Suicide Squeeze Leads Comeback Win Over Tulsa

Thursday, May 10

Orlando, Fla.

9 AM

University of Memphis

36-23

Tulsa

30-27

Memphis

Tulsa

Brittany Gooch is congratulated by teammates Leandra Hines and Kimmi Hayden after tying the game on a wild pitch in the seventh.

May 10, 2007 | Softball

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May 10, 2007

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For Immediate Release
Contact: Brandon Kolditz
wkolditz@memphis.edu, (901) 871-5475

Memphis (36-23)  000 000 2 - 2 1 0
Tulsa (30-27)    100 000 0 - 1 1 2
Win: Kubesch (24-10). Loss: Lee (12-10). Save: None.
HR: (TLS) Lindsay (8).
2B: (MEM) Kelso (8).

ORLANDO, Fla. - Despite having only one hit, the University of Memphis scored two runs in the top of the seventh to earn a come from behind 2-1 victory over Tulsa in game one of the Conference USA Softball Championship presented by Coca-Cola at the UCF Softball Complex.

"They don't believe they can lose," said Memphis head coach Windy Thees. "We've won eight in a row now. They're almost all 2-1 games, but at least we're on the winning side of them. They want to win so badly. They leave their hearts out and they love each other. Hopefully, we can keep it up."

Down 1-0 in the seventh inning, the Tigers scored two runs to take the lead without the benefit of a hit. Brittany Gooch scored from third on a wild pitch from third to tie the game. Tori Gross then brought in Christi Morrison with the game-winning run on a suicide squeeze bunt, the first time all-year Memphis has attempted the play.

"It couldn't have been executed any better," said Memphis senior pitcher Jenna Kubesch. "Tori had the perfect bunt right between pitcher and first base where you ask the squeeze to be. The runner got the sign, so it was executed perfectly. Errors and everything just went our way."

In its first conference championship appearance, the No. 6 seeded Tigers won its fourth-straight 2-1 game and seventh in the last eight games. Memphis is riding a program record eight-game winning streak after beating Tulsa for the first time in the school's history.

The game began with Golden Hurricane leadoff hitter Lauren Lindsay hitting a 1-0 pitch off Kubesch over the left-center fence to give Tulsa an early 1-0 lead.

"The first one I threw was a ball, and then it was, `Okay, don't get behind on the first batter,'" Kubesch said. "The next pitch was definitely too fat for her. She's hit me well all season. I knew we could come back. I knew we could score two. We just had to hold them down and let them score one, and I knew we could come back."

The home run would be the only hit Kubesch would allow as she then retired the next 13 batters in order before allowing a walk in the fifth inning. The Weimar, Texas, native finished with four strikeouts in her 24th win of the season.

"She's been maybe the best pitcher in the nation in the last three weeks," Thees said. "We've really jumped on her back. She's given up nothing to the other teams. She may give an inch, but she shuts them down after that. She's been phenomenal. We've really leaned on her and she has stepped up. She really wants to keep playing softball."

The Tigers move on to face No. 2 seed East Carolina at 4 p.m. (EST). The Pirates had a first-round bye and enter the conference tournament with a 38-18 overall record and are 14-9 in league play. Memphis and ECU split a pair of games in Greenville, N.C., earlier this season with the third game canceled due to inclement weather.

"(East Carolina) is very well coached," Thees said. "Tracey (Kee) and Natalie (Kozlowski) do such a good job over there. They remind me a lot of our girls. They never say die; no matter if they're up or they're down. They keep coming after you."

The game can be followed live on the Internet with live stats through Gametracker and live audio through CSTV All-Access. Links to the broadcasts can be found at GoTigersGo.com.