Memphis baseball picked up its first conference series win and first weekend sweep of the season Sunday afternoon with a 6-5 win in extra innings over Rice.
The Tigers entered the weekend with a 12-23 record and sat in ninth place in the American Conference, but following the sweep, Memphis will enter the new week in a four-way tie for fifth place in the conference. Only the top eight teams in the 10-team league make the conference tournament, and this weekend’s success could play a massive role at the end of the regular season.
Memphis’ bats were the biggest factor over the three-game series, and the Tigers averaged 6.6 runs per game against one of the best pitching staffs in the conference. Matt Riser’s team was extremely clean in the field, recording only two errors, and the pitching staff kept the Owls’ bats at ease.
The Tiers will head to Starkville for a midweek game against No. 17 Mississippi State before heading to Birmingham for a weekend series against UAB.
Game 1: Memphis 4, Rice 1
Memphis started the series with Will Howell on the mound, and he gave his team seven strong innings, allowing only one run on three hits and a walk. After allowing his only run in the first inning, the starting pitcher settled down and allowed only one hit over the next six innings.
Riser turned to the bullpen in the eighth inning, and Caden Robinson and Carson Fair combined to allow only one hit and one walk over the final two innings to secure the win.
At the plate, the Tigers recorded four runs on six hits, but those six hits were recorded by only three players. Michael Gupton got the scoring started in the sixth inning with an RBI single, while Shane Cox scored off an error to give Memphis the lead in the seventh inning.
Cox put more runs on the board in the eighth inning with a two-run home run to give the Tigers a three-run lead.
Howell recorded his fourth win of the season, while Fair picked up his seventh save.
Game 2: Memphis 10, Rice 6
Memphis took the momentum from game one into game two and led 4-0 after five innings. The Tigers got on the board in the second inning when James Smith IV hit a solo home run off Rice’s starter Cole Green. Two innings later, Smith IV picked up an RBI on a sacrifice fly, scoring Javon Hernandez.
Memphis tacked on three more runs in the seventh inning after a pair of doubles and a single. The Tigers were in complete control with a 7-1 lead, but Rice quickly cut into the lead.
Following six impressive innings from David Case, who allowed only one run on four hits, Riser turned to the bullpen, and Seth Impson and Davis Oswalt combined to allow four runs on only one hit.
After the massive inning from the Owls, the game went into a rain delay and was put on hold until Sunday afternoon. The two teams picked up in the top of the eighth inning around noon, but Memphis’ bats were quiet to start the day.
Brayden Sanders took over on the mound in the bottom of the eighth, but he quickly found himself in trouble with bases loaded with only one out. Riser brought in Fair for a second-straight day, and he was able to record a strikeout and a flyout to get out of the inning.
Memphis added three insurance runs in the final inning, and Fair was able to finish off the Rice offense to record another save and clinch the series for the Tigers.
Game 3: Memphis 6, Rice 5 (10)
Nearly an hour after the completion of game two, the two teams hit the field to complete the series with Memphis looking to complete the sweep.
The Tigers got on the board in the first inning following a Smith IV two-out RBI double, but they struggled to string together hits after that. Riser’s team scored again in the fourth inning off a Gupton solo homer to stretch their lead to two runs.
On the mound, Seth Garner made the start, and he only allowed one hit through the first four innings. Things changed in the fifth, though, and the Owls scored four runs to take their first lead of the weekend.
The Tigers made a pitching change after allowing the four runs, and Caden Robinson came in to make the final out of the inning. Robinson stayed in the game but allowed another run on an RBI groundout from Kutter-Gage Webb, scoring Hiram Bocachica Jr., who led off the inning with a triple.
Memphis entered the eighth inning trailing by three runs, but Brady McAbee gave his team a spark with a solo homer to cut the lead to two runs before Rice was able to get out of the inning. In the bottom of the eighth, Riser brought senior Logan Rushing into the game, and he responded with a hitless inning.
The Tigers answered with a pair of runs in the ninth to tie the game. Rushing returned to the mound and recorded another scoreless inning to force extra innings.
In the 10th, Javon Hernandez opened the inning with a single before being moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. The shortstop advanced to third on a wild pitch before Smith IV hit a sacrifice fly to drive in what turned out to be the game-winning run.
Rushing returned to the mound in the extra inning and picked up a win after a third scoreless inning. The senior pitcher finished the game allowing no runs on three hits and no walks, and he added three strikeouts in three innings to record his first win of the season.