Tigers Cap Eight-Game Road Stretch at Murray State, First Pitch Moved to 1:05 P.M.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis (16-26, 8-10 American) baseball team will take a trip to Murray, Kentucky for a midweek game against Murray State (26-18, 12-6 Missouri Valley) on Tuesday. The start time for the game has been moved to 1:05 p.m. due to anticipated weather in the area.

Memphis holds a 44-26 advantage in the all-time series against the Racers. Tuesday's matchup will be the 71st meeting between the two teams and their first since 2022, when the Tigers edged out a 5-4 victory. In the last trip to Murray, Kentucky (April 24, 2018), Memphis came away with a 10-6 win.

Memphis (16-26, 8-10 American) sits in sixth place in the American Conference and heads into the midweek after winning one out of three at UAB over the weekend. Memphis showed flashes offensively throughout the series but came up short in two of the three games. In the opener, the Tigers jumped out early and regained the lead late, but UAB walked it off with back-to-back solo homers in the 11th despite Memphis collecting nine hits and seven walks. The Tigers bounced back in game two, racking up 14 hits and scoring in five innings, highlighted by a decisive four-run seventh while also pressuring UAB with aggressive baserunning. In the finale, the Blazers pulled away with five-run frames in both the fifth and seventh, while Memphis was held to six hits and struck out 13 times.

Memphis has been aggressive on the basepaths all season, racking up 96 stolen bases to lead the American Conference and rank 30^th nationally. Leading the charge is senior Freddy Rodriguez, who is 34-for-38 in stolen base attempts, topping the league and ranking third in the country. Rodriguez is six stolen bases away from breaking the single-season stolen base record for the Tigers.

Memphis has flashed the glove all season, ranking 51st nationally with a .976 fielding percentage. The Tigers have committed just 35 errors, 13 fewer than the program's single-season record low of 48 set in 2022. Their current fielding percentage is also just one point shy of the school record of .977, established in 2011.

Fourteen different Tigers have recorded a home run this season, combining for 48 as a team. Senior center fielder Michael Gupton tops the lineup with 11 long balls, ranking fourth in the conference.

Murray State (26-18, 12-6 Missouri Valley) is currently first in the Missouri Valley Conference, maintaining its momentum after its Cinderella run all the way to the College World Series last season. Last weekend the Racers took two of three at Southern Illinois. Murray State opened the series with a 13-1 run-rule victory Friday, powered by a grand slam from Kainen Jorge and a seven-inning complete game by Nic Schutte. The Racers then dropped game two in dramatic fashion, falling 7-6 on a walk-off after allowing three runs in the ninth. They rebounded in Sunday's finale to secure the series, earning a 7-5 win behind a four-hit performance from Connor Chisolm that included a pair of triples.

On the mound, the Tigers will call on RHP Seth Impson (1-2, 8.27 ERA) to make his sixth start of the season. The Racers starter has yet to be determined.

At the plate, Murray State has been led by Kainen Jorge (9 HR / 46 H / 32 RBI), Luke Mistone (.342 AVG / 64 H / 44 RBI) and Kristofer Hokenson (9 2B / 6 HR / 27 RBI). As a team, the Racers rank 67^th in stolen bases (75) and 89^th in runs scored (306).

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

Tigers Cap Eight-Game Road Stretch at Murray State, First Pitch Moved to 1:05 P.M.

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Players Mentioned

Michael Gupton

Seth Impson

Freddy Rodriguez

University of Memphis Athletics