The Memphis Tigers softball team will travel to East Carolina this weekend to continue conference play. The Tigers are having a historic season. This is the best start in head coach Natalie Poole’s career at Memphis. This season is tied with the win record from the best record-start in program history in 2011.
27- The number of wins the Tigers have this season. The team has 10 losses. Last season, the Tigers went 29-27 and ended in the conference semifinals in the American Athletic Conference tournament. That was the best season for the Tigers under Poole. The best team in program history went 36-14 and ended in the NCAA tournament.
35- The most wins any team coached by Poole has seen in a season. In 2006 at Georgia Southern, Poole and the Eagles went 35-35, and Georgia Southern reached postseason in the NCAA tournament.
6- The number of conference games Memphis has played. Memphis is 3-3 in conference pay. They won the Wichita State series 2-1 on the road. This past weekend, they lost the series to South Florida 1-2.
15- The Tigers have 15 conference games left in the regular season, and five more conference opponents to face. They will play a three-game series against East Carolina, Central Florida, Connecticut, Tulsa and Houston. Tulsa and UConn will be at home, but ECU, UCF and Houston will be on the road.
.328- The batting average for the Tigers as a team this season. The Tigers are 10th in the nation in team batting average. Kyler Trosclair Klatt and Baylee Smith lead Memphis in batting average with averages above .400 and are in the top-75 in the nation.
16- The number of home runs the Tigers have this season. The Tigers hit 10 home runs last season. First baseman Ashley Threatt leads the Tigers with six home runs, while second baseman Brooke Lee is second with five. Kendall Lee, Delaney Smith, Baylee Smith and Riley Walker have also hit homers for Memphis this season.
222- The number of strikeouts pitchers Molly Smith, Mariah Nichols and Katie Brignac have given opponents this year. Smith, a senior, leads the pitchers with 159 strikeouts, 16 wins and a 1.49 ERA.
8- The number of triples Kyler Trosclair Klatt has this season. She is tied for first in the nation with Boston University’s Brittany Younan. She is one shy of tying former outfielder Lindsay Crowdus’ nine triples, the most by any Tiger in a single season. The Tigers have 16 triples this season and .43 per game, the sixth-highest in the nation.
20- Where the Tigers rank as a team in stolen bases per game. The Tigers have 74 stolen bases this season, which averages to two per game, and freshman outfielder Delaney Smith leads Memphis with 26 stolen bases.
Memphis’ next game is at ECU on Friday. The next home game is at Tiger Softball Complex on the Park Avenue Campus where the Tigers will face the Murray State Racers on April 18 at 5 p.m.
Mariah Nichols gets set to pitch. The freshman has a 2.68 ERA and has had 62 strikeouts.
Delaney Smith records a hit against Mississippi State. Smith leads the American Athletic Conference with 28 stolen bases.
