Tigers Split with Bulls in Saturday Doubleheader

Saturday, April 25

Tampa, Fla.

12 PM

University of Memphis

14-31, 2-11

USF

34-15, 5-6

Memphis

USF

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Apr 25, 2015 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

April 25, 2015

TAMPA, Fla. - The Tigers put an end to their losing streak as they split a doubleheader with South Florida, losing 8-2 in game one before taking the second 4-3 at the USF Softball Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Memphis moved to 15-31 and 3-11 in the American Athletic Conference with the games, while South Florida is 34-16 and 5-7 in the conference.

Lindsay Crowdus hit her sixth triple of the season and 13th of her career in the third inning of the second game. She drove in three of the team's four RBI.

Jordan Richwood threw her 13th complete game of the season as she pitched another great game for the Tigers in the second game of the series.

GAME ONE - Memphis 2, USF 8

The Tigers took an early lead, but a rough third inning helped the Bulls take a big lead, which they didn't relinquish.

Memphis outhit USF 10-9 in the opening game, but the Tigers left 15 runners left on base. This included leaving the bases loaded in the first, sixth and seventh innings.

Katie Brignac (4-5) took the loss. She threw 2.1 innings and gave up six runs, five of them earned, five hits and struck out one. Calli Irvin made an appearance for the Tigers in relief. She threw the final 3.2 innings, giving up only four hits and two runs.

The Tigers got on the board in the first inning. Kyler Trosclair and Harrell both singled to lead off the game. Harrell would finish the game 2-2 with a walk and was also hit by a pitch.

Crowdus hit into a fielder's choice to put runners on the corner for Brittany Vaughn. She hit a ground ball to second, but the second baseman made an error, allowing everyone to reach safely and Trosclair to score to make it 1-0. Memphis loaded the bases, but was unable to add any more runs.

For the first two innings, the Tigers kept South Florida at bay, but USF used the third inning to take control of the game. The first two batters reached on a single and then an error. After a passed ball, USF drew a walk to load the bases. A second walk tied the game, and then a single put the Bulls up 2-1.

That brought in Karla Claudio who hit a grand slam for her only hit of the game, breaking the game open for the Bulls. That was it for Brignac and Irvin came in and got the next two batters out.

Memphis loaded the bases in the sixth inning on a one-out single, and then a hit batter and walk with two outs, but the Tigers were unable to cut into the lead. USF responded by tacking on two more runs to take an 8-1 lead into the final inning.

Tigers used small ball in the seventh to score. Anna Thomas had a one-out single to get the first base runner on for the Tigers. Wheeler Hill came in to pinch run and advanced to second on a two-out single from Haleigh Ross, who finished 3-4 on the game. Addison Maxwell loaded the bases with another infield single. Trosclair brought in the run with an infield hit to the shortstop. However, the Tigers couldn't keep the rally and a ground out on a chopper up the middle ended the game.

GAME TWO - Memphis 4, USF 3

The second game of the doubleheader went back and forth with the Tigers taking the lead twice and USF coming back before the Tigers finally grabbed the lead and put the Bulls away.

Crowdus came up big for the Tigers with two clutch two-out hits for extra bases. The first was a triple in the third inning to drive in Trosclair and Harrell to give the Tigers a 3-1 lead. The second turned out to be the game-winner in the fifth as she doubled to center, driving in Maxwell.

Richwood (8-17) went the distance in game two. She gave up only three runs on six hits while walking one and striking out three batters.

The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, just as they had in the previous game. Harrell reached on a fielder's choice and then stole second. On the following ground out, she broke for third and forced a throw from first. The throw was bad and went into the dugout, allowing her to score.

South Florida evened the score in the bottom of the inning. A leadoff single from Kristen Wyckoff resulted in a run on a sacrifice fly.

After both teams went down in order in the second, the Tigers retook the lead. Maxwell and Trosclair both singled, but Maxwell was caught off of the bag at second and tagged out. Harrell followed with a a single and then Crowdus tripled to give the Tigers the 3-1 advantage.

The Bulls battled back to tie the game with runs in the bottom of the third and fourth innings. In the third, the first two batters went down, but a walk extended the inning. After a stolen base, the Bulls got within 3-2 with a single.

Lee Ann Spivey tripled to lead off the fourth inning. The next batter hit a line drive to right, but Maxwell made a diving play to deny the hit, and then quickly fired the ball in to prevent Spivey from coming home. South Florida did tie the game on the next batter with a sacrifice bunt.

The tie game didn't last long, though. Maxwell led off the inning with a single, and then advanced to second on a passed ball. With two outs, Crowdus came to the plate again, and again she came through. She hit a fly ball that was running away from the center fielder. She dove looked as if she might make the play, but when she hit the ground the ball bounced out and away from her. Maxwell scored and the Tigers took the lead for good, 4-3.

The Bulls tried to tie the game immediately, as Veronica Gajownik led off the inning with a double. She then stole third to put USF in great scoring position. Richwood responded by striking out the next batter. A fielder's choice, where Richwood looked Gajownik back to third, put runners on the corners for DAnna Devine.

Devine hit a hard ground ball to third, which Vaughn picked cleanly. Gajownik was off on contact, and when Vaughn elected to get home, she got caught between bases. After a short rundown, Richwood applied the tag for the second out. She got the next batter to ground out to Trosclair to end the threat.

Richwood then went out and set the Bulls down in order in the seventh, including a strikeout of Spivey. The Bulls got a leadoff single in their final inning, and she moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. But Richwood got the next two batters to fly out to Crowdus in center and the Tigers took the game.

The Tigers and Bulls face in a rubber match on Sunday with first pitch set for 10 a.m. central. Follow the Tigers on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @MemphisSoftball to stay up-to-date with news, scores and information about the University of Memphis softball program.