Schoenrock Picks Up Career Win No. 300 Against Central Arkansas

Sunday, February 22

Conway, Ark.

1:25 PM

University of Memphis

2-2

Central Arkansas

3-1

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Memphis	0	0	1	0	4	0	0	0	0	5	5	1
Central Arkansas	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	9	1

Schoenrock Picks Up Career Win No. 300 Against Central Arkansas

Feb 22, 2015 | Baseball

Box Score

Feb. 22, 2015

Box Score

Box_Score 

CONWAY, Ark. – University of Memphis Head Coach Daron Schoenrock picked up career win No. 300 in a 5-2 victory over Central Arkansas on a snowy Sunday at Bears Field in Conway. The Tigers (2-2) climbed back to the .500 mark while the Bears (3-1) suffered their first setback of the season.

Senior Kane Barrow went a career-best 3-for-5 at the plate while sophomore Chris Carrier drew a career-high three walks in the win.

“I thought we battled in some tough conditions, not necessarily the conditions today, but the tough things we battled all through the week,” the Memphis skipper said. “We were a little off at the plate. I feel like this is going to be a really good offensive club. Winning 300 games has a lot to do with longevity and the players involved. I’m proud of our guys and the resiliency they had today.”

Central Arkansas jumped out to an early 1-0 advantage in the bottom of the first. Leadoff man Braxton Phillips worked a 10-pitch walk to kick off the game before advancing to second on a groundout. Nate Ferrell pulled a ball through the left side of the infield to score Phillips standing up from second.

After a 26-pitch first inning, Memphis starter Caleb Wallingford worked his way out of trouble in the second and third innings to keep the Tigers in the ball game. The Bears led off the second with a double by Travis Hull who advanced to third on a balk. Hull would then be cut down at the plate as third basemen Zach Schritenthal fired home on a sharply hit ground ball to the hot-corner

The Tigers pushed across the equalizer in the top of the third thanks to quality bunts by Schritenthal and center fielder Darien Tubbs. Corey Chafin drove the first pitch of the frame back through the middle. Schritenthal’s bunt pushed him to second and a wild pitch allowed the junior to move up to third. Darien Tubbs laid down a perfect safety-squeeze bunt to score Chafin.

After Memphis tied the game, Central Arkansas threatened to retake the lead in the bottom half of the inning. With one out, the Bears logged three-straight singles to load the bases, but a grounder back to the pitcher and a flyout to right kept UCA from reclaiming the lead.

The fourth inning started out promising for the Blue and Gray thanks to a seeing-eye single through the left side by Barrow and back-to-back walks by Tucker Tubbs and Chris Carrier loaded the bases with no outs. Consecutive groundouts to third allowed the Bears to easily gun down runners at the plate before a strikeout ended the Tigers’ threat.

Memphis took the lead for good in the top of the fifth thanks to a trio of free passes that allowed the Tigers to put up a crooked number. Darien Tubbs wore a pitch with one-out and the speedster advanced to second on a wild pitch. Carter White went back through the box to plate the Tigers’ centerfielder from second. Barrow picked up his second hit on the afternoon with a single through the right side immediately before Tubbs and Carrier drew four-pitch walks to tack on the second run of the frame. Freshman Brandon Montgomery legged out a fielder’s choice on a would-be double play ball to add the third run. The Blue and Gray utilized the double-steal with runners on the corner to add the final run of the inning and give Memphis a 5-1 advantage.

“We have the capability of putting together a big inning, every inning,” Schoenrock said. “The amazing thing was both teams made the routine play with minimal errors considering the weather conditions. Playing defense and hitting in this weather is tough.”

Central Arkansas chipped away a run in the bottom of the seventh, thanks to a pair of hit-batsmen and a throwing error on a pickoff attempt, but the Tigers’ bullpen was nails for the remainder of the game to complete the victory.

With snow flurries beginning to fall, freshman Connor Alexander and sophomore Nolan Blackwood kept the Bears from closing the gap as the underclassmen slammed the door for the hold and the save. The tandem has combined for 8.0 innings on the season allowing only one earned run with no walks and nine strikeouts. Blackwood earned his second save on the year with his scoreless ninth.

“When it started snowing, we decided to play a little faster defensively,” Schoenrock said. “Nolan (Blackwood) did a great job of attacking hitters at the end. I thought he pitched very well. We trotted out two young guys that have shown in their six months at Memphis they can carry the load. I’m very proud of those two guys. We handled the game defensively like we needed to.”

Wallingford (1-0) went 5.0 innings, allowing one run on six hits while striking out three and walking two to earn his first victory. UCA starter Connor Gilmore (1-1) went just 4.1 innings, surrendering five runs on five hits with five walks en-route to the loss.

Memphis will host Mississippi Valley State on Tuesday for its home-opener. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. Visit GoTigersGo.com and follow @MemphisBaseball on Twitter and Instagram for all the latest news on the team.