Tigers fall at Southeast Missouri State

Tuesday, March 19

Cape Girardeau, Mo.

2 p.m.

University of Memphis

10-9

Southeast Missouri

12-9

Memphis

Southeast Missouri

Photo by: Matthew A. Smith

Mar 19, 2019 | Baseball

Box Score

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – An early advantage was not enough as Memphis baseball stumbled at Southeast Missouri State on Tuesday afternoon by a final of 7-6 at Capaha Field.

Memphis (10-9) plated four runs in the top of the first inning and held a pair of leads throughout the game. But SEMO (12-9) twice tied the contest and scored four of the game's final five runs to complete the comeback.

On the mound, walks plagued the Tigers. The Memphis pitching staff issued nine bases on balls and hit a pair of Redhawk batters. Three of the home team's first five runs reached base via a walk.

Offensively, Cale Hennemann and Payton Marshall both enjoyed multi-hit days for the Tigers. Alec Trela drove in a pair of runs and blasted his first home run of the season to give Memphis its second lead of the afternoon.

The Tigers took advantage of four walks, a hit batter and a balk in the first inning to build their early momentum.

Nick Vaage became the game's first base runner, drawing a one-out walk. Hunter Goodman extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a double, and a sacrifice fly by Trela put the Tigers on the board. Keith Stepter drew a walk to push home a run later in the inning and a balk called with the bases loaded set the 4-0 lead for the Tigers.

The Redhawks responded with a trio of runs in the bottom of the opening frame behind three walks and three hits.

After the Tigers built a 5-3 lead in the third, SEMO benefited from four consecutive walks to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning. A groundout with the bases loaded later in the frame marked the first tie of the game at 5-5.

In the sixth inning, Trela connected on his 16^th career home run to give Memphis a 6-5 lead, but SEMO answered with a run in the bottom of the inning via a wild pitch to tie the game and added the go-ahead run in the seventh to secure the win.

Memphis will seek to rebound this weekend as conference play begins. The Tigers will travel to Wichita State for a three-game set, starting with a 6 p.m. first pitch on Friday evening.