University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
22-20
Arkansas State
23-22
Tigers close April with 11-9 victory
Apr 30, 2019 | Baseball
The Tigers (22-20) held off a late offensive rally to post an 11-9 victory. Memphis used early offense to build a 10-3 lead, including seven runs in the first frame, and relied on its bullpen to seal the win.
Cale Hennemann helped pace the Memphis offense with a four RBI night behind a grand slam. Hennemann's homer was his second of the season and third grand slam for the Tigers this year.
Hunter Goodman and Colton Neel each recorded a pair of hits. Neel also tied a career high with three runs scored. Nick Vaage added a pair of RBI and scored a run.
On the mound, Landon Kelly picked up the victory. With Arkansas State threatening down the stretch of the game, the Tigers' bullpen allowed just one run in the final 3.1 innings and struck out four. Takoda Metoxen registered his second save of the season, both coming in consecutive appearances.
Memphis got off to a strong offensive start with seven runs in the bottom of the first inning. The Tigers used a pair of Arkansas State errors to plate the game's first two runs. Later in the frame, Hennemann's grand slam gave Memphis a 7-0 cushion.
Both sides traded runs in the third inning, and the Red Wolves trimmed their deficit with a pair of runs in the third inning.
Memphis answered back in the fourth inning after a pair of runs. With the bases loaded, a sacrifice fly and ground out extended the lead to 10-3.
Arkansas State trimmed the gap with five unanswered runs before Memphis tacked on another score behind a sacrifice fly from Vaage for an 11-8 advantage after the sixth inning.
The bullpen took over the game in the seventh inning as the Tigers limited the Red Wolves to one run in the eighth the rest of the way to seal the victory.
Memphis will shift its focus back to league play as the Tigers host USF this weekend. First pitch from FedExPark on Friday is set for 6 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Kelly, Landon (2-3)
L: Stone, Noah (1-1)
S: Metoxen, Takoda (2)
Batting:
2B: Tipton, Drew 1 ; MacDonald, Kyle 2
HR: MacDonald, Kyle 1 ; Howard, Alex 1
RBI: MacDonald, Kyle 6 ; Culver, Sky-Lar 1 ; Duncan, Tyler 1 ; Howard, Alex 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Davis, Eli 2 ; Tipton, Drew 1 ; MacDonald, Kyle 1 ; Culver, Sky-Lar 1 ; Howard, Alex 1 ; Reid, Karsen 1 ; Huber, Will 2
SB: Davis, Eli 1
Batting:
2B: Neel, Colton 1
HR: Hennemann, Cale 1
RBI: Ouellette, Kyle 1 ; Vaage, Nick 2 ; Trela, Alec 1 ; Marshall, Payton 1 ; Hennemann, Cale 4
SF: Vaage, Nick 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Brooks, Ben 1 ; Neel, Colton 3 ; Goodman, Hunter 2 ; Ouellette, Kyle 1 ; Vaage, Nick 1 ; Trela, Alec 1 ; Marshall, Payton 1 ; Hennemann, Cale 1
SB: Ouellette, Kyle 2
CS: Brooks, Ben 1
HBP: Brooks, Ben 1 ; Neel, Colton 1 ; Ouellette, Kyle 1 ; Stepter, Keith 1
