Tigers claim series win against UNCW

Sunday, March 17

Memphis, Tenn.

12 p.m.

University of Memphis

10-8

UNC Wilmington

11-10

UNC Wilmington

Memphis

Photo by: Steve Roberts, WKU Athletics

Mar 17, 2019 | Baseball

Box Score

Six early runs propel Memphis to series victory

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Early offense proved to be the difference Sunday as Memphis baseball claimed its weekend series with a 7-4 win against UNCW in the three-game finale.

With the win, Memphis (10-8) has claimed victories in eight of its last 10 games. Sunday also marked three straight series wins for the Tigers.

"There are a lot of guys who went through the battles last year and learned a lot. You can see that they are taking every at bat and one inning at a time. That's what this team is doing," Head Coach Daron Schoenrock said. "We started some different trends offensively where we're chasing more quality at bats. Instead of chasing batting average, you're chasing production. That's helped us out of the cellar offensively."

The Tigers used timely hitting to plate seven runs on six hits, with six of those runs coming in the first two innings. Freshman Hunter Goodman enjoyed a 2-for-4 day with four RBI, driving in the Tigers' first four runs.

Chris Durham picked up his first win of the season on the mound. The junior surrendered just two runs behind six strikeouts in 5.1 innings pitched.

Senior Alex Hicks carried the momentum on the hill with a pair of strikeouts in 2.2 innings pitched before junior Joshua Scheer registered his first save of the season.

Memphis plated two runs in the first inning to establish momentum. Ben Brooks singled to lead off the frame while Nick Vaage followed with a walk. After a passed ball moved the runners into scoring position, Goodman delivered a two-strike single up the middle for his first two RBI of the day.

After UNCW (11-10) evened the contest on a two-run homer in the top of the second inning, the Tigers responded quickly in the home half. Jason Santana hustled out a dropped third strike to reach base safely at the start of the frame. Another single from Brooks and walk by Vaage loaded the bases for Goodman's second RBI moment. The rookie connected on another two-strike single up the middle to put the Tigers in front at 4-2.

"It's unbelievable what he has been doing as a freshman," Schoenrock said of Goodman. "He's got tremendous bat speed, and he's been able to keep his bat in the plane of the zone a long time. He's come up big in this stretch run. He's been a great weapon in this lineup."

With the bases loaded once more in the second, the Tigers plated another run on a wild pitch. Cale Hennemann then drove in a run on a sacrifice fly to extend the lead at 6-2.

The Tigers added another run in the sixth off the bat of Colton Neel. UNCW threatened in the top of the eighth with a pair of runs, but the Tiger defense stood tall to end the frame and set up Scheer to close the door in the ninth.

Memphis will return to the diamond on Tuesday for one final tune up before conference play begins, as the Tigers will travel to Southeast Missouri.