Tigers Close Best Season Since 2017 at AAC Tournament

Friday, May 26

Clearwater, Fla.

Approx. 3:30 P.M.

University of Memphis

29-28

(2) Houston

35-22

Memphis

Houston

Photo by: American Athletic Conference

Tigers Close Best Season Since 2017 at AAC Tournament

May 27, 2023 | Baseball

Box Score

CLEARWATER, Fla. – The sixth-seeded University of Memphis baseball team saw its season come to a close against No. 2 seed Houston, falling 6-5 in an elimination game at the American Athletic Conference Tournament at BayCare Ballpark on Saturday night.

In the first year under head coach Kerrick Jackson, the Tigers (29-28) had their first winning season and most wins since 2017.

"Our guys fought hard tonight," Jackson said. "We fought back and matched their crooked number, which is always the toughest thing to do… We've talked about from day one what the program is going to be about and what our goal is, which is being one of the top programs in the country. I think we laid a solid foundation and put people on notice that we're coming."

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Memphis jumped out to an early lead in the first inning. After a leadoff double by Logan Kohler and Austin Baskin reaching on an error, a great at-bat by Jake Curtis resulted in an infield-RBI single to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.
• Free bases plagued the Tigers in the bottom of the second inning. The Tigers issued four walks and committed an error leading to a four-run inning for the Cougars.
• A two-out solo shot by Anthony Tulimero in the third gave the Cougars a 5-1 lead.
• The Tigers stormed back to tie the game with a four-run fourth inning. Back-to-back infield singles by Cameron Benson and Shane Cox set the table for an RBI single by Jonah Sutton. Baskin then scorched a ball to third that was ruled an E5 and brought in both Cox and Sutton, and Anthony Hansen smacked a double into the right-center field gap to score Baskin and tie the game at 5-5.
• Houston regained the lead on a solo home run by Brandon Ushe in the bottom of the fourth.
• Lefty closer Dalton Kendrick entered in an unconventional role with two away in the fourth inning and threw a season-high 4.1 innings (66 pitches) of three-hit ball, striking out four.
• Down to their final three outs, Brayland Skinner led the ninth inning off for the Tigers with a double. Memphis was unable to get Skinner in from second, and the Cougars took the elimination game by a final score of 6-5.

NOTABLES
• In the first year under head coach Kerrick Jackson, the Tigers had their first winning season (excluding 2020; COVID) and most wins (29) since 2017.
• Kohler ended the night 2-for-5 with a double and two runs scored and finished the season with a .332 batting average to lead the Tigers. He was named Second Team All-AAC third baseman earlier this week.
• Cox finished the game 2-for-4 with a run scored.
• Hansen, Baskin, Curtis and Sutton all drove in a run. Skinner, Kohler and Hansen all slashed doubles.
• Freshman Caden Robinson pitched two innings of relief and was tagged with the loss. He allowed three hits, a pair of runs and struck out two.

How to follow the Tigers: For complete information on Memphis Tiger Baseball, visit www.GoTigersGo.com and follow the team's social media channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.