Tigers claim series win in doubleheader sweep of Houston

Friday, March 29

Memphis, Tenn.

2 p.m.

University of Memphis

12-12, 0

Houston

13-12, 0

Houston

Memphis

Photo by: Matthew Smith

Tigers claim series win in doubleheader sweep of Houston

Mar 29, 2019 | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Memphis baseball secured its weekend series against Houston behind a doubleheader sweep on Friday at FedExPark.

Balanced pitching and hitting in both games helped the Tigers secure their first league series win since 2017. Memphis posted a 7-3 win in the day's first game. In the nightcap, Memphis scored a 6-4 victory behind late-game heroics by freshman Hunter Goodman, who finished the day 4-for-8 with six RBI, plated four runs and recorded his first two collegiate homers.

"It's clicking," Coach Daron Schoenrock said of his offense, defense and pitching. "We've been very good when two of those three have been working for us. Early it was the pitching, and now the hitting has come around. When we get all three going, we'll be hard to handle. Every time we've excelled in two of those three, we have won."

Coupled with a strong performance on the mound, the Tigers' offense turned in a pair of big innings in Game 1. Ben Brooks helped pace the offense with a 3-for-4 effort.

The Tigers struck for three in the top of the first inning when Goodman sent his first home run of the day over the left field wall.

"I've been seeing pitches better," Goodman said. "I've been more patient at the plate. That's what helped me today."

Memphis added four in the fifth inning behind four hits to build a 7-0 lead.

On the mound, Hunter Smith scattered three runs across eight innings and tied a career best with nine strikeouts. After Houston trimmed the deficit to 7-3 in the eighth, Takoda Metoxen threw a hitless ninth inning to seal the day's first victory.

Early offense continued for the Tigers in the second game, while all 10 of the game's runs scored via a home run. Junior Joshua Scheer earned the win after cooling Houston's offense in late innings. Senior Colton Neel then registered his fifth save of the season.

In the bottom of the first, Payton Marshall connected on the team's second grand slam of the season to build a 4-0 lead. Marshall's round-trip hit marked his second homer of the season after a solo shot to open last weekend's Wichita State series.

Houston responded with a three-run home run in the top of the third inning and then knotted the game at 4-4 in the sixth behind a solo homer.

With the contest tied, Scheer tossed a pivotal pair of innings to silence the Cougars' bats in the seventh and eighth. The junior surrendered only one hit and struck out three of the seven batters he faced to help set up Memphis' game-winning moment.

"What a huge hold by Josh Scheer. I think that was the difference in the game," Schoenrock said. "We had a hard time putting hitters away, and Josh came in there and quieted it down. We got the momentum back on our side, and our offense fed off on that."

After Alec Trela battled through a nine-pitch walk to lead off the eighth, Goodman sealed the doubleheader sweep after his second home run of the day.

"We're capable of doing a lot," the rookie added. "We've got a lot of good arms and good bats. We have the ability to win as many as we want to, we just have to go play like we can."

The Tigers will close the three-game series Sunday at 1 p.m. at FedExPark.