Brock Busick/University of Memphis Athletics Memphis Tiger Pierre Seals scores Tuesday against Mississippi State on an RBI ground out by Jake Curtis.
The Memphis Tigers baseball team lost against No.21 Mississippi State Tuesday at Dudy Noble Field by a score of 17-9. The win puts the Tigers a game under .500 (11-12) and Mississippi State improves to (16-6) on the season.
Cade Davis drew the start and had a solid performance through three innings, allowing three runs on four hits and tailing a strikeout.
“We did a good job coming out early and Cade Davis was pretty good,” Memphis head coach Matt Riser said. “I know he gave up a couple of homers but at the end of the day, I thought he pitched well.”
A double by Jacob Compton to right field led to Riley Davis’ single to third that drove in Compton and allowed Brennan DuBose to score and gave the Tigers a 3-2 lead after an error by the left fielder. That was the first error of the season for Logan Kohler and it came against his former Memphis team.
The Tigers took a 9-3 advantage in the fifth inning after a two-run double by Jacob Compton. Memphis tallied five consecutive hits at the top of the fifth to start the inning and had the Bulldogs on the ropes.
Seven hits in the fifth inning included five singles, one double, and a home run. Seth Cox hit a three-run home run to extend the Tiger’s lead, and then Compton doubled to center which drove in Austin Baskin and Daunte Stuart.
But the Bulldogs responded with seven runs of their own at the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 10-9 lead into the sixth.
Connor Hujsak drew a walk, which scored David Mershon from third with the bases loaded. Mississippi State Amari Larry (0-3) got his first hit of the night to tie the game 9-9. Then Johnny Long scored with the bases loaded as Dakota Jordan got hit.
Memphis struggled to score after the fifth inning. While the Bulldogs added a run in the sixth and four runs in the seventh. Hujsak hit a home run with runners on second and third to put the Bulldogs up 15-9.
After the game, Coach Riser spoke of the team’s defense and miscommunication heading into the conference play.
“These middle innings are killing us, and we have to be better, not only on the mound but also defensively,” said coach Matt Riser. “We have to do a good job of getting some things fixed these next couple of days to get ready for conference play.”
UP NEXT
The Memphis Tigers are back in action Friday against South Florida in Tampa, Florida at Red McEwen Field. This marks the Tigers first conference series of the season. First pitch is set for 5:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
The new season does not only bring a new head coach in Matt Riser and new players for the Memphis Tigers. The 2024 season features a completely overhauled American Athletic Conference. Three teams have left the conference and a whopping five new teams have joined. What does that mean for the new season for the Memphis Tigers?
Which teams left the AAC?
In total, three teams have left the AAC for the new season: Central Florida, Houston and Cincinnati. All of them found their new home in the Big 12 conference.
The Houston Cougars had the most success of those three teams, as they finished the last season second in the conference. They won 17 conference games, only one less than the conference champions, East Carolina. In the AAC tournament they went on to eliminate the Memphis Tigers and fell short to the later conference champion, Tulane.
The University of Central Florida finished the regular season as the four seed with a balanced 12-12 record. After that, the Knights went on to beat Cincinnati in the first round of the AAC tournament, but would ultimately lose to their in-state rivals from South Florida.
The Cincinnati Bearcats finished the season as the worst of the three leavers. A 10-14 conference record meant the same number of wins as the Memphis Tigers, earning them the fifth seed. Their tournament ended with a first round loss to UCF.
All of the three leaving teams finished the 2023 season as a higher seed than the Tigers. Houston even ended their AAC tournament hopes, as they beat them in a close 6-5 contest in the second round.
Where are the new teams in the AAC from? A map of the five teams and their location.
Which new teams have joined the AAC?
Austin Baskin, going into his fourth year with the Tigers, commented before the season about the the changes: “They are bringing in a lot of new teams into the conference this year, but, I think, we have got a really good chance to be competitive this year.”
A lot of new teams indeed, as five new teams feature in the new AAC season. All of them are coming from the same conference—Conference USA. Namely, the UAB Blazers from Alabama, the Owls from Florida Atlantic University, the Charlotte 49ers, the Rice University Owls and the UTSA Roadrunners from San Antonio in Texas.
Charlotte was last year’s Conference USA champion, and they will be a featured team in the new AAC season. The 49ers beat Dallas Baptist in the C-USA tournament final to secure their spot in the NCAA tournament.
However, they lost their regional against the University of Tennessee, eliminating them in the first round. Still, the Charlotte 49ers will be poised to repeat their success in the new conference.
Not as successful in the tournament, but better than the 49ers in the regular season last year, were the Roadrunners from San Antonio. UTSA finished the season with a 38-19 record, second only to the conference-winning Dallas Baptist. Their season, however, came to an abrupt end as Charlotte blew them out 11-2 in the first round of the C-USA tournament.
Florida Atlantic finished the season with a positive record of 34-24, good enough for the five seed in the conference. They then went on to beat Rice in the first round, but fell short in the second round to Western Kentucky.
Last, but not least, there are the two teams from Rice University and the University of Alabama, Birmingham. Both had an underwhelming season, finishing as the eighth seed in the case of Rice and tenth and dead last in the case of UAB. Rice went on to exit in the first round of the C-USA tournament, and UAB did not even make a tournament appearance. Both teams will be poised to improve their performance in this season.
Memphis Tigers’ Brennan DuBose said in his press conference before the season that he is looking forward to the new challenges: “The road games are great experiences – getting to see some of the coolest places in college baseball playing at the highest level. We want to play the top teams and we have the ability to compete with everybody”.
What can we expect from the new teams?
With the first games of the new season already in the books, some early trends for the new teams are showing. Florida Atlantic (6-5) and Charlotte (7-6) are keeping their record positive after the first few games.
UTSA’s record hangs in the balance with 6-6 and the two bottom teams from last season are off to bad start once again as they sit at the bottom of the conference: UAB with 5-6 and the Rice Owls with 4-8.
In the coaches poll before the season three of the five new teams were picked to be in the top four of the conference this season. With East Carolina picked to getting their fifth straight regular season title, Charlotte, UTSA and Florida Atlantic were selected as the second, third and fourth seed. Not surprisingly, Rice was picked for the eighth seed, and UAB was once again projected to finish last.
Memphis head coach Matt Riser predicts a rise in the quality of the AAC this season.
“FAU has been in the regional for six of the last nine years, UTSA was in the top 25 for a few weeks last season and Charlotte was in a regional final last year,” he said. “It is a three or a four-bid league when it is all said and done.”
When do the Tigers play their new opponents?
The first series against a new conference opponent for the Memphis Tigers will not be played until the end of March. Beginning on March, 28th the Tigers will host Florida Atlantic University in their first conference matchup in a three-game-series. One week after that, coach Riser’s team will travel to Houston to face the Rice Owls for another three games starting April 5. The next two weekends will also feature new opponents for the Tigers as they host UTSA starting April 12 and travel to Charlotte for the start of the series on April 19.
The projected worst team of the five will also be the last new team Memphis faces: The Tigers will travel to Birmingham, Alabama on May, 10th to start their three-game-series against UAB.
The team, however, does not seem to be phased by the new opponents: Junior Aaron Smigelski said that they are not thinking ahead right now: “For us it is just taking each game at a time. We always try to get the job done in the next game.”
The new AAC season promises to be an interesting one for the Memphis Tigers, with three teams that all finished above them leaving. However, from the five teams joining, three are projected to finish above the Tigers in the new season. The end of March and the month of April will show how well coach Riser’s team will stack up against their new opponents.
Friday’s matchup between the Memphis Tigers and the Butler Bulldogs was a back-and-forth affair that resulted in Butler prevailing 7-6.
“We have to quit being redundant in what we are doing,” said Memphis head coach Matt Riser. “It’s not about the opponent, it’s about us and fixing us.”
The battle was the first of three for both teams in the inaugural Grind City Classic. The Tigers were coming off a close 5-3 loss in the midweek to the Ole Miss Rebels, a game where they hung tight with one of the premier programs in the nation.
Each team totaled 10 hits, but the Bulldogs’ proved to be timelier. Both of their home runs, hit by Ian Choi and Ryan Drumm, drove in multiple runs and helped establish Butler’s biggest lead of the game.
Memphis first baseman Jacob Compton got the scoring going for the Tigers. He hit home runs in each of his first two at-bats, tallying three RBIs to give Memphis an early lead. His seven home runs this season are the most by any player in the AAC.
Starting pitcher David Warren put together a solid outing. In five innings of work, he gave up three runs on six hits while striking out five Butler batters.
Most of the offensive production for the Bulldogs came off JT Durham. Durham took the mound after Warren exited, and he allowed four runs on four hits in 1 1/3 innings.
Memphis entered the bottom of the eighth inning trailing 7-4 and had failed to score since the third inning. However, a solo home run from Aaron Smigelski gave the Tigers momentum in the waning moments of the game.
After Brandon Chorzelewski pitched a scoreless top of the ninth inning, Jake Curtis led off the bottom of inning with a double. Two batters later, Austin Baskin hit a double of his own, scoring Curtis and making it a one-run game, at 7-6.
Duante Stuart and Jacob Compton each had a chance to tie or win the game but were unable to do so.
The loss knocks Memphis under .500, at a record of 7-8. The Tigers will play their second game of the Grind City Classic on Saturday at 5 p.m. against the Presbyterian Blue Hose.
Jacob Morgan/Tigerpen Tiger centerfielder at bat Will Marcy versus Bowling Green at the FedExPark Avron Fogelman Field.
The 10 teams in the American Athletic Conference have a combined record of 59-53 to start the 2024 baseball season. East Carolina is ranked 11th among the top 25 D-1 baseball. UAB and Rice are the only two teams below .500.
East Carolina University Pirates (7-4)
The Pirates opened up the week facing off against four teams in a one-game stretch. After winning two straight against No.15 ranked North Carolina, they lost on the road Tuesday against Old Dominion 5-6. Then on Friday faced Purdue at home winning 7-1. ECU closed out the weekend at home against Cal State Fullerton and Southeastern Louisiana. The Pirates won 2-1 and lost 9-11 against Southeastern Louisiana. The 11th-ranked Pirates will meet VCU in the two-game series at home. Next up the Pirates take on VCU in a two-game series.
University of Memphis Tigers (7-6)
The Tigers are above .500 so far this season and tied the two-game series against UT Martin at home. They took on Wright State in a three-game weekend series, winning 2-1. Memphis were looking for their first series sweep but fell short in the finale of the series 17-7. This marks the Tiger’s second straight series win. They now go to Oxford, Miss., to face Ole Miss (8-5) in a one-game match. The Rebels are on a two-game winning streak and have a 6-3 record at home.
Florida Atlantic University Owls ( 6-5)
The Owls finished the week with a 2-3 record. They faced off against UCF in a one-game series at home and lost 6-11. UCF have won 5 of their last 6 games with a record of 8-1 (.889). Then on Wednesday, losing the game against UNF 6-8. The Owls went on to win the three-game series against Stonehill. This week they face off against No.4 Florida.
University of North Carolina at Charlotte 49ers (6-6)
The 49ers opened up the week with a one game series 3-2 win Tuesday at home against the Wofford Terriers who have a record above .500 (9-2). They then went on the road to Norfolk, VA to face Old Dominion in a three-game series, losing 2-1. The 49ers are back at home Tuesday against Western Carolina and then take on Maryland in a three-game weekend series.
University of South Florida Bulls (5-5)
The Bulls went to Tallahassee, FL to take on Florida State. They went on to lose 4-12 in a one-game. Then on Friday they opened up the three-game weekend series on the road against UCF losing 1-2. They face off against a North Florida team who have won six straight games.
The University of Memphis baseball team won their home opener Wednesday against Central Arkansas 14-4 in eight innings. The Tigers came into this game with a 1-3 record after 10-4 loss to the Little Rock Trojans.
Memphis came out looking to improve after the loss the day before. The Tigers tied the program record for home runs, totaling seven in the game, the most since 2001.
“It was important to come back like we did and defend our home turf,” coach Matt Riser said. “We’re continuing to learn on the fly as we go forward.”
Roshawn Miller/Tigerpen Memphis Tiger Pierre Seals celebrates his second home run of the day against Central Arkansas on Wednesday. Seals and the Tigers recorded a record-tying seven home runs in the 14-4 win.
Central Arkansas took an early 3-0 lead in the second inning, but Memphis would respond with a home run from Pierre Seals that scored teammate Daunte Stuart to close the lead to 3-2. The Tigers closed the door on Central Arkansas, allowing only one run for the remainder of the game.
Senior Jake Curtis would perform on both sides of the ball, totaling three hits, including a double and a home run. He also took the mound in the seventh inning and tallied three strikeouts.
“Every player on this team gives me confidence,” said Curtis. We had a bad day yesterday, but it’s all about the bounce back.”
Memphis had six players get multiple hits, and Coach Riser loved it after being “bullied” by Arkansas Little Rock. Senior third baseman Austin Baskin recorded a team high four RBIs, with two hits, both being home runs in four at bats.
Brennan DuBose celebrates home run during the Tigers win over Central Arkansas on Wednesday.
“It felt great after last night to be able to come in and find barrels left and right”, Baskin said. “We knew coming into the park today that with the wind blowing all we had to do was get it up in the air.”
CJ Willis would close the game for Memphis on a pinch-hit RBI double to extend the lead to 14-4, ending the game in eight innings.
Memphis tallied a total of 17 hits in the game, while also collecting 43 total bases from seven home runs, five doubles, five singles, the second most since 2010.
The Tigers will return to FedExPark Avron Fogelman Field on Friday afternoon at 4 p.m., as they face Bowling Green in the first game of three in a weekend series at home.
The Tigerpen 