The Tiger baseball team won its season-high fifth straight contest Wednesday, blanking Middle Tennessee State, 2-0, in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Memphis, which lost a two-game series to the Blue Raiders at AutoZone Park by a combined score of 18-10 earlier this season, got a stellar pitching performance this time from freshman starter Daniel de Armas, who carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning.
De Armas (1-1) threw seven and 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball, giving up just two hits to get his first win of the year. Relievers Josh Cartwright and Josh Payne finished the game without allowing a hit or a run.
Senior catcher Barrett Smith gave Memphis (10-14) all it would need offensively in the first inning with a two-out RBI single that scored junior Paul Cookman. Freshman shortstop Brent Dlugach gave the Tigers some insurance in the top of the sixth with his team-leading sixth homer of the season.
The loss was the fourth straight for the Blue Raiders (18-10) and their second straight to the Tigers after dropping an 8-5 extra-inning contest to Memphis Tuesday. In that game, Memphis used a 12th-inning homer from junior first baseman Andy Gesell to win its third straight extra-inning contest.
The Tigers, which won five of seven games during their nine-day road swing, return home Friday to begin a three-game Conference USA series against Tulane (16-15) at Nat Buring Stadium on South Campus. Memphis holds the seventh spot in the C-USA standings at 5-4 while Tulane is ninth at 3-6.
