Memphis Can’t Rally from Early Hole in 8-5 Loss to East Carolina

Saturday, May 7

Memphis, Tenn.

2 P.M.

University of Memphis

21-23, 5-12

East Carolina

29-18, 13-4

East Carolina

Memphis

Photo by: Matthew A. Smith

Memphis Can’t Rally from Early Hole in 8-5 Loss to East Carolina

May 07, 2022 | Baseball

Box Score

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Just three batters into Saturday's game, the Memphis Tigers (21-23, 5-12) trailed 1-0 and weren't able to climb out of the quick deficit in an 8-5 loss to the East Carolina Pirates (29-18, 13-4). The Tigers fell behind 4-0 after 3.5 innings and never got closer than three, as the Pirates earned the series win and set up a sweep opportunity for Sunday's series finale. Both teams struggled with RISP, as East Carolina went just 1-18 while the Tigers went 2-9.

Memphis: 5, East Carolina: 8
WP: Trey Yesavage (1-0)
LP: Dalton Fowler (2-3)
SV: Ben Terwilliger (1)

How it happened:

After Friday's series opener didn't see either team tally a hit until the ninth inning or a run until the 13^th frame, Saturday's matinee saw each team pick up a hit in the opening inning
SS Zach Agnos led off the game with a double and scored two batters later on an RBI groundout by CF Bryson Worrell, as East Carolina led 1-0 after half an inning
A single and walk opened up the Pirate's second trip to the plate, and both runners eventually scored, as 3B Alec Makarewicz drew a bases loaded walk and LF Lane Hoover made it 3-0 East Carolina with an RBI groundout
After a leadoff walk led to a run for the Pirates in the top of the fourth, Memphis finally struck against RHP Ryder Giles (ND), as DH Jacob Compton led off with a single, moved to third on a single by LF Ian Bibiloni, and scored on a passed ball, which made it 4-1, though Memphis left two in scoring position in the inning
The Tigers used a leadoff single from CF Zach Wilson and an eventual sacrifice fly from Compton to trim the deficit to 4-2 in the fifth, which is where the score stayed until the seventh inning
In his second inning of relief work, RHP Blake Wimberley looked like he had gotten through the seventh frame unscathed, but multiple defensive mishaps led to three East Carolina runs
3B Logan Kohler dropped a pop-up that would have been the third out of the inning and put a zero on the board, but it allowed a run to score, RF Blake Daniels misread a shallow fly ball to RF off the bat of 1B Josh Moylan that went in as an RBI double, while a throwing error by 2B Austin Baskin plated a third unearned in the inning and made it 7-2 East Carolina
Memphis countered in the home half of the seventh, as Wilson and Kohler connected on back-to-back one-out singles, while SS Ben Brooks plated both with a double over the third base bag, though Memphis stranded him at third base and trailed 7-4 after seven innings
Both sides struck for a run in the eighth, as Worrell gave the Pirates an insurance run on a safety squeeze, while C Brennan DuBose plated Daniels with a two-out RBI single that made it 8-5 Pirates, the eventual final

Notables:

Wilson tallied his first three-hit game of the season, his 11^th multi-hit game of the year
Kohler (2-4) and Brooks (2-5) each notched their 14^th multi-hit games of the season, tied for the second most on the team
With his 1-3 day at the plate, Bibiloni has reached base in 18 straight games, while Wilson's three hits extended his on-base streak to 16 games

Up Next:

Memphis and East Carolina will meet in the series finale Sunday, with first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m.
Prior to Sunday's series finale, the Tigers will have a pre-game ceremony to celebrate the 18 years that head coach Daron Schoenrock has led Memphis baseball

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.