Late Inning Doubles Plague Tigers in Season Opener

Friday, February 13

Tulsa, Okla.

3:00 PM

University of Memphis

0-1

Oral Roberts

1-0

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Memphis	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	1
Oral Roberts	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	X	3	7	2

Feb 13, 2015 | Baseball

Box Score

Feb. 13, 2015

Box Score

Box_Score 

Play-By-Play 

TULSA, Okla. – The University of Memphis baseball team fell to Oral Roberts, 3-1, on a beautiful opening day at J.L. Johnson Stadium in Tulsa in front of 506 fans. The Tigers fall to 0-1 on the season and will turn to Colin Lee and Dylan Toscano on the rubber on Saturday to try and claim the opening series. The Blue and Gray fall to 1-2 on the road in openers under Head Coach Daron Schoenrock.

“I think our guys will settle in in those big moments,” Schoenrock said. “Kane Barrow and Tucker Tubbs handled those at-bats very well in the preseason. They might’ve gotten a little bit too excited today. We had some opportunities, but we couldn’t get things executed. Caleb Wallingford and Colton Hathcock pitched great. There three extra base hits were all on pitches that were up. You have to tip your cap to them. They found gaps with runners in scoring position.”

The Tigers roared out of the gate in the top of the first. Darien Tubbs worked a six-pitch at-bat before stroking a ball over the centerfielder’s head and legged out his fourth-career triple. Jake Little followed up with a double off the third basemen’s glove, scoring Tubbs easily from third. Memphis was unable to expand on the lead as Tucker Tubbs lined out to shortstop and Little was doubled up at second.

Golden Eagles starter Guillermo Trujillo allowed only two hits and three baserunners over his final six innings of work while Nathan Garza and Kyle Stout pitched a perfect eighth and ninth out of the bullpen to stymie the Tigers’ offense.

“Once he went to the changeup he started throwing it for strikes,” the Memphis skipper said. “In college baseball, if you can throw a changeup for strikes with the velocity he has on his fastball, it becomes very tough on the hitters.”

Memphis starter Caleb Wallingford matched Trujillo through five innings as the southpaw yielded only two hits, a walk and a hit-by-pitch against Oral Roberts. The Elkhorn, Nebraska, native went only five innings due to an elevated pitch count, but managed to strike out a trio of Golden Eagles.

Freshman reliever Colton Hathcock (0-1) was saddled with the loss. The right-hander went 2.2 innings, allowing four hits and three runs while striking out three. Senior Blake Myers got the final out of the game for the Tigers after allowing a hit.

Offensively, freshman Brandon Montgomery and junior Jake Overbey picked up their first career hits in the Blue and Gray. Montgomery laced a two-out double into left-centerfield in the fifth and Overbey singled to left to lead off the seventh for the Tigers.

Memphis surrendered the lead in the seventh inning after the Golden Eagles picked up timely hits to tie the game at one. Anthony Sequeira led off the inning with a double to left and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Noah Cummings. Hathcock picked up a huge strikeout against Emmanuel Forcier, but a two-out, two-strike double over the head of left fielder Kane Barrow evened the contest.

After a three-up, three-down, inning in the top of the eighth for the Tigers, Oral Roberts took the lead for good. Logan Domenico singled to open the frame and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Domenico appeared to be stranded at second after a flyout to center, but a passed ball allowed the designated hitter to move up to third. Audie Afenir roped a two-out, two-strike double down the rightfield line to push across the go-ahead run and Sequeira singled up the middle to score Afenir from second.

Stout shut the door for the save in the ninth with a 1-2-3 frame against the Tigers.

Memphis looks to win the series on Saturday against the Golden Eagles. First pitch is slated for 11 a.m. with the second game commencing 45 minutes after the conclusion of the first. Visit GoTigersGo.com and follow @MemphisBaseball on Twitter and Instagram for all the latest news on the team.