Keith Stepter walks off in disbelief after being struck out. Stepter is tied for second in stolen bases with four so far this season.
The Memphis Tigers baseball team played Ole Miss Tuesday at AutoZone Park in Downtown Memphis. After a hard fought game, the Tigers lost to the Rebels 9-6, falling to 11-12 in the season so far.
Senior Colton Neel said despite the game being on a bigger stage, there is no difference from playing at home or FedExPark, because at the end of the day, winning is important, not where the game is being played.
“The first couple of innings, there’s a little bit of nerves, but after that it’s baseball,†Neel said. “You settle in, and it’s fine.â€
Memphis starter Landon Kelly had a rough start on the mound. After a 1-2-3 top of the first, Kelly gave up five hits and four earned runs in the top of the second.
The Tigers needed a momentum push heading into the bottom of the second and got exactly that. With the bases loaded and down by four, sophomore Ben Brooks tripled ,scoring three runs, and cut the lead by one.
Brooks said when the bases are loaded, it’s a tough situation.
“I just tried to find my pitch, and stick to my plan,†Brooks said. “I put a good swing on it, and luckily it fell.â€
With two outs in the bottom of the second, Alec Trela doubled scoring Ben Brooks to tie the game 4-4.
The Tigers’ pitchers struggled the rest of the game, giving up five more runs. Coach Daron Schoenrock said that with high pitch counts, he had to put in some key bullpen pitchers.
“We were hoping that Landon would get the game under control and go three innings, but command wasn’t quite there so, they were in hitters counts more,†Schoenrock said. “It made us go to the bullpen soone. We had to go to our normal bullpen guys a little more than we wanted to in that game.â€
The Tigers gave up three runs in the fourth to trail by three. In the bottom of the eighth with two runners on, Neel tripled scoring two to cut the lead down by one. Neel said it felt good to come up big for his team.
“I was sitting fastball, and I took a fastball down the middle,†Neel said. “So that didn’t work out. The next pitch I was sitting curveball, and I got the curveball and I hit it. And I was lucky because it hit the line.â€
The Tigers gave up two more runs in the top of the ninth and would lose the game 9-6 after a ground out by Jason Santana in the bottom of the ninth ended the game.
Schoenrock said playing against SEC teams is a great way to prepare for upcoming conference play.
“We’ve played some really good teams, but they’re all preparation,†Schoenrock said. “You’ve got to make pitches to their lineup, but we’re all very similar in talent at the division one level.â€
Memphis has dropped four of their last five games and will play their conference opener against a Houston team that has also struggled so far this season. The Cougars sit at 12-11 on the season, despite winning their last game against Sam Houston, they dropped two of their last six.
The Tigers will play against Houston on Friday at FedExPark at 6 p.m.
