Tigers swept in doubleheader as Baylor offense catches fire

Saturday, March 6

Waco, Texas

2 p.m.

University of Memphis

4-3

Baylor

5-4

Memphis

Baylor

Photo by: Matthew A. Smith

Tigers swept in doubleheader as Baylor offense catches fire

Mar 06, 2021 | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

WACO, Texas – After a one-run loss on Friday, the Memphis Tigers couldn't keep pace with the Baylor Bears in either half of Saturday's doubleheader. Baylor handed the Tigers their first shutout of the season in a 9-0 game one loss, while the Bears' offense went wild in Memphis' 20-4 game two defeat. The Tigers have dropped the first three games in the series and have fallen in four straight after a 4-0 start.

In the opening game of Saturday's doubleheader, Memphis (4-4) hung around for most of the seven-inning affair. The Bears struck for a run in the opening frame against Chris Durham (L, 0-1) on an error by Jaylen Wilbon. Behind 1-0, the Tigers got just one man on base in the first two innings and didn't tally their first hit of the game until a one-out double by Wilbon off of Tyler Thomas (W, 2-0) in the third. On Wilbon's double, Nick Jones tried to score from first base but was thrown out at the plate 7-6-2, as Baylor (6-4) maintained a 1-0 lead after 2.5 innings.

The Bears gave themselves some breathing room with three runs in the third. Durham hit Jared McKenzie with a pitch to begin the frame, and he advanced to third base on a wild pitch and passed ball. An RBI single from Andy Thomas doubled the Baylor lead, while a two-run base hit from Jack Pineda made it 4-0 Bears. Durham allowed four runs, three earned, on six hits, over three innings.

Memphis' offense never got anything going against Thomas, who allowed just two hits and struck out nine over six innings. Jones tallied the Tigers' only other hit against the Baylor starter in the fifth, but he never advanced past first base. Baylor put the game away against Bailey Wimberley in the sixth inning, as 11 men came to the plate and the Bears scored five runs. Thomas and Kyle Nevin each had an RBI single, while Wimberley walked in three runs. Baylor led 9-0, while Hambleton Oliver worked around a walk and HBP in a scoreless seventh inning that secured Baylor's 9-0 shutout win.

The back half of the doubleheader saw the Tigers hold the lead midway through the nine-inning matchup, but Baylor exploded for 14 runs over the fifth and sixth innings combined. The Bears struck for one run in the first and two in the third against Jackson Cothren (L,0-1), but the Tigers got to Cam Caley (ND) for four runs in the fourth frame.

The first five Memphis hitters in the fourth inning reached base, as Alec Trela got the Tigers on the board with a two-run double. Two batters later, Braden Webb tied the game with a safety squeeze bunt single, while Ian Bibiloni put Memphis ahead with a run-scoring infield base hit. The four-run inning gave Memphis a 4-3 lead, though the Bears outscored Memphis 17-0 the rest of the way.

A six-run fifth inning preceded an eight-run sixth frame for the Bears. Cothren got just one out in the fifth inning, while Carson Stinnett was charged with three runs as he got the final two outs in the frame. Cothren struck out three, walked three, and was charged with five earned runs over 4.1 innings. Stinnett allowed three hits and issued a walk over 0.2 innings. A pair of RBI doubles from Davion Downey and Jacob Schoenvogel highlighted the six-run inning for the Bears, who led 9-4 after five.

Baylor put the game on ice with eight runs on only three hits in the sixth. Logan Walters entered the game out of the bullpen for Memphis to start the inning and issued consecutive walks to begin his outing. Thomas came away with an RBI double, while Downy tallied two more RBIs on a single. Dalton Kendrick relieved Walters but walked in two runs and gave up a two-run double to Tre Richardson. Baylor led 17-4 after six innings. The Bears added three runs in the eighth inning against Takoda Metoxen and ran away with a 20-4 blowout win.

In an effort to avoid the weekend sweep, the Tigers will turn to Landon Kelly (1-0, 3.00) on Sunday. Kelly struck out eight and allowed just four hits over five innings in a victory over Grambling State last Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. on ESPN+.