The Memphis baseball team (12-19, 3-6 Conference USA) did the one thing they needed to in Tuesday's win over Mississippi State - end their nine-game losing skid before they began their string of five games away from Nat Buring Stadium. The first three games of that road trip will be played this weekend in Orlando against Central Florida tonight at 5:30.
"UCF is a team that's a lot like ours," said Coach Daron Schoenrock. "They went through last year what we we're going through this year. That's a lot of new guys in the lineup, a lot of new guys on the (pitching) mound, but their pitching staff is really veteran right now."
The Knights began the season 19-1. However, once C-USA play began in March, the Knights began to struggle, going 2-7 in their first nine C-USA games. UCF's most recent conference action was a three-game sweep at the hands of the Houston Cougars.
"They have a rotation of guys that have been there a few years now," Schoenrock said. "They jumped to a great start, but since they started in-league, they've taken some lumps in the conference. We're very similar clubs. Our losses are very close."
In the midst of a seven-game losing streak, the Knights were able end their run of bad luck with two straight wins this week over former C-USA rival South Florida and Stetson University.
Much like the Tigers, the Knights' lineup has been rejuvenated by timely hits with runners on base.
In their 9-8 victory over Mississippi State, the Tigers were lifted to victory by the timely game-winning single of junior Cole Shelton. Shelton's five run-batted-in were complemented by sophomore Tyler Huelsing's 4-for-4 night at the plate.
Prior to that game, Shelton was batting .239 with only 13 RBIs. Huelsing was only batting .227 through 26 games. However, both players had what you need during midseason slump - a breakout game at the plate.
"It's good that I kind of got out of a slump in this time of year," Huelsing said. "Hopefully, it can push us far enough to where we can start winning a lot more games on the road."
Aside from the bats of Huelsing and Shelton, Memphis' younger players stepped late in the win over the Bulldogs. Freshman Chad Zurcher laid down a near-perfect sacrifice bunt that moved two runners into scoring position prior to Shelton's game-winner. If not for his bunt, the Tigers would have only been able to score one run on the following single, not two.
"We're in the second half of the season now," Schoenrock said. "A lot of our younger guys have some at-bats under their belt now, so they're getting more confident at the plate and their understanding what we have to do to play offense.
"It's different than years past where we would rely on guys hitting home runs. Now we have to manufacture - work hard in the batter's box, run the bases, do a lot of the little things - a little bit more. The guys are starting to get more comfortable with that."
Following this weekend's series at UCF, the Tigers will briefly return home for one day of practice before traveling to Murray, Ky. to play Murray State. The next day, the Tigers will be in Jackson, Tenn., to play Tennessee-Martin.
Memphis will not be back home until April 18, when they begin a three-game series with Dallas Baptist. In the meantime, Coach Schoenrock said he hopes the Tigers improved play over the past week will continue going into the end of the season and the C-USA Championship.
"I think it's just got to be a matter of us bonding together, staying together and approaching each game one pitch at a time," he said. "That's what I think our team's really done a great job of this past week."
