Since being swept by No. 22 East Carolina, The University of Memphis baseball team is 8-1 in Conference USA action and trails first place Rice by two games for the league lead. The Tigers (22-14 overall, 8-4 C-USA) took all three games from UAB this weekend to move into a second place tie with Tulane.
"With that loss to ECU we were all kind of down about the conference," said senior reliever Dusty Davis. "But then we kind of turned it around. Our pitching has done a little bit better. Ben Grisham stepped up to be our Friday night guy and Scotty (McGregor) came back around. Our defense has been playing really good too. Our sticks have always been there, but they've kind of stepped up here recently to get us those extra runs."
Senior righ-handed pitcher Ben Grisham got the ball rolling in his start against Southern Miss in the Tigers' C-USA home opener March 30. Grisham threw eight innings of shutout baseball and struck out a career-high five to lead Memphis to the 8-1 win, ending the team's five game skid. This was Grisham's first time as a Friday night starter. He replaced the struggling Scott McGregor who became the Saturday starter.
The move paid off for McGregor. The sophomore right-hander is 3-0 since swapping spots in the rotation with Grisham. In the best start of his career, McGregor held 21st-ranked Tulane to two runs on six hits in seven innings as Memphis topped the Green Wave, 5-3, in New Orleans last weekend. The Tigers took two of three games from Tulane in the series.
Davis, meanwhile, has been the workhorse of the staff with a team-high 39 innings pitched. The senior reliever has a 3.23 ERA and a 5-1 record.
Despite the heavy load, Davis said his arm still feels fresh as Memphis heads into the stretch run of its season.
"I've really never had problems with my arm," Davis said. "I just try to stay in shape."
Offensively, The U of M led C-USA in hitting last season but struggled early this spring. The Tiger bats have come alive recently, led by Bill Moss and his .328 average. The senior second baseman leads the conference with nine homeruns.
"We've had some guys step up," Davis said. "We've always had big bats. They've been working at it, hitting in the cages. It's finally all catching up for us. They're coming through in the big moments."
Preseason All-American candidate Adam Amar went a combined 6-for-11 in the three game series at UAB with five RBIs and his second homerun of the season. Amar is hitting .310, good for third on the team for players with more than 100 at-bats.
The Tigers will play Austin Peay tonight at 6:30 at Nat Buring Stadium in the first of a home-and-home midweek series.
