Memphis Clawed By Wildcats In Mercy Rule Loss
In game two of the I-75 Challenge, the Memphis Tigers softball team embarked on a catfight as they faced the top 25-ranked Kentucky Wildcats. In the end, the Tigers fell, by mercy rule, 9-1, in five innings of play. This ended up being the only game of the day for Memphis as game two, against Dayton, was canceled due to electrical issues at the facility at Kennesaw State.
We will briefly analyze the game, dive into some updated team and player stats, and look at what is next in this challenge.
What Happened In The Loss?
While the final score may not be close there was plenty of fight from Memphis. The starter for Memphis was Rylee Dugar. The junior allowed 1 hit while walking 5 in her 19 batters faced. The Tigers had 10 walks issued on the day from the pitching staff, something we have not seen thus far in 2025 and it was costly on Saturday. Kentucky jumped out to a lead early with five runs in the bottom of the first. These runs came on one hit from the Wildcats as five were walked in the first stanza.
Both programs went stale offensively before Shelby Durbin ruined the shutout party for Kentucky as she singled. Durbin would be driven in for the first run for Memphis by Kennedy Semien‘s double. Jericho Tate, who entered the game in the bottom of the 1st, pitched 2 innings while holding the Wildcats scoreless through the 2nd and 3rd innings. Tate, who was relieved in the bottom of the fourth by Lyrical Bennett, finished the day allowing 1 hit, 2 runs, and 3 walks in her 12 batters faced in two innings of work. Bennett finished the game allowing 4 hits and 2 runs while issuing 2 walks in 7 batters faced in relief.
The Wildcats offense clawed at Bennett as the game was put out of reach with the four runs plated followed by a three-run homer from Allie Blum of Kentucky. In the circle for the Wildcats was Julie Kelley and she was stellar. Kelley threw a complete game while striking out 4 Tigers and allowing 4 hits in the win for Kentucky.
Stats? Are we Talking About Stats?
In the loss, there are positives to be discussed. The Memphis pitching staff currently has recorded 59 strikeouts through their first 13 games. This accomplishment in the circle was not achieved until the 16-game mark in the 2024 season.
Fans saw Neely Taylor snap her streak of consecutive games reaching base, at 12 games, as she went 0-2 from the plate against the Wildcats. Taylor does still hold an OPS above 1.000 as Semein, Zoe Adebayo, and Taniyah Brown all have achieved this so far in 2025.
Semein now leads the Tigers in batting average, with a .459, hits, with 17, runs, with 10, and walks with 7 on the season. In addition, she is second on the roster in runs batted in as she has amassed 11 in the season. As a team, the Tigers have scored 96 runs on 123 hits which includes 23 doubles, 5 triples, and 0 home runs along with 82 runs batted in. The Tigers have a .360 average from the plate, a .535 slugging percentage, a .424 on-base percentage, and a .948 fielding percentage as of February 23rd.
What Is Next?
Memphis will close the road trip, in a doubleheader, against the Georgia State Panthers. Game one is scheduled for 10 am with game two at 12:30 pm CST. We will dive into the Panthers to preview the final game. Entering the weekend the Panthers were on a two-game winning streak and a 3-9 record.
As we dive into the stats of the Panthers, we start with the plate. Leading the team from the plate is Maia Mumpfield. She leads the team in batting average, with a .459, with hits, with 17, doubles, with 4, and in OPS, with 1.027. In addition to this, she is tied for 2nd in RBIs with six on the season.
On the mound, the Panthers have been powered by three arms, Sydney Boulware, Emily Hodnett, and Makayla Stephens. Each in this trio has at least 10 strikeouts and 17 innings of work while Boulware leads the staff with a 3.56 ERA, while Stephens leads, with 21, in strikeouts.
Memphis and Georgia State have only met once, in 2011, when the Tigers prevailed 3-2 for the win. Thus far in the I-75 Challenge, Georgia State has gone 1-2 as they split their Friday action, day one, against the Dayton Flyers, and fell, to Kennesaw State, on Saturday.
