Tigers Smell Sweep Following Two Wins On Saturday
The Memphis Tigers baseball team was back in action on a frigid Saturday for a doubleheader against the Valparaiso Beacons. Ultimately, the Tigers clawed away two wins at FedexPark Avron Fogelman Field edging game one, 5-4, followed by a 9-3 win in game two on Saturday. With the win, Memphis improved to 4-1 on the season while the Beacons fell to 0-5 with the pair of losses.
We will briefly analyze each game, the players who stood out, and three ways the Tigers can get the brooms out on the Beacons on Sunday afternoon.
Game One
Memphis head coach, Matt Riser, would go with Seth Garner in game one who was making his second start of the season. The Beacons struck early as they took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the first stanza. The Tigers answered with a run in the bottom half of the first as James Smith IV smacked a two-out RBI, and Chase Nixon scored to cut the deficit to one run. The runs continued to cross the plate as Shane Cox launched his second home run of the season to tie the game at two runs a piece.
Smith IV grounded out in the bottom of the third which scored Will Vasseur from first to put Memphis up 3-2 going into the fourth inning. The Beacons bats would erupt in the top half of the fifth when Case Sullivan launched a two-run home run to put Valpo up 4-3.
The Tigers’ resilience shined through as Nixon doubled, his second of the season, down the right field line to score Vasseur, again as Memphis knotted the game at four. Runs being scored went as cold as the temperature outside in Memphis until the bottom of the eighth when you guessed it, Smith IV tripled down the right field line to score Vasseur to put the final run of the game on the board as the Tigers took the 5-4 lead.
To close the game, we saw righty Kylan Stepter enter in the ninth to close out the Beacons. Stepter didn’t waste time as he struck out the first two Beacons he faced while getting his fastball to 95 miles per hour. The right-hander then allowed a walk followed by a single before getting a flyout to close the game. This is the first save for Stepter as he shuts the door on Valpo and proves to be another strong arm to be utilized as the season transpires.
Tigers Who Shined In Win
We started with the mound as we saw many arms used in the close win for the Tigers. Memphis starter Garner as he labored five innings while allowing seven hits, four runs, two walks, and four strikeouts. In the end, Garner threw eighty-four total pitches with fifty-two being strikes. Memphis fans got to see lefty Logan Rushing as he entered the game in relief of Garner and allowed two hits, had three strikeouts along with thirty-two pitches in two innings of work. Davis Oswalt, who got the win for Memphis, faced one batter in the bottom half of the eighth to secure the final out of the frame.
At the plate, there were many Tigers who were stellar in the win. Vasseur had a three-hit game as he finished three for four on the day with all singles and scoring three times. Smith IV, who drove Vasseur in all three times, finished two for four with a triple and three runs batted in.
In the end, the Tigers clawed out a win over a stingy Beacons program despite their record on the year. Could Memphis get the day-one sweep of the Beacons?
Game Two
As the temps continued to fall, the Memphis baseball team heated the Bluff City in game two. Riser sent left-hander David Case to the mound for his second start of the season. Things started well for Case as he whiffed the first two Beacons he saw. This was abruptly stopped as Thomas Cooper smacked a solo home run over the left field wall to put the Beacons up 1-0 early. In the top of the third, Kade Reinerston from Valpo sent the second home run of the day for the Beacons over the left field wall to put Valo up two runs to nothing going into the bottom half of the inning.
The Tigers scratched five runs across the board in the bottom of the fifth as Vasseur singled to score Jonah Sutton, and closed the bottom of the third as Smith IV scored Vasseu to put Memphis up five to two. Memphis scored again, in the bottom of the sixth, after a Nixon double to score Daniel Perez and Sutton. This was followed by a Vasseu fielder’s choice which scored Perez on an error from the Beacons and extended the lead to seven with a nine to two lead.
Valpo scored on a Ryan Maka double to left field to score Sullivan and score their third and final run of the game. In the end, Memphis finished with nine hits and six runners left on base.
Tigers Who Shined In Win
We again started on the mound for the Tigers as Case improved to 1-1 on the season with the win. The lefty struck out eight Beacon batters while allowing a pair of runs on three hits in five innings of work. Case was effective all day from the bump as he threw fifty strikes in his eighty-five pitches on the day.
In relief for Case, Memphis witnessed the debut of Micheal Dallas as he worked two innings allowing one run on two hits, whiffing two Beacons, and two walks in his ten batters faced. Dallas threw forty-six pitches with twenty-four being for strikes on the day. Another debut took place as Connor Pittman entered the game in the top of the eighth. Pittman made quite the first impression as he worked nearly two perfect innings as he faced six batters allowing no hits or runs while throwing thirty-three total pitches with twenty-four called strikes in the cleanup duty.
From the plate Memphis saw Nixon finish two for three with a double, a run scored, and a pair of runs batted in. On the day, through both games, the left fielder had multi-hit games. Sutton completed the win two for three from the plate with a double while scoring three runs from the last spot in the lineup.
Smith IV finished both games driving in five runs while Vassuer finished with four hits in what was a dominant win to close the sweep of the doubleheader.
What Did Riser Say?
Following both wins we heard a happy Riser as these were two good wins. The second-year head man of Memphis said in postgame “It’s always good when you can sweep a doubleheader,” followed by “We talk about it all the time – you can’t sweep unless you take care of business on the front side.” when discussing the importance of the pair of wins.
With one game remaining in the weekend series, the Tigers are eying a sweep of the Beacons. Riser was transparent as he stated “Hopefully the guys will be able to come out with the energy they need tomorrow to finish off a sweep.” followed by “Once you get yourself to this moment, this is what championship clubs do, they have to take care of business.” when discussing the mindset as we head to the Sunday game.
When Is Game Three?
As we close, we look at the final meeting of the weekend for these programs. Game three is scheduled for Sunday with the first pitch at 1:05 pm and will be streamed on ESPN+.
