University of Memphis Athletics
Wednesday, March 2
Memphis, Tenn.
5 p.m.
University of Memphis
5
vs
4
Wright State
Photo by: Matthew Smith
Tigers Escape Raiders With 5-4 Win
Mar 02, 2016 | Softball
Stickrod's backhanded stab saves Tigers from Raiders comeback in the seventh.
MEMPHIS – With a runner at third and the go-ahead run at second, junior first baseman Lindsey Stickrod backhanded a ball that was trying to sneak between her and second baseman Brooke Lee, then dived back to her left to beat the Raider runner to the bag for the final out in a 5-4 win over visiting Wright State (6-7), Wednesday. The win is the fifth in six games for Memphis, who improved to 6-10 with the victory.
It was a low scoring affair in the early innings, as Wright State led 1-0 as Memphis hit the bottom of the fourth inning. Stickrod got a four-run fourth going when she reached on an error as the WSU first baseman dropped a ball from her shortstop. Sami Jo Schulz stepped in as a pinch runner and promptly stole second. Lee then doubled, scoring Schulz and tying the game. Catcher Lindsey Crowdus then singled and Hannah Harrell drew a walk to load the bases. WSU then committed a second error in the inning as the Raider shortstop fumbled a ball and threw it past second base, allowing both Lee and Crowdus to score and take a 3-1 lead. The bases were again loaded when Memphis grounded out to end the inning.
WSU threatened to keep pace in the top of the fifth. Macey Gunther singled and stole second and a Memphis error from third allowed Gunther to score and put Libby Pfeffer on base. Pfeffer moved to third on a wild pitch and was threatening to cut the deficit when Bayleigh Wisher got one of her five strikeouts to get out of the inning with just the one run given up and the Tigers up 3-2.
"I think we put a lot of people on, we made too many errors and allowed the team to stay in the game with us and we just didn't do our job on the defensive side to keep those innings short," Head Coach Natalie Poole said.
Memphis answered back with a pair of runs to push the lead to 5-2, but Wright State made a sixth inning rally. Ashton Salyers singled and Honnah Susor was hit by a pitch to put a pair of base runners on for a sacrifice bunt from Hanna Floyd. On two of Memphis' five errors, the pair of runners scored, making it 5-4 Memphis. Wright State had two more runners on base when Wisher induced a groundout to get out of the inning.
After Memphis managed just one base runner in the sixth inning, the Raiders tried one last stand. Ally Russell reached on a fielder's choice and advanced to second on a wild pitch. She moved to third when Susor singled and advanced to second on a throwing error on the ball coming in from right field. Susor would have been the go-ahead run had Stickrod not gotten a glove on the ball to set up the footrace to the bag against Hanna Floyd. But Stickrod's stab at the bag beat Floyd and Memphis stranded the runners and picked up the win.
"(Stickrod's) just a player," Poole said. "She works hard. When I tell her to make an adjustment a certain way, she does it, and that's why she's where she is in the lineup, we feel like we can count on her. There were a couple of places I could have used her to sacrifice to move a runner, but instead, we gave her opportunities to swing and she just capitalizes on it."
Freshman Bayleigh Wisher threw 174 pitches in the complete game win to improve to 3-1 on the season. Wisher gave up four runs, but just one was earned, striking out five.
"We talked about making a change at the end (for Wisher), because she was seeing these batters for a fifth time. That's a tough place to be in as a pitcher, but she did a good job battling through all the way to the end," Poole said.
Memphis is back in tournament mode this weekend, playing four games at the LSU tournament in Baton Rouge. Memphis will face Louisiana Tech, Friday, at 9:30 a.m. and host LSU at 5 p.m. On Saturday, Memphis will square off against Liberty at 9:30 a.m. and Tennessee Tech at noon.
"We need to clean up our defense for this weekend," Poole said. "We can be in some games offensively, we can score runs. I'm just not happy about our defense. We give people opportunities to be in the game when they haven't even earned it."
The Tigers return home on Tuesday, March 8th to host a doubleheader against Youngstown State. That game will begin at 2 p.m.
It was a low scoring affair in the early innings, as Wright State led 1-0 as Memphis hit the bottom of the fourth inning. Stickrod got a four-run fourth going when she reached on an error as the WSU first baseman dropped a ball from her shortstop. Sami Jo Schulz stepped in as a pinch runner and promptly stole second. Lee then doubled, scoring Schulz and tying the game. Catcher Lindsey Crowdus then singled and Hannah Harrell drew a walk to load the bases. WSU then committed a second error in the inning as the Raider shortstop fumbled a ball and threw it past second base, allowing both Lee and Crowdus to score and take a 3-1 lead. The bases were again loaded when Memphis grounded out to end the inning.
WSU threatened to keep pace in the top of the fifth. Macey Gunther singled and stole second and a Memphis error from third allowed Gunther to score and put Libby Pfeffer on base. Pfeffer moved to third on a wild pitch and was threatening to cut the deficit when Bayleigh Wisher got one of her five strikeouts to get out of the inning with just the one run given up and the Tigers up 3-2.
"I think we put a lot of people on, we made too many errors and allowed the team to stay in the game with us and we just didn't do our job on the defensive side to keep those innings short," Head Coach Natalie Poole said.
Memphis answered back with a pair of runs to push the lead to 5-2, but Wright State made a sixth inning rally. Ashton Salyers singled and Honnah Susor was hit by a pitch to put a pair of base runners on for a sacrifice bunt from Hanna Floyd. On two of Memphis' five errors, the pair of runners scored, making it 5-4 Memphis. Wright State had two more runners on base when Wisher induced a groundout to get out of the inning.
After Memphis managed just one base runner in the sixth inning, the Raiders tried one last stand. Ally Russell reached on a fielder's choice and advanced to second on a wild pitch. She moved to third when Susor singled and advanced to second on a throwing error on the ball coming in from right field. Susor would have been the go-ahead run had Stickrod not gotten a glove on the ball to set up the footrace to the bag against Hanna Floyd. But Stickrod's stab at the bag beat Floyd and Memphis stranded the runners and picked up the win.
"(Stickrod's) just a player," Poole said. "She works hard. When I tell her to make an adjustment a certain way, she does it, and that's why she's where she is in the lineup, we feel like we can count on her. There were a couple of places I could have used her to sacrifice to move a runner, but instead, we gave her opportunities to swing and she just capitalizes on it."
Freshman Bayleigh Wisher threw 174 pitches in the complete game win to improve to 3-1 on the season. Wisher gave up four runs, but just one was earned, striking out five.
"We talked about making a change at the end (for Wisher), because she was seeing these batters for a fifth time. That's a tough place to be in as a pitcher, but she did a good job battling through all the way to the end," Poole said.
Memphis is back in tournament mode this weekend, playing four games at the LSU tournament in Baton Rouge. Memphis will face Louisiana Tech, Friday, at 9:30 a.m. and host LSU at 5 p.m. On Saturday, Memphis will square off against Liberty at 9:30 a.m. and Tennessee Tech at noon.
"We need to clean up our defense for this weekend," Poole said. "We can be in some games offensively, we can score runs. I'm just not happy about our defense. We give people opportunities to be in the game when they haven't even earned it."
The Tigers return home on Tuesday, March 8th to host a doubleheader against Youngstown State. That game will begin at 2 p.m.
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