May 11, 2003

Box Score

Memphis, Tenn. - Memphis clinched its first-ever series win over Houston in Conference-USA baseball action witha 9-6 victory over the Cougars Sunday on "Senior Day" at Nat Buring Stadium. Designated hitter Kyle Sledd, the Tigers' lone senior on the squad, scored a run and had a RBI in his final home game.

It was the first series win in seven tries for the Tigers (19-31, 10-16 C-USA) since Houston joined the league in 1997. Memphis stayed alive in the race for the final spot in the league tournament as catcher Kurt Welch led a 14-hit attack for the Tigers as he went 4-for-5 with three RBIs in just his second game back from a wrist injury.

Welch had a RBI double in a two-run eighth inning that pushed the Tigers' lead to 9-6 after Houston had rallied to get within a run as the Cougars (29-23, 17-10 C-USA) scored three runs in their half of the eighth. "Those two runs we scored in the eighth inning were big for us," Memphis head coach Dave Anderson said. "But our starting pitching is what won the game for us. (Stephen) Gostkowski kept us in the game and (Kurt) Welch and Chad House had some big hits for us today."

True freshman Stephen Gostkowski (4-4) earned the victory for the Tigers allowing three earned runs on six hits in 6.2 innings of work. Sophomore Bill Edwards pitched the final 2.1 innings allowing one earned run on three hits to pick up his second save of the series. Left-hander Brian Henderson (4-3) took the loss for the Cougars after allowing four earned runs in 3.1 innings.

Welch gave Memphis a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first with the one of his three RBI hits, but the Cougars quickly tied the game at one in the top of the second on a RBI single by Gabe Lucas. Lucas finished the contest with a 3-for-4 effort and two RBIs.

The Tigers put together a string of three consecutive two-out singles in the second to grab a 3-1 lead. Chad House drove in Kyle Scott, who led off the frame with a single and Michael Lewis who started the trio of two-out singles. Centerfielder Kevin House had an infield single in the inning to extend his hitting-streak to 17 games.

Houston cut the Memphis lead to one in the fourth taking advantage of a two-out fielding error by the Tigers. The Tigers got the run back in the fourth without the benefit of a base hit. Henderson walked two batters before being replaced by junior Bryan Harris. After Harris struck out Kevin House, he hit Chad House with a pitch to load the bases. Before striking out Moss, Sledd scored on a wild pitch by Harris.

Memphis got three singles in the fifth inning from Welch, Dlugach and Scott to build its lead to 6-2. Welch gave the Tigers a 7-2 lead in the sixth inning with his third single of the game and second RBI. However, the Cougars continued to chip away at the lead scoring three runs on three hits to make it a 7-5 lead in the seventh. Third baseman Hung Cho had a RBI single in the hole which brought on a pitching change for the Tigers as Edwards replaced Gostkowski. The first batter Edwards faced was Bruce, who sent a two-run homer over the leftfield wall.

Houston then cut the Memphis lead to one in the eighth after Lucas scored on a fielding error by Scott at first base, but Memphis built its lead back to three as Moss and Welch each came through with clutch two hits to drive in runs for the Tigers. Edwards pitched the ninth getting Cho to ground into a double play after a leadoff single by Farrington. Bruce then lined out to Dlugach at shortstop to end the game. Memphis travels to UT-Martin to play the Skyhawks at 3 p.m., before starting their final C-USA series of the season Thursday at South Florida.