Memphis Softball began a new era of the program at home with the 901 Classic, a weekend-long event where four teams played five games against each other. After all was said and done, the Tigers remain undefeated after the event and start the season 5-0, which hasn't been done in the history of the program.
"It's honestly an incredible feeling," said sophomore outfielder Neely Taylor after the final game. "This is something that, the whole time I've been here, we haven't done."
Here's how each day of the event went for the Tigers:
Day 1
The first games of the Trena Prater era took place against Rust College and Lindenwood. The first game was against Rust and it was a 21-1 pummeling by Memphis, which is the largest margin of victory in program history. It featured the Tigers' pitchers Jericho Tate and Rylee Dugar combining for 10 strikeouts and the team picking up 14 RBIs in one game, five of which came in the first inning.
The second contest of a double header took place against Lindenwood, who played Memphis a lot closer but still went down 8-2. After a bit of early back and forth, the game was all tied up headed into the sixth inning, where Zoe Adebayo busted the game open with the Tigers' first home run of the season to right field. After this, Memphis would score five unanswered points to seal the first wins of Coach Prater's career at Memphis.
"Usually where Zoe goes, we go. She's our energy bug, she's...the one that's gonna dance, the one that's gonna get the team hype. I'm just so proud of her, she's full of potential and I'm just excited for her to live up to what she truly can do this season," said Prater after the Lindenwood game.
Day 2
The second day saw the Tigers get their first look at Hampton this season and a rematch from the previous day against Lindenwood. Both games showcased the two-way brilliance of sophomore pitcher Taniyah Brown. In game one, she went the distance at the mound and racked up six strikeouts in the process. Brown would also be responsible for the walk-off RBI single to give the Tigers a narrow 3-2 win against Hampton.
After this game, Brown said that being a two-way player is "defenitely something we've been working on."
The rematch against Lindenwood in the second game would go much better for the host team, as the Lions would be shutout for six innings and Memphis comfortably won 5-2.
Day 3
The final day of the event saw the Tigers get another crack at Hampton in the only game of the balmy morning. Despite the weather, the Pirates started out the gates hot, scoring four runs in the first inning. Taniyah Brown, who started at pitcher, was pulled very quickly for Lyrical Bennett. Brown did not let this affect her batting, as she drilled a three-run home run at her first plate appearance to cut the lead to just one.
Then it happened...the dreaded rain delay. Right as Memphis gained some momentum, play was stopped for almost two hours and the game became a test of mental toughness.
After the pause in the action, the Pirates put a pair of runs through to make the score 6-3 going into the bottom of the third inning. Then, all of a sudden, the Tigers pounced. They out scored Hampton 13-1 in the next two innings, including a monster 9 run bottom of the fourth which gave Memphis a gigantic lead. The finishing blow would come from Zoe Adebayo crushing a ball over the center field wall to secure the win.
Coach Prater has brought an unprecedented swagger and confidence to Memphis Softball that has allowed her and the team to be one of only four teams in the AAC that remain undefeated.
The Tigers will be back in action on Feb. 15 when they hit the road for the Northwestern State tournament, playing four games in two days against Jacksonville State and Northwestern State.
