be to be to find some right-handed bat help. They will look to redshirt freshman Zach Helton for that role. Helton, who came in as an infielder, will make the move to the outfield. He will vie for playing time --probably in leftfield--as Memphis faces more left-handed pitching. Helton had a good offensive fall and impressed the coaches with his offensive improvement. Wiedman will also be an option in the outfield, on occasion, if Schoenrock feels the need to play a more right-handed lineup. Coming off a redshirt season, junior Chris Newsom will provide depth and speed to the group.

SCHEDULE
Schoenrock has put together another strong schedule for the 2008 season. In addition to another challenging Conference USA schedule, Memphis will play 18 games against teams that went the NCAA Regionals in 2007, five games against teams that advanced to the College World Series in Omaha and the No. 1 and No. 2 national seeds.

"The strength of our schedule last year opened the door for the Regional selection committee to pay attention to what the Tigers were doing down the stretch," said Schoenrock. "There is no doubt that when that committee gets behind closed doors, I feel like I have to put a schedule together that's going to be attractive enough to get their attention so that we can control our own destiny by what we do on the field."

The league had four teams get into the NCAA Regionals last year, including Rice, who was the preseason No. 1 and national No. 2 seed in the tournament. The Tigers will get their first taste of road action 10 games into the season when they travel to Athens, Ga., for a three-game series against the University of Georgia.

Schoenrock approached this year's schedule similarly. The U of M's 31-game home slate is highlighted by a strong collection of marquee matchups that include 27 games at Nat Buring Stadium and two games each at AutoZone Park and Pringles Park in Jackson, Tenn. A home-and-home series with 2007 Omaha participant Mississippi State, 2007 Super Regional host Ole Miss and then national No. 1 seed Vanderbilt (at Pringles Park in Jackson) help makeup five of the Tigers eight games against SEC opponents. The SEC was the No. 1 ranked league in the country in 2007.

Memphis will open up the season at the Service Academies Spring Classic against Seton Hall, another NCAA Regional team in Ohio State, and Air Force.

"I purposely set an unusual number of home games early for this young club as they get acclimated to the rigors of the college game," concluded Schoenrock.