Softball Makes History With First-Ever Top 10 Win Saturday

Saturday, March 16

Memphis, Tenn.

1:30 PM

University of Memphis

13-12

#10/13 Texas Tech

26-2

Texas Tech

Memphis

Photo by: Matthew Smith

Softball Makes History With First-Ever Top 10 Win Saturday

Mar 16, 2019 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Tigers sweep with wins over No. 10 Texas Tech and Maine

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Propelled by a pair of home runs by Ashley Threatt and Regan Hadley, the University of Memphis garnered its first-ever top 10 victory Saturday afternoon over No. 10/13 Texas Tech by a score of 5-3. The Tigers then backed up the historical performance with an 8-2 win over Maine to improve to 14-12 overall.

The win over Texas Tech was not only the first win over a top 10 program, but also the only the fourth top 25 win in program history. Texas Tech is ranked No. 10 in the espn.com/USA Softball Top 25 and No. 13 in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll. It was the first top 25 win since Mar. 2, 2013 against No. 20 Hawaii.

The Tigers struck first against the Red Raiders with three runs in the bottom half of the first inning. Delaney Smith led the inning off with a leadoff walk and advanced around to third on a sacrifice bunt and a stolen base.

After Smith scored on a sacrifice fly by Baylee Smith, the Tigers took a 3-0 lead with a two-run home run by Ashley Threatt. Threatt's home run in the first inning was her second this season.

The Red Raiders answered two innings later with a two-run shot in the top of the third inning.

Regan Hadley's team-leading fourth home run of the year in the fifth inning balanced out Texas Tech's two-run shot to give the Tigers a 5-2 lead. The Red Raiders scored one more in the top of the seventh, but with the bases loaded and two outs, Mariah Nichols struck out the final batter swinging.

It took a couple of innings for the Memphis offense to get rolling against the Black Bears, but when it did the Tigers scored two runs in the third and five in the fourth to take a commanding 7-1 lead.

In the five-run fifth, the Tigers strung together five hits including a two-RBI double by Samantha Ibison and a two-RBI single by Jessie Lamb.

Maine added one more run in the top of the fifth inning, but strong relief pitching by Bayleigh Wisher kept the Black Bears at bay.

Notables

The Texas Tech victory was Memphis' first-ever win over a top 10 program.
It was only the fourth-ever top 25 victory in program history.
Ashley Threatt registered her second home run of the season in the bottom of the first inning while Regan Hadley's was her team-leading fourth home run.
Delaney Smith led Memphis with two hits against Texas Tech. One of those hits was her third double of the year.
Bayleigh Wisher improved to 5-1 with the win against Texas Tech. Karli Perque earned the start against the Red Raiders, but her 3.0 innings of work were not enough to claim the victory.
The Memphis pitchers combined for eight strikeouts against Texas Tech and nine against Maine.
Jessie Lamb recorded a team-leading three hits in the win over Maine. She also registered a career-high three RBIs.
Samantha Ibison and Ryleigh Aungst had two hits each against Maine.
Mariah Nichols improved to 5-6 overall with 4.1 innings of work and seven strikeouts against Maine.

Up Next
Memphis will compete one more time this weekend against Murray State. First pitch against the Racers is set for 1:30 p.m. at the Tigers Softball Complex. For more information on the Memphis softball team, follow the Tigers on social media at @MemphisSoftball.