Tiger Softball Team Struggles in Baton Rouge

The Memphis Softball team recorded four straight losses this past weekend at the LSU Invitational tournament in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Tigers got shut out in two of their games against opponents LSU, who is currently ranked #7 in the nation, and California State University Northridge.

This was a tough weekend for the Tigers who had just come away from the Florida Gulf Coast Invitational winning three of their four games. In their first game of the LSU Invitational, on Friday, the team got shutout by CSUN 2-0. The Tigers struggled offensively in the game recording zero hits and two walks, however the Tigers defense played well. Pitchers, Karli Perque and Bayleigh Wisher, had a good performance allowing a combined three hits and recording seven strikeouts. Jillian James, pitcher for CSUN, had her first career no-hitter against Memphis

The Tigers were shutout again in their second game of the day against LSU with a final score of 0-4. Gracie Morton and Regan Hadley were able to record the only two hits in the game, but neither player could reach home. Mariah Nichols pitched the entire game and allowed eight hits along with recording four strikeouts. Shelbi Sunseri, the LSU pitcher, had a career-high ten strikeouts against the Tigers. Sunseri also recorded her eighth homerun on the year in the game.

On Saturday, the Tigers started off against Sanford and lost 5-1. The team looked better offensively against Sanford. The Tigers managed to get six hits, Gracie Morton led the team with two. Memphis’ only score came in the fourth inning from Regan Hadley who scored on a RBI-single by Ashton Stowe. Karli Perque and Mariah Nichols each pitched one inning, while Bayleigh Wisher pitched in five. Wisher finished the game with two strikeouts and three hits. Stanford went on to record a perfect weekend at the LSU Invitational

In their second game on Saturday the Tigers faced Michigan. Michigan won the game 4-2. Memphis recorded three hits against Michigan. Regan Hadley had one hit in the second inning that gave Memphis a 1-0 lead and freshman Ryleigh Aungst recorded the first home run of her college career in the seventh inning, cutting Michigan’s lead to 4-2, but Michigan stopped a comeback from the Tigers with back-to-back outs. Madalyn Alexander pitched the first three innings for the Tigers followed by Kailey Hilderbrand for two innings. Mariah Nichols pitched the last two innings of the game. Hilderbrand recorded one strikeout while Nichols allowed zero hits and recorded two strikeouts. The Michigan pitching corps allowed only two runs on three hits against Memphis and recorded 18 strikeouts.

The Tigers’ record is now at 5-8 on the year, but conference play has not started yet and they still have plenty of time to figure out any on-field issues they may be having. The team has their first home game of the season this week against Mississippi State on Wednesday night. The Bulldogs’ record is currently 10-4, they are coming off a loss, and this is their first road game of the season. Hopefully the Tigers can bounce back with the confidence of being at home.