Tigers Fall to Wichita State in Regular Season Finale

Sunday, May 4

Memphis, Tenn.

Noon

University of Memphis

18-35, 5-22

Wichita State

28-24-1, 15-11-1

Wichita State

Memphis

Tigers Fall to Wichita State in Regular Season Finale

May 04, 2025 | Softball

Box Score

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Memphis (18-35, 5-22 AAC) softball dropped the rubber match against Wichita State (28-24-1, 15-11-1 AAC) by a score of 4-2, Sunday afternoon.

After a combined total of three hits through the first four innings, Wichita State took the lead in the fifth inning and held off a Memphis comeback to take the series.

HOW IT HAPPENED

For the second time in the series, it was a pitchers' duel between Rylee Dugar and Ryley Nihart. Neither side was able to score in the first four innings, with Memphis recording no hits and Wichita State having just three.
- In the first matchup between Dugar and Nihart, the pair combined to throw three scoreless innings.
The scoring began in the top of the fifth inning when the Shockers plated three runs.
- After two bunt singles by Sami Hood and Krystin Nelson, Ellie Eck singled off the glove of a diving Zoe Adebayo to plate the game's first run.
- An RBI groundout by Taylor Sedlacek gave Wichita State a two-run lead.
- In the following at-bat, Camryn Compton brought Eck home with a fielder's choice where Eck was safe on the throw home.
Memphis answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning, cutting the deficit to just one.
- Zoe Adebayo doubled to begin the inning and advanced to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Mia Brown.
- Adebayo scored on the next play where Ariel Davis reached on a fielder's choice where the throw towards home was late.
- A two-out RBI double off the bat of Shelby Durbin scored Kayla Clement from first base to make the score 3-2.
Wichita State increased its lead to two runs on an RBI double by Ellie Eck.
Wichita State extended its lead with two more runs in the fourth inning.
Jericho Tate entered in the seventh inning, inducing a two popouts and a flyout to keep Wichita State's lead at two.
In their final at-bats of the regular season, Memphis grounded out twice and lined out in the seventh inning.

NOTABLES

Memphis concludes the regular season with its highest overall win total (18) since 2019 and the most conference wins (5) since 2018.
Rylee Dugar moves to 6-11 with the loss, striking out four batters over six innings.
- In the series, Dugar held Wichita State scoreless in seven of her 13 innings in the circle.
- Dugar finishes the regular season with the most single-season wins (6) by a Memphis pitcher since the 2022 season and the lowest ERA (4.57) since 2019.
Jericho Tate pitched a scoreless seventh inning in the series finale.
- In four innings across two appearances in the series, Tate did not allow a run.
Drue Thomas went 1-for-3 in the contest, finishing the series with five hits.
- At the conclusion of the regular season, Thomas ranks second on the team with a .319 batting average and has the highest batting average (.333) on the team in American Athletic Conference play.
Zoe Adebayo recorded her 12th double of the season in the loss.
- Her 25 extra-base hits (12 doubles, three triples, 10 home runs) are the third-most in a single season in program history.
- Adebayo also finishes the regular season tied with Neely Taylor for the team lead in hits with 42.
Ariel Davis finished hitless in the finale, reaching twice on a fielder's choice, including an RBI fielder's choice that gave Memphis its first run of the game.
Kayla Clement reached on a fielder's choice, later scoring on Shelby Durbin's RBI double.
Shelby Durbin recorded a 1-for-2 performance with an RBI double that cut Wichita State's lead down to just one run.

UP NEXT
The Tigers will be the No. 10 seed in the American Athletic Conference tournament next week in Tampa, Fla. Memphis will play seventh-seeded UAB at noon CST on Wednesday, May 7.

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.