Winning Ways Continue For Memphis Softball

Wednesday, March 21

Memphis, Tenn.

4 PM

University of Memphis

21-7

UT Martin

14-16

UT Martin

Memphis

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Mar 21, 2018 | Softball

Box Score

Kendall Lee records second-straight pinch-hit home run in win over UT Martin

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis softball team continued its winning ways Wednesday evening with a 6-2 victory over UT Martin at the Tigers Softball Complex. The Tigers improve to 21-7 on the year with conference play beginning this weekend at Wichita State.

Memphis saw itself down early to the visiting Skyhawks after a solo home run in the top of the first inning. The Tigers had an answer, however, with two runs in the bottom half of the frame to take a 2-1 lead.

Allowing UT Martin to tie up the game in the second, the Tigers and the Skyhawks entered into the bottom of the fourth inning tied at 2-2. It was then in the bottom of the fourth when Memphis broke open the floodgates offensively.

Ashley Threatt started the scoring with a solo home run, her team-leading fifth, to left field. Four batters later, Kendall Lee made her pinch-hit opportunity count with a three-run home run off the left field foul pole. It was Lee's second-straight plate appearance with a home run after launching a grand slam against Ole Miss Tuesday evening.

Mariah Nichols earned her eighth victory of the season after putting in 7.0 innings of work for the Tigers. She finished with four strikeouts in her fifth complete game of the season.

Tiger Tidbits

Kendall Lee came up big again for the Tigers in the bottom of the fourth inning with a pinch-hit three-run home run. It was her second-straight plate appearance with a home run after hitting a grand slam against Ole Miss.
Delaney Smith recorded a pair of RBIs for the Tigers with her hit up the middle in the bottom of the first inning.
The Tigers recorded four walks to just one strikeout at the plate.
The Memphis scoring was well distributed as 6 different Tigers crossed the plate.
Mariah Nichols improved to 8-3 on the year in 7.0 innings pitched for the Tigers.

Scoring
Memphis 6, UT Martin 2

Top 1 – UT Martin hit a solo home run just left of dead center to take a 1-0 lead. (1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on base)
Bottom 1 – Memphis answered in the bottom half of the first to regain the lead from UT Martin. A pair of walks and a single by Baylee Smith loaded the bases. Delaney Smith then delivered with a single up the middle to score two to give Memphis the lead. (2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on base)
Top 2 – UT Martin led the inning off with a six-pitch walk. A sacrifice bunt and a single through the left side put runners on first and third. The run scored after a dropped throw attempting to get the runner out at second. (1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 left on base)
Bottom 4 – Ashley Threatt led the inning off with a solo home run to left field. A walk by Delaney Smith combined with Brooke Lee reaching on a fielding error put a pair of runners on for the Tigers. Regan Hadley laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners into scoring position for Kendall Lee, who came in to pinch-hit. Lee proceeded to hit a three-run home run off the left field foul pole to put Memphis up by four. (4 runs, 4 hits, 1 error, 3 left on base)

Next Up For The Tigers
The Tigers begin conference play this weekend on the road at Wichita State. The two teams will begin play Friday evening at 6 p.m. in Wichita, Kan.

Tiger fans can also follow the team's live scoring through the Official Memphis Tigers app by Sidearm, available in both Apple and Android app stores. For more information on the University of Memphis softball team, follow the Tigers on Facebook and Twitter at @MemphisSoftball.