Tigers fall 10-4 at No. 2 Vanderbilt

Tuesday, March 9

Nashville, Tenn.

4:30 p.m.

University of Memphis

4-6

Vanderbilt

10-1

Memphis

Vanderbilt

Photo by: Matthew A. Smith

Mar 09, 2021 | Baseball

Box Score

Tigers fall at No. 2 Vanderbilt

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Early offensive opportunities kept the Tigers at pace with No. 2 Vanderbilt on Tuesday, but the Vanderbilt offense continued to fire on all cylinders, as the Tigers fell on the road 10-4.

The Tigers (4-6) had chances in each of the first three innings against RHP Christian Little (ND), but came up empty in the first two frames. Behind 3-0 after two, the Tigers got to Little and knocked him out of the game before he completed the inning. Braden Webb led off with a single and advanced to third on a base hit from Ian Bibiloni. Hunter Goodman put Memphis on the board with a sacrifice fly, while consecutive two-out RBI singles from Alec Trela and Taylor Howell tied the game 3-3.

Carson Stinnett (L, 2-2) posted a shutdown inning in the third but saw the Commodores score in the fourth and fifth innings. Vanderbilt (10-1) took the lead in the fourth on an RBI single from Jayson Gonzalez, a lead the home team didn't relinquish. The No. 2 ranked team in the nation followed with a three-run fifth and knocked Stinnett out of the game. The Memphis starter allowed seven runs, only two earned, over 4.2 innings.

Patrick Reilly (W, 1-0) relieved Little and allowed just one hit over 3.1 innings. Miles Garrett followed with an inning out of the bullpen and allowed an unearned run, while Hugh Fisher and Chris McElvain each followed with a scoreless inning of relief for the Commodores.

After Vanderbilt struck for two runs in the sixth to take a 9-3 lead, the Tigers had a chance to get back into the game in the seventh. The first three batters of the inning reached against Garrett, as Webb and Jaylen Wilbon singled, while Bibiloni reached on a run-scoring error. Garrett struck out Goodman and then hit Ben Brooks, which loaded the bases, but Trela struck out and Howell grounded out. The Tigers left the bases loaded and trailed 9-4 at the stretch and 10-4 after seven full innings.

Neither side scored in the final two frames, as Fisher and McElvain kept Memphis off the board, while Brayden Green and Takoda Metoxen didn't allow a hit out of the Memphis bullpen. Webb and Trela each tallied two-hit nights, while both Bibiloni and Brooks reached base three times.

After six games on the road against Power Five competition, Memphis' next seven games will be at home against non-Power Five teams in non-conference competition. This weekend, the Tigers will welcome the Miami (OH) RedHawks to town for a three-game set. The weekend series gets underway at 4 p.m. on Friday with matinee games Saturday and Sunday, all at FedExPark.