Softball in South Carolina for Weekend Tournament

MEMPHIS – Another weekend, another multi-game tournament for the Memphis Tigers' softball team -- this one in South Carolina. Memphis will play five games over three days at the Coastal Carolina Chanticleer Challenge, starting with a 10 a.m. (ET) game against Buffalo, Friday.

Memphis is carrying a two-game winning streak in to the tournament this weekend, having swept Youngstown State in this week's mid-week game. Memphis won both games in a different manner, run-ruling the Penguins in a 13-5 slugfest that saw Memphis pound out 15 hits and force four YSU errors in game one. In game two, the Tigers prevailed in what was a bit of a pitcher's duel. YSU led 1-0 all the way to the bottom of the sixth when Memphis scored four runs, including a pair on wild pitches, in a victory for sophomore hurler Katie Brignac.

Buffalo comes in to Friday morning's match up with a 4-10 overall record and is looking to snap a four-game losing streak that started at the Arkansas tournament last weekend. Buffalo's last win is over an opponent that Memphis has also faced this year, as the Bulls downed Wright State, 8-7, at the Arkansas tournament. The Bulls went nine innings with Wright State, scoring two runs in the bottom of the ninth for the comeback win that included a homeruns from Danielle Lallos and Courtney Gilbert. In a second match-up with Wright State, the Raiders prevailed 8-4. Memphis beat Wright State, 5-4, in its second home game of the season last Wednesday.

Memphis will play Furman on back-to-back days, a good preparation for American Athletic Conference regular season play. This year, The American will play three-game conference series over three days rather than the doubleheaders one day followed by a single game on day two as they have in the past. Memphis and Furman will first face off at 2:30 p.m. (ET), Friday, then will square off again on Saturday, at 12:15 p.m. (ET).

The Paladins out of Furman are 10-12 on the season. Sophomore AnnaRose Borrelli enters the weekend as the defending Southern Conference Player of the Week after going 3-for-3 with two RBI in a 5-3 win over Youngstown State, the same team Memphis just swept in its mid-week game on Tuesday. Borrelli hit a two-run homer and a grand slam last week and is sporting a .847 slugging percentage through the first 22 games of the season. Her seven homeruns on the year ranks 14^th in the country and leads the SoCon. Teammate Hanna Reynolds leads Furman with a .409 batting average, followed by Borrelli's .407 and Candace Johnson is also threatening the .400 levels with a .394 average.

The Tigers will face host Coastal Carolina, Saturday, after the second meeting with Furman. The Chanticleers participated in a tournament in Hawaii last weekend, upending Stanford, 8-3, and host Hawaii, 14-4. The Chanticleers are 9-12 on the year and will be playing their first game of the tournament Saturday afternoon, with the extra day giving the home team time to acclimate to the time zone change after the Hawaii trip. Taty Forbes leads Coastal Carolina with a .468 average while pitching Kelsey Dominik has handled a big chunk of the duties in the circle, carrying a 4-7 overall record with seven complete games in 14 appearances in the non-conference part of the CCU schedule.

Memphis will close the tournament Sunday against Buffalo at 10 a.m. (ET).

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Players Mentioned

Katie Brignac

University of Memphis Athletics