Memphis softball would take an 86-mile trek to Oxford to take on the Rebels from Ole Miss. The Lady Tigers would fall 6-0 at the end of the night. We have discussed that this program, under Stephanie VanBrackle Prothro, is in the process of rebuilding under a new culture and tonight’s game enhanced this. Memphis did not come away with the victory but the fight and effort were once again prevalent in their performance. We will focus on stats from the team along with some players who played well within these stats, and what is next for the program on the schedule.
Tigers Stats Tonight
From the Mound
Sophomore Mikayla Hoshak took the mound for Memphis tonight and performed well in all reality. Horshak would pitch 4.1 innings tonight facing 23 batters. She would finish the night allowing 6 hits, 5 runs, and 3 walks in her 72 pitches thrown. Tonight was Horshak’s 12th appearance of the season. Horshak would get the loss tonight making her season record now 1-8.
Freshman Rylee Dugar would take the mound in relief for Horshak. Dugar would face 10 batters tonight in her 1.2 innings of work. Dugar would finish her action by allowing 1 hit, 1 run, and 4 walks in her 51 pitches thrown. Tonight was Dugars 18th appearance of the season for Memphis and currently has a 1-8 record on the season.
Memphis would finish the night with 123 total pitches. Out of these Memphis was fairly balanced with 63 being called balls and 60 as strikes. This computes to a 48.8 percent strike average. Versus the leadoff position, the Tigers were 3/6 on the night along with runners on base, which was 5/17.
The Tigers would allow 7 hits, 6 runs, 7 walks, and have one strikeout on the night. In 33 batters faced, the Tigers would allow 3 doubles, one home run, and four extra-base hits on the night. The Tigers duo from the mound would have a defense that would get four ground outs and eleven flyouts on the night. Memphis finished with a fielding percentage of .958 with 5 assists and one error on the night.
From The Plate
Memphis would finish the night of 3/22 at the plate. This computes to a .136 average. In the situation where Memphis was at bat with two outs, The team finished ⅛ or a .125 average and 0/9 with runners on base. Memphis would leave 6 runners on base tonight. In the leadoff position, Memphis was 2/7 or .286 on average. Memphis would finish 1/6 tonight when striking out looking.
As mentioned, Memphis would get three hits on the night. Freshman Madison Berner would garner her 16th hit of the season of 2023 when she would double in the first inning. That double would make the 3rd of the season for Berner. Sophomore Linsey Hargis would get her 14th hit of the season tonight Fifth-year senior Sam Ibison would get her 25th hit of the season tonight when she would single in the fifth inning.
Memphis is putting more pressure on the opposing pitchers by the week. With conference play upon us look for this team to start getting the bats rolling. With players such as the ones mentioned in this article and other pieces from this season, this program will make some noise in the American Conference. To further this point go back and look at their last game against a talented Houston team and see the fight in this Memphis program.
What’s Next?
Memphis will hit the road for a weekend series, March 31-April 2, against the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes. Tulsa comes in with a 14-16 record and is on a current four-game losing streak. Tulsa will host #2 Oklahoma State on March 29th prior to the Memphis series starting.
