Tuesday, the Memphis Tigers got a taste of what Major League Baseball batters have endured for 15 seasons.
In an 8-5 loss to the Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans at Nat Buring Stadium, the Tigers faced a pitcher with the similar build of Arizona Diamondbacks ace Randy Johnson.
Johnson is a 6-foot-10-inch lefthander with 3,746 strikeouts. The Trojans have a hurler with the same height and a few less career Ks, in junior Josh Wallace.
Wallace worked four innings, only allowing two hits while striking out four of the 14 Tigers he faced.
Memphis outfielder Kevin House said Wallace’s height made it difficult to pick up his pitches at the plate.
“He was long,” House said. “So, when that arm comes down — it’s like the arm is right in front of you. That could have been a problem for us earlier in the game. But basically what it comes down to is that man has to throw the ball over the plate.”
UALR head coach Brian Rhees made sure his pitcher did not throw too many pitches over the plate because of a pitch count he kept on the hurler.
When Wallace left the mound, the Trojans had a 7-0 lead.
UALR jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. In the second, the Trojans added three runs to the scoreboard.
Junior outfielder Aaron Haefele drove in infielder Brodie Ward with a single.
The next batter, shortstop Matt Spatafora, crashed a two run home run over the leftfield wall to extend the lead to 5-0.
UALR added a run each in the third and fourth innings. The Trojans scored their final run in the sixth inning after a Chris Julo double drove in Joe Mercer.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Memphis bats woke up.
After sophomore outfielder Jordan Hart was hit by a pitch and sophomore outfielder Chad House was walked, junior Kevin House hit a triple into right center to score both runners.
House was brought home from third after a single by sophomore shortstop Brent Dlugach.
“We were saying in our heads the whole time, ‘we will make a come back,’” House said. “What ever it takes we knew we needed to do it.”
It seemed in the next inning a comeback win was possible. After junior catcher reached base on an error, junior second baseman Michael Lewis creamed a home run over the centerfield wall.
The comeback ended there. Junior infielder Kyle Scott said, in college baseball no lead is safe, but the Tigers still needed to learn how to capitalize on little opportunities.
“Earlier in the season we have been scoring a lot of runs,” Scott said. “We know no lead is really safe, and we could come back. I think with a few key hits we could have been in that game.”
UALR (5-4) improved their road record to 2-2.
Today, Memphis (3-3) prepares to defend home field versus the Austin Peay Governors at 2 p.m.
The Governors (6-3) have three shutouts this season, with seven runs being the most allowed by an opponent.
Austin Peay has lost three of the last four, only scoring five runs in those games.
Memphis head coach Dave Anderson said the Tigers know the importance of the game against the Governors and what needs improvement.
“It’s a big game for us,” Anderson said. “We need to start playing a little better and doing some things correctly on the field. We just need to do the things we need — to get better.”
