A-STATE/MEMPHIS SERIES HISTORY

• A-State and Memphis have played 147 times in history with A-State trailing the series 56-90-1. The two teams have only not played in four seasons since 1948 with those years being 1973,1983, 1985, and 1986. A-State lost the first meeting to Memphis 10-2 in 1948 before winning the second game that season 4-2. A-State swept the two meetings in 1949 before Memphis won two meetings each in 1950 and 1951. The tie between the two squads was a 6-6 draw in 1965.

• Memphis did the bulk of their damage from 1968-1991 by holding a 45-12 advantage over the Red Wolves during that time frame. Since the 1992 season, A-State holds a narrow 25-24 edge after this season's 11-5 win on March 29 against the Tigers.

• Head coach Tommy Raffo is 8-6 against the Tigers during his tenure. The team lost to Memphis

16-8 in his first game against them, but bounced back to win 8-7 in 10 innings during the

second meeting in 2009. The two squads have split two meetings four times since Raffo took over. A-State won the lone contest in 2011 and went 2-0 in 2014 against the Tigers, but Memphis won both meetings last season. The Tigers claimed a 5-2 decision in Memphis before winning 8-3 in Jonesboro. However, A-State claimed an 11-5 victory on March 29 this year. Bo Ritter earned the win for the Red Wolves with five innings of one-run baseball, while Matt Burgess was 2-for-4 with three RBIs, including a two-run homer, and Ty White went 4-for-5 with two RBIs and three runs scored.

• Memphis is currently 16-32 on the season with a 7-11 mark in the American Athletic

Conference. The Tigers defeated Houston last Friday night in the series opener 12-4 in Houston before dropping a 3-2 contest and 6-2 decision in the final two games of the series. The last time the Tigers played a midweek contest was on April 26 against Belmont in Memphis as part of a home-and-home between the two teams on back-to-back days. Belmont won in Nashville 12-6 before defeating Memphis 8-7 at FedExPark.

NOTES FROM NORTHWESTERN STATE SERIES

• The Red Wolves fell to 3-7 all-time against Northwestern State by losing two-of-three to the Demons May 6-8. A-State is now 1-2 against Northwestern State under head coach Tommy Raffo after the three meetings were the first time the two schools have played against each other since he became head coach.

• A-State's J.D. Rainwater registered the first extra-base hit of his career in the May 6 game against the Demons. He pinch hit in the bottom of the ninth inning and roped a double into the left-center gap. It was one of the Red Wolves' two hits on the night with the other being an infield single by Tony Ortiz.

• The Red Wolves stole three bases in the May 6 game, all in the bottom of the fifth with two outs, marking just the fourth time this season the team has stole three or more bases in a game. A-State stole three bases against Milwaukee March 5 in game two of a doubleheader and against Arkansas-Pine Bluff April 26, while the season high is four, set against Memphis on March 29.

• Arkansas State was a perfect 6-6 stealing bases against the Demons and is now 43-49 on the year for an .878 success percentage, which, as of now, is the highest by a Red Wolves' team in the last 15 years. Ty White stole two bases to take the team lead at 10 and is 10-12 on the year, while Garrett Rucker stole one base and is second on the team with 9-10. Jake Bakamus swiped one bag and is 7-7 on the year, while Tim Seldomridge stole two bases and is 6-6 on the season.

• Matt Burgess had the series' only home run with a two-run shot in the Saturday game between the two schools. It was the fifth of the season for the Greenbrier, Ark., native and 12th of his career, which is tied with Tanner Ring for second most among active players on the team.

• Freshman right-hander Peyton Culbertson earned the win in Sunday's 4-1 victory for the Red Wolves. He is now 4-0 and sports a 3.41 ERA on the year. He limited the Demons to just one run on one hit with five walks and three strikeouts in six innings. It was his third straight quality start and he is tied with Tyler Zuber for second most on the team this year. The weekend start was only his second weekend start of the season, with the other being against Omaha Feb. 28.

• Bryan Ayers closed out the game with three shutout innings Sunday for his first career save. He allowed three hits and only walked one batter while striking out none. It was just his second appearance out of the bullpen this season as he's made 10 starts on the year.

• The Red Wolves allowed 13 extra-base hits to the Demons across the three-game series with all 13 of them being doubles. Northwestern State had seven doubles in game one. Meanwhile, A-State only had three extra-base hits all weekend (two doubles and a homer).

NOTES FROM APPALACHIAN STATE SERIES

• The Red Wolves lost two-of-three games at Appalachian State April 29-30. The two teams had to play a Friday doubleheader and moved Saturday's game time up two hours to avoid rain that was forecasted to hit the area. A-State won game one Friday 9-7, but dropped game two by a count of 9-2. A-State was two outs from winning game three, but a three-run, walk-off homer gave the Apps a 6-4 win in the series finale. The Red Wolves are now 3-3 all-time against Appalachian State.

• Game one began with a bang for the Red Wolves as Joe Schrimpf lined a pitch just over the left-field fence for a solo home run in the top of the first inning against the Mountaineers. The round-tripper for Schrimpf tied him for the team-lead in home runs with Tanner Ring at six, but Ring hit a two-run, monster shot two batters later to retake the lead at seven. It's the first time this season the Red Wolves have hit more than one home run in the same inning.

• The Red Wolves ran their win streak up to six games with the 9-7 win in game one against App State. That win streak is tied for the longest in the Tommy Raffo era with a stint in 2014. A-State has not won seven or more games in a row since an eight-game streak during the 2000 season.

• Junior pitcher Tyler Zuber came in and earned the win in relief in the first game Friday with 7.1 innings pitched and a career-high 133 pitches. He improved to 4-3 on the year with the victory. The White Hall, Ark., native allowed nine hits, but only one run and struck out seven, while walking three.

• Joe Schrimpf extended his hit streak to 10 games with hits in all three games. The junior from St. Louis, Mo., hit .364 in the series with a team-high three RBIs.

• Tanner Ring led the offense with a .462 average in the three games and had three extra-base hits with two doubles and a homer. He also stole a base and scored three runs.

DOWN TO THE WIRE

• Arkansas State, Georgia State, and ULM are all 9-15 in the SBC this season with Appalachian State at 9-18 in league play as they are one of two teams yet to have their “bye” weekend from conference play.

• The Sun Belt Conference takes the top eight teams to the conference tournament, which is set for May 25-29 in San Marcos, Texas. The Red Wolves, Panthers, and Warhawks are all tied for eighth place.

• The Red Wolves have three games remaining each vs. Texas State and at Little Rock. ULM closes with three-game series vs. Little Rock and at Louisiana-Lafayette, while Georgia State has Troy at home and Georgia Southern on the road.

• The Red Wolves have qualified for the SBC Tournament six straight years and are the only team in the conference to win at least two games in the competition in six straight seasons. A-State snuck in as the eighth-seeded team a season ago.

LET'S TURN TWO

• A-State is now 18th in the nation in double plays turned with 46 and also ranks as the top team in the Sun Belt Conference in the category. A-State turned three against Northwestern State May 6-8 with the first being a new one with an 8-3 double play on a fly out in Friday's game along with a 4-6-3 twin killing and the team's first 5-3 double play on the year in Sunday's game. Georgia Tech leads the nation with 64.

• 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 11 6-4-3 double plays for the team lead, with nine 4-6-3 twin-killings in second. The Red Wolves turned their first 8-3 double play May 6 when Garrett Rucker made a diving catch and doubled the runner off of first base. Jake Bakamus turned the team's only 5-3 double play of the year when he got Peyton Culbertson out of a bases-loaded jam May 8. Bakamus reached back and tagged the runner going from second to third and fired a strike to first base to complete the twin killing. Tony Ortiz recorded A-State's only unassisted double play of the season at South Alabama April 8 when he snagged a line shot at first base and doubled the runner off. A-State's weirdest double play of the year is a 7-5-4 one that was turned after Garrett Rucker dove and appeared to catch a ball in left field for a split second. Rucker was able to pick it up and throw to third for a force out and then the ball was throw to second for another force out.

• Arkansas State turned 34 double plays a year ago and surpassed that total only 34 games into the regular season. The school record for double plays is 59 in both 1998 and 1994.

HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT

• Arkansas State was hit with five pitches over the past weekend's series against Northwestern State to bring the team's total to 79 on the year, which ranks as a tie for fourth in the nation and is tops in the Sun Belt Conference.

• Jackson State leads the country with 95, while SWAC conference mates Alabama State (93) and Southern (83) are second and third, respectively. A-State is tied with North Carolina Central.

• 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 15 hit-by-pitches, which is first in the SBC and 14th in the country. Jeremy Brown is second on the team with 10 after being hit once this weekend. He ranks as seventh in the conference. Garrett Rucker is third on the team with nine. 14 different players have been hit by a pitch for the team.

SCHRIMPF EARNS SBC WEEKLY AWARD

• A-State junior infielder/catcher Joe Schrimpf picked up A-State's first weekly award of the season Monday, April 25 after his performance during that week. It is the team's first weekly award since Schrimpf earned the honor on May 12 of last season.

• The St. Louis, Mo., native went 8-for-17 over the four A-State wins last week with two hits in each contest. He hit his fifth home run of the season Saturday, second most on the team, and hit a double and a triple in Sunday's game with the triple setting up the winning run in the 5-4 walk-off win over ULM. Schrimpf led A-State with a .550 on-base percentage and a .824 slugging percentage during the week and drove in five runs.

• For the season, he is hitting .307 and is the team's leader in RBIs (39), on-base percentage (.436), walks (32), and sacrifice bunts (9).