A vision three years in the making has finally begun to take shape as the Memphis Tigers baseball program has seemingly turned a corner and is now playing meaningful games late into May. Hasn’t been easy, but the path forward is there, and not only are the Tigers in a really good position to reach the conference tournament for the first time since 2023, but they will also be a tough out and possibly find some baseball magic to reach a Regional for the first time since the 2007 season. Adding to the chance to finish within the top three of the conference standings for the first time since 2013. Unfamiliar territory for a program that has struggled for the longest of times to compete in baseball now has mometum heading into the final weekend with a lot to build on for the future of Tigers baseball under the leadership of Coach Matt Riser and his staff, who came into the program looking to build Memphis baseball from the ground up. 

Over the last three years, Memphis baseball has been close but has never finished the job. Once they got past the slow start to the season, the Tigers have turned into the team nobody wants to see in Clearwater, or even beyond, if they were able to make a run in the American Conference Tournament down there. Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, Memphis comes into the weekend with a chance to finish third in the conference standings while also potentially winning anywhere between 13 and 15 conference games, something the Tigers haven’t done in well over ten years. For the first time in a long time, there’s hope and momentum surrounding the Memphis baseball team heading into the final week of play. 

When Coach Riser took over as Head Coach for the Memphis Tigers, he embraced the challenge and has never shied away from the uphill climb needed to rebuild the Memphis baseball program, flipping the script and completely changing the culture. Coach Riser and his staff have also had the complete support from Athletics Director Dr. Ed Scott, who is an avid baseball fan and understands the importance of allotting resources that not only deliver wins, but set the program up for a new generation of Tigers baseball, a generation filled with more wins and championship contentions. Just recently, the athletic department gave FedEx Park a facelift and upgraded the entire facility. As the Tigers continue to win, the investments will keep the cycle going, creating a championship-caliber culture around Memphis baseball rather than that of a bottom-feeder program. 

So, before we talk about the team itself, let’s look back at this season’s success and how the schedule has prepared the Tigers for the postseason. 

Memphis struggled early; there’s not a soul in the country that will tell otherwise. A midweek win at home over Ole Miss was an early sign that this Memphis team might have some talent to compete. Fast forward a few weeks, and a series sweep of Rice on the road sparked something inside the Tigers that has now led to back-to-back home series wins over East Carolina and UTSA, giving the Tigers mometum heading into the crucial three games at Charlotte. As it stands, Memphis has the 23rd-hardest schedule in the country. The Tigers have faced several potential Regional teams in Missouri State, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, UTSA, and East Carolina, giving the Tigers a battle-tested edge that could prove beneficial if they reach the conference tournament. With series wins over the top half of the league, Coach Riser and his boys have proven both the ability to overcome adversity with the early-season struggles and the ability to play with just about anyone, as we’ve seen from the Tigers over the last two weeks. 

As far as the team goes, what we’ve seen over the last two weeks out of Memphis is what Coach Riser and staff knew they had from the get-go. Pitchers have stepped up in big ways, the bats have come alive, and Memphis has had guys step up in big moments to help deliver the runs Memphis needed to get by the best of the best in the conference. Just this past weekend, against UTSA on Sunday, UTSA had taken a 4-3 lead over the Tigers in the top half of the 6th, but Memphis rallied with an eight-run inning capped off by timely hitting and a three-run home run to deep left field from James Smith IV to take a 10-4 lead over the Roadrunners. Similar events happened the weekend prior when the Tigers took two out of three over East Carolina, giving the program mometum heading into the final weekend before the postseason. 

At the end of the season, when the road ends either in Omaha, Clearwater, or a college town somewhere, people will look back on the 2026 baseball season that changed Memphis baseball for generations to come. There’s still a lot of work to be done to place Memphis baseball on the map, but for the first time in a long time, Memphis baseball, at the very least, is playing meaningful baseball games deep into the month of May. Obviously, making a Regional and beyond is the standard across college baseball, but for a program like Memphis, which is trying to change the narratives surrounding the program, then something like reaching the conference tournament could provide that extra mometum needed in the offseason to set the stage for year four of the coach Matt Riser era, one of the best in school history. 

Memphis will have four games on the road this week, starting with the final midweek of the season at Middle Tennessee State, before heading to take on Charlotte starting on Thursday night. 

Photo credits: Memphis baseball on X