Softball falls to Northern Colorado, defeats Hawai'i on day two of Paradise Classic

Friday, February 7

Honolulu, Hawai'i

6:30 PM

University of Memphis

Northern Colorado

Photo by: Courtney Metzger

Softball falls to Northern Colorado, defeats Hawai'i on day two of Paradise Classic

Feb 08, 2020 | Softball

Game 2 vs. Northern Colorado Game 3 vs. Hawai'i

Memphis earned the No. 1 seed in bracket play starting Saturday afternoon

HONOLULU, Hawai'i – The University of Memphis softball team bounced back after a setback to Northern Colorado in extras to defeat Hawai'i in the night cap Friday evening. The Bears took game one from the Tigers by a score of 6-5 in eight innings before the Tigers evened out the day with a 15-3 win against the Rainbow Wāhine.

Memphis improves to 2-1 on the year and will enter bracket play at the Paradise Classic hosted by Hawai'i. With its 2-1 record through two days, Memphis has earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament with two games remaining tomorrow.

Game One
The Tigers jumped on the board first as Gracie Morton launched her first home run of the season in the bottom of the second inning, giving Memphis a 1-0 lead. Later that inning, a single through the left side by Sara Ann Davidson scored freshman Meagan Chism, who followed Morton's home run up with a double to right field.

Memphis maintained its lead through the third inning until Northern Colorado posted a three spot in the top of the fourth. The Bears put four consecutive hitters on base to start the inning before using the combination of a fielder's choice and a sacrifice fly to take the lead from Memphis.

In the bottom of the seventh inning with two outs, Kendall Lee drew a walk that sparked the Memphis offense into producing the game-tying run. Morton drove in the Tigers' third run of the contest with her third hit of the game.

With the international tiebreaker rule in effect, Northern Colorado put its first hitter of the inning on base with a bunt single. The Bears had runners on the corners with no outs before a home run to center made it a three-run game in favor of Northern Colorado.

Memphis attempted a comeback, loading the bases with no outs. A sacrifice fly by Ryleigh Aungst combined with a fielder's choice play that scored Davidson put two runs on the board for the Tigers. Northern Colorado halted Memphis' comeback by forcing a pop-up to end the game.

Mariah Nichols was handed the loss in game one against the Bears. Morton led Memphis with three hits, a home run, a double and a single. Chism and Alyssa Dean also contributed a pair of hits each. The Tigers drew five walks while only striking out twice.

Game Two
A solo shot in the bottom of the second inning by Hawai'i put the Rainbow Wāhine on the board first against Memphis. The Tigers responded in the third, capitalizing on a pair of throwing errors by Hawai'i to go along with two hits by Aungst and Brady Rowland to take a 4-1 lead.

The fifth inning told a similar story in favor of the Tigers, as Memphis capitalized on a pair of throwing errors by Hawai'i. Four runs scored in the fifth with three Tigers recording hits in Morton, Baylee Smith and Sam Ibison. The Tigers had runners on first and second with one out before Memphis lined into a double play to end the inning.

Hawai'I earned two runs back in the bottom half of the fifth. The Rainbow Wāhine recorded three doubles in the inning before a ground out to Ibison at shortstop ended the inning.

In the top of the seventh inning, Lee broke open the contest with the first Memphis triple of the season, scoring Morton Brianna Lucero who came in to pinch run for Rowland. Rowland, with one out, singled up the middle for her second hit of the game and Morton followed with a walk.

After Lee's triple, Memphis' offense ignited for four more runs in the inning, including another triple by Delaney Smith to drive in three runs. Memphis finished with seven runs scored in the top of the seventh inning.

The 15 runs scored by the Tigers against Hawai'i are the most scored in a game by Memphis since Feb. 26, 2016 when the Tigers defeated Jackson State by a score of 15-2.

Three players recorded multiple hits against the Rainbow Wāhine, including Delaney Smith who also finished with a team-leading three runs scored and three RBIs. Chyanne Ellett improved to 2-0 in the circle this season after hurling 3.2 innings with three strikeouts. Nichols put in 2.1 innings of work, striking out one and allowing just two hits.

Up Next
Memphis will take on Northern Colorado in the No. 1/No. 4 matchup at 4 p.m. CT Saturday afternoon. The winner will face the winner of the No. 2/No. 3 matchup of Hawai'i and Iowa State at 8 p.m. CT while the losers of the first two matchups will compete at 6 p.m. CT. For more information on the Memphis softball team, follow the Tigers on social media at @MemphisSoftball.