Tigers Drop 8-7 Heartbreaker to Houston

Thursday, May 26

Clearwater, Fla.

3:30 P.M.

University of Memphis

26-28

Houston

36-22

Memphis

Houston

May 26, 2022 | Baseball

Box Score

CLEARWATER, Fla. – After battling back from early 4-0 and 6-2 deficits, the Memphis Tigers (26-28, 9-15) tied the game on a run-scoring wild pitch in the fifth, took the lead on a solo home run by DH Jacob Compton in the sixth, only to see the Houston Cougars (36-22, 13-11) tie the game in the seventh and get a bases loaded walk-off single from DH Santiago Garcia in the ninth. #3 Houston picked up an 8-7 win to move to 2-0 in the AAC Tournament, while the loss for the Tigers sets up an elimination game rematch Friday with #2 UCF, who Memphis beat 7-6 Tuesday.

Memphis: 7, Houston: 8
WP: Jose Torrealba (2-0)
LP: Blake Wimberley (3-7)
SV: N/A

How it happened:

Memphis fell behind one pitch into the home half of the first inning, as CF Brandon Uhse homered off of RHP Connor Shamblin (ND)
After a double by 3B Alex Lopez, C Anthony Tulimero hit a two-run home run over the left field wall, which gave the Cougars a 3-0 lead in the first frame
Shamblin gave up consecutive one-out hits in the second inning, as Uhse scored on an attempted double steal, as Houston led 4-0 after two frames
The Tigers cut the deficit in half in the fourth, as they loaded the bases with no outs, which knocked RHP Jaycob Deese (ND) out of the game
Memphis plated a pair in the inning on a groundout and sacrifice fly against LHP Kyle LaCalameto, as the Tigers trailed 4-2 after 3.5 frames
The Cougars answered right back against Shamblin, as Uhse led off the bottom of the fourth with his third of four hits on the night, while Lopez's third hit of his four in the game, a double, knocked Shamblin out of the game
LHP Jacob Gilmore relieved Shamblin and allowed both inherited runners to score on a two-run double by Tulimero, but the southpaw stranded the bases loaded, as Houston led 6-2 after four innings
The Tigers got to the Houston bullpen in the fifth, as they sent 10 men to the plate in a four-run frame that tied the game
Compton picked up an RBI double, LF Ian Bibiloni pulled Memphis within two on an RBI groundout, while 3B Logan Kohler made it a one run game and knocked LaCalameto out of the game with an RBI double
RHP Logan Clayton got CF Zach Wilson to ground out, which pushed Kohler to third base, and on a wild pitch, Kohler scored the game-tying run on a play that was initially called an out at the plate but was overturned upon video review
Memphis loaded the bases with two outs after tying the game, but RHP Maddux Miller struck out PH Austin Baskin to keep the game tied 6-6
Gilmore and LHP Dalton Kendrick combined for a scoreless sixth inning, which led to Compton's go-ahead blast to right field in the seventh, which gave Memphis its first lead of the night, 7-6
2B Brandon Burckel led off the bottom of the seventh with a single and scored on Uhse's fourth hit of the night, as Wilson's throw to third base got past everyone for a run scoring single + E8 that tied the game, though Kendrick and Wimberley followed with three straight strikeouts to strand the go-ahead run at second base
Houston got a leadoff single from 1B Ryan Hernandez in the eighth, his third hit of the night, but Wimberley stranded him at second base to keep the game tied 7-7
The Tigers didn't get anything going offensively after Compton's home run, as a trio of Houston pitchers retired 11 of the final 13 Memphis hitters of the night
After 1.2 innings of scoreless relief, Wimberley gave up a leadoff single to Burckel in the ninth, Burckel stole second base, Memphis intentionally walked Uhse, while a fly out from Lopez put the winning run on third base with one out
The Tigers intentionally walked Tulimero, which loaded the bases for Garcia, who gave Houston the 8-7 win with a walk-off single down the left field line

Notables:

Compton (2-5) picked up his team-leading 20^th multi-hit game and 13^th multi-RBI game of the season
With a single and a walk, SS Ben Brooks extended his on-base streak to 19 games
With his 3-5 performance, Wilson tallied his third three-hit game of the season

Up Next:

The Tigers will meet UCF in an elimination game Friday, with the winner set to face Houston Saturday
First pitch Friday will be 47 minutes after the conclusion of Tulane/Cincinnati, approximately 3:30 p.m. Central

How to follow the Tigers: For complete information on Memphis Tigers Baseball, visit www.GoTigersGo.com and follow the team's social media channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.