Tigers Earn AAC Road Sweep of Owls in Houston

Sunday, April 7

Houston, Texas

1 P.M.

University of Memphis

17-17, 0

Rice

9-23, 0

Memphis

RICE

Photo by: Brock Busick

Apr 07, 2024 | Baseball

Box Score

HOUSTON, Texas – The University of Memphis baseball team completed a three-game, road American Athletic Conference sweep at Rice with a 2-1 win over the Owls at Reckling Park on Sunday afternoon.

The Tigers got back to .500 on the season, improving to 17-17 overall (5-4 AAC) with the win as the Owls dropped to 9-23 overall (1-8 AAC). The road conference sweep for Memphis was the first since taking all three games at the University of Houston, May 17-19, 2012, when the Tigers were still members of Conference USA.

Memphis entered the weekend seventh place in the AAC standings and jumped to a three-way tie for fourth place with the sweep.

"Great weekend," head coach Matt Riser said. "We talked about it early in the season. When you get a chance to sweep, you have to sweep. At the end of the year, you'll look up and the top-two spots might be separated by a game or two, same thing with the middle of the pack and bottom of the pack. So, to sweep and take that extra game and go 3-0 it makes a difference at the end of the season."

HOW IT HAPPENED
• In a low-scoring pitchers' duel, all the offense came early. The Tigers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning, thanks to an RBI double by designated hitter Jacob Compton and a one-out RBI single by first baseman Shane Cox.
• Rice's Treyton Rank got the Owls on the board in the bottom of the third with a sac-fly to right field to make the score 2-1, Tigers.
• Caden Robinson made his eighth start of the season and went 4.0 innings, allowing just one run on four hits while striking out three and walking one.
• The game was turned over to the Tiger bullpen in the fifth inning. Logan Rushing pitched 1.1 hitless innings of relief and struck one Owl out.
• A key play in the game came with one out and runner at first and second base for the Owls in the bottom of the sixth inning. Jackson Lyons came on in relief of Rushing and used just three pitches to induce a 6-4-3 double play to get Memphis out of the jam unscathed.
• Lyons then turned it over to shortstop Jake Curtis who moved from his primary position to the pitcher's mound. Curtis posted a pair of scoreless, one-hit innings with a punch out to get the Tigers to the ninth inning still clinging to their 2-1 lead.
• Memphis went to AAC saves leader Brayden Sanders in the ninth to lock down the win. Sanders allowed a hit and walked one before a foul out on a bunt marked the first out of the inning. Sanders proceeded to pick off a runner at second base before the Owls hit into a ground out to Curtis at shortstop for the game's final out to give the Tigers the road sweep.

NOTABLES
• The sweep marked the first of the season for the Tigers and was the first since sweeping South Florida in Memphis last season. The road sweep marked the first since taking all three games at Samford in 2022, and the first conference road sweep since 2012 at Houston.
• Compton and Cox each recorded a hit and drove in runs.
• Curtis was credited with the win after his 2.0 scoreless innings of relief.
• Sanders notched his conference-leading seventh save of the year.

UP NEXT
• The Tigers hit the road for Conway, Arkansas, for a midweek game with Central Arkansas (13-18) Tuesday night at 6 p.m.

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.