A near-perfect day for college baseball brought Memphis and Jacksonville State together once more this week for a game two between the Tigers and Gamecocks. Jacksonville State took game one of the series on Friday, 10-1, and would be looking to finish off the series on Saturday. 

For the Tigers, at 3-6 overall, they came into game two looking to not only find a way to even the series, but to find consistency after scoring 24 runs over Little Rock in the midweek, then failing to score more than one run. In the offseason, Coach Riser mentioned that what is holding Memphis back from taking that next step is finding that consistent greatness on a daily rotation, one day Memphis will be lighting up the scoreboard with 24 runs over a regional team from last season, the next they’re struggling to score while opponets attacks the pitching early. 

For the Gamecocks of Jacksonville State, an 8-2 record and looking to carry the mometum from the last loss back in Opening Weekend was of the forefront of importance on Saturday. 

Needing a win in the worst way possible, Memphis would turn to Will Howell as the starter, while Jacksonville State went with Steven Cash as their starter on Saturday. Howell lasted five complete innings, giving up eight hits, seven runs with four strikeouts. Cash went four innings, giving up six hits and two runs, with six strikeouts. 

Jacksonville State would jump out on Memphis early with timely hitting from Brady Thomas with a double that scored Trey King in the top half of the first, to take an early 1-0 lead over the Tigers. Jacksonville State would score four more runs to take the lead in the top of the second, capped off by a two-run shot from Brady Thomas that extended the Gamecocks’ lead to 5-0 over Memphis. A sac fly from Caleb Johnson that scored Jaxson Pate would extend the lead to 6-0 heading to the bottom of the third inning. Memphis would battle back in the bottom half of the third with a two-run shot from Webb Watson to deep right field, which would cut the Jacksonville State lead to 6-2. A scoreless fourth inning for both teams would lead to Luke Williams sending a solo shot into orbit over the right field fence to extend the Gamecocks’ lead to 7-2. Shane Cox stepped in with a leadoff solo home run in the bottom of the 6th to cut the Jacksonville State lead to 7-3. Jacksonville State would add two more insurance runs in the top half of the 8th inning with two outs to extend the lead over Memphis to 9-3. Memphis would add a run off a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the 8th to cut it to 9-4 while stranding runners on first and second. 

At the end of the day, leaving ten runners on base and not executing when needed was once again what cost the Tigers another win today. With that said, there are a lot of positives for this team, and if they can put it all togother this season still has a lot of potential to be a really good season for Tigers baseball. The guys on the roster have to buy into watching Coach Riser and his coaching staff are trying to implement and then trust the process, and Memphis baseball will once again be relevant. 

Game three between the Tigers and Gamecocks will get underway on Sunday at 1:00, before Memphis travels to Oxford on Tuesday night to take on the Rebels of Ole Miss. 

Photo Credits- Jacksonville State baseball on X