Bats Come Alive In Softball's Saturday Sweep

Saturday, March 2

Memphis, Tenn.

11:15 AM

University of Memphis

7-9

UT Martin

9-7

UT Martin

Memphis

Photo by: Matthew Smith

Mar 02, 2019 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Tigers improve to 3-0 at the Blues City Classic

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis softball team extended its winning streak to three games Saturday with a 5-2 victory over UT Martin and a 9-1 win over Mississippi State at the Blues City Classic. The Tigers improve to 8-9 on the year with Saturday's sweep.

The bats came alive Saturday against the Skyhawks to help Bayleigh Wisher win her third game of the season. Gracie Morton and Samantha Ibison led Memphis in game one with three hits each. Several other Tigers registered hits including Baylee Smith who launched her fourth home run of the season.

It took three innings for Memphis to get on the board against UT Martin, but once the Tigers scored they racked up all five runs in the third and fourth inning. UT Martin cut the Memphis lead in half during the top half of the fourth, but four hits and three runs by Memphis put the Tigers back up 5-1 after four innings.

Wisher registered 4.2 innings of work in the victory with two strikeouts. Karli Perque entered the game in the fifth inning for Memphis and tallied her first save in a Memphis uniform.

Memphis struck first against Mississippi Valley State with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Much like the game against UT Martin, the Devilettes cut the Memphis lead down to one with a run in the top of the fourth inning.

A pair of doubles by Morton and Baylee Smith broke open the contest in the home half of the fourth. The bats continued to come alive as Memphis racked up four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, culminating with a single through the left side by Delaney Smith to end the game.

Mariah Nichols threw a complete game against Mississippi Valley to earn her second victory this season.

Scoring
Game 1 – Memphis 5, UT Martin 2
Bottom 3 – Gracie Morton led the inning off with a double down the right field line. She scored on a two-run home run by Baylee Smith. (2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on base)
Top 4 – UT Martin singled to lead off the fourth. The base runner advanced to second on a ground out and scored on a single through the right side. (1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 left on base)
Bottom 4 – Alyssa Dean doubled to left center and advanced to third on a bunt single by Samantha Ibison. A double through the left side by Delaney Smith scored Dean and a single up the middle by Morton scored both Smith and Ibison. (3 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on base)
Top 5 – UT Martin strung together three singles to score its second run of the game. (1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on base)

Game 2 – Memphis 9, Mississippi Valley State 1
Bottom 1 – With two outs, Baylee Smith singled through the left side. A pair of stolen bases combined with back-to-back walks loaded the bases for Regan Hadley. Hadley singled up the middle to score two. (2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on base)
Top 4 – Mississippi Valley State put a pair of runners on with a single and a double with one out. A wild pitch scored the lone Devilettes run of the game. (1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on base)
Bottom 4 – Memphis battled back and strung together three hits to score three runs. Back-to-back doubles by Gracie Morton and Baylee Smith drove in all of the runs in the inning. (3 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on base)
Bottom 6 – Gracie Morton reached by getting hit by the first pitch she saw with no outs. A walk to Baylee Smith put two on for Ashley Threatt. Threatt doubled to left center to score Morton. A wild pitch scored Baylee Smith and a single to left field by Ryleigh Aungst drove in Kelsey Frizzell, Threatt's pinch runner. With the bases loaded, Delaney Smith singled through the left side to end the game. (4 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 3 left on base)

Notables

Four players ended the day with four hits. Samantha Ibison finished with the highest batting average for the day, going 4-for-6 at the plate with a team-high three stolen bases.
Gracie Morton finished the day with four hits including a 3-for-4 effort against UT Martin. She had a pair of doubles and also got hit by a pitch. She led the Tigers with four RBIs.
Ashley Threatt went 3-for-5 with two drawn walks and an RBI.
Memphis registered six stolen bases against Mississippi Valley State and nine total on Saturday.
Baylee Smith continued her hot bat with a 4-for-7 effort with a double and a home run.
Six players hit at least .500 at the plate on Saturday.
The Memphis pitching corps combined for a 1.62 team ERA Saturday. Bayleigh Wisher and Mariah Nichols each recorded a win and Karli Perque had her first save in a Memphis uniform.
Memphis struck out just four times compared to drawing nine walks.U

Up Next
Memphis returns to action tomorrow afternoon against Loyola Chicago. Due to the potential for rain in the morning, Memphis is set to take on the Ramblers at 3:30 p.m. at the Tigers Softball Complex. For more information on the Memphis softball team, follow the Tigers on social media at @MemphisSoftball.