Tigers Fall in Extras after Cutting Seventh-Inning Deficit

Sunday, March 2

Monroe, La.

2 PM

University of Memphis

10-11

ULM

14-7

MEMPHIS

ULM

Photo by: Steven Spehar

Tigers Fall in Extras after Cutting Seventh-Inning Deficit

Mar 02, 2025 | Softball

Box Score

MONROE, La. – Memphis softball showed strong resiliency, overcoming a four-run deficit in the seventh inning before falling to ULM in the ninth inning of the final game of the Best on the Bayou Tournament, 8-7.

"I'm proud of our fight today," said head coach Trena Prater. "We went toe-to-toe for nine innings with a team that run-ruled us yesterday. McKaylee Polk's grand slam to tie the game in the seventh inning was phenomenal. Once we clean up our defense, we will be a force to reckon with."

HOW IT HAPPENED

Kennedy Semien reached on a single to lead off the game and eventually came around to score on a wild pitch to give the Tigers an early lead.
Memphis continued to pressure the Warhawk defense as Mia Brown scored from second on a Faith Brown single that just found space in short right field.
ULM did not allow the Tigers to keep momentum in their favor, as they plated two runs in the bottom of the second inning.
- Jacelyn Buck brought home the Warhawks' first run of the game on an RBI single.
- Brooklin Lippert reached on an error that allowed Buck to score, tying the game at two runs apiece.
A single by Elle Carter which caused a fielding error by Memphis allowed ULM to take the lead in the third.
- Carter later scored on a wild pitch to bring ULM's lead to two runs.
A sacrifice fly in the fourth inning off the bat of Mia Brown allowed Arianna Cox-Cole to score, cutting the deficit to one.
The Warhawks responded in the bottom half of the inning with a sacrifice fly of their own from Morgan Brown.
After a scoreless fifth inning, ULM padded its lead with two more runs in the sixth inning off the bats of Hollie Thomas and Elle Carter.
After beginning the inning at a four-run deficit, the Tigers strung together a hit, walk and hit-by-pitch to load the bases. With one out in the inning after a strikeout by Zoe Adebayo, McKaylee Polk hit a grand slam to complete the comeback and tie the game at seven runs each.
- Lyrical Bennett worked through her second inning in relief to force the game into extra innings.
Both sides went scoreless in the eighth inning and Memphis failed to produce a run in the top of the ninth inning.
After moving the runner to third on a flyout to start the inning for ULM, Carys Platt ended the game with a sacrifice-bunt hit that scored pinch runner Cheyenne Jenkins for the walkoff victory.

NOTABLES

Three Tigers (Kennedy Semien, Taniyah Brown, Zoe Adebayo) close out the weekend with a season OPS above 1.000.
- Semien also leads the team with seven multi-hit games and five multi-RBI performances.
McKaylee Polk's grand slam was the second of Memphis' season, with Drue Thomas previously recording one against Mississippi Valley State. It was also the 16th grand slam in program history.
Despite taking the loss, Lyrical Bennett did not allow an earned run over her three innings of work.
Neely Taylor logged her 21st of the season and continues to be the only Tiger to have started every game this season.
After 21 games played, the Tigers have more hits, runs scored, doubles, triples, home runs and RBIs than the opponents that they have faced.
Memphis currently has a stolen base rate of 79.4%, with 27 stolen bases on 34 attempts.

UP NEXT
Memphis travels to Conway, Ark. for a midweek contest at Central Arkansas on Wednesday before beginning American Athletic Conference play at Tulsa this coming weekend.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE TIGERS
For complete information on Memphis Tigers Softball, visit www.GoTigersGo.com and follow the team's social media channels on Twitter, Instagram , and Facebook.