In front of the fourth largest crowd in FedEx Park at Avron Fogelman Field history, Memphis defeated non-conference rival Ole Miss on Tuesday. It was a bullpen game for both teams due to it being a midweek contest, featuring multiple relievers throughout the game.
Ole Miss got the scoring started with an Ethan Lege double before Memphis responded with a Daunte Stuart single in the bottom of the first to tie the game. That would be a common theme early, with Ole Miss scoring and Memphis responding immediately.
Ole Miss scored on a grounder in the 3rd, but Jake Curtis responded with a home run to even the game at two. In the 4th a Will Marcy squeeze bunt scored two to give the Tigers their first lead of the night.
In the middle innings the wind picked up heavily, blowing the ball towards right field and making it tough on the outfielders. In the seventh, Ethan Lege got an RBI double to bring the game to 4-4 with the Tigers needing to rely on their depth to pull out the victory.
The bottom of the seventh started off with a one-out hit by pitch for Jake Curtis. After a successful steal of second, Austin Baskin would hit a single to allow Memphis to retake the lead.
A Daunte Stuart double and a Pierre Seals walk would load the bases for the Tigers with one out. After a strikeout, a passed ball would give Memphis their second run of the inning. Then a Jonah Sutton double would score two, and Shane Cox finished off the inning with a single to give Memphis a commanding 9-4 lead.
After that, the game was out of reach. Ole Miss managed one hit the rest of the way, as Memphis cruised to a 9-4 victory. It was their first victory over Ole Miss in Memphis since 2017 and their first on-campus win over the Rebels since 2001.
While it’s just a mid-week victory, from a program perspective, this is an important win for Memphis baseball given the number of fans in attendance. Putting on such a good show for the home crowd will leave a positive impression in people’s heads and incentivize people to attend more games.
From this season’s perspective, to get a complete team victory against a quality opponent like Ole Miss is certainly good for morale.
“I think it’s important to use these mid-week games,” said Coach Riser postgame. “To go into the weekend feeling good about yourself.”
Whether Memphis can turn one win, however, into a run in April though is the biggest question heading into an away series versus Rice this weekend.
