The Memphis Tigers defeated UCA’s baseball team 3-1 after the Bears struck out in the ninth inning with loaded bases April 29 at the Bear Stadium.
Memphis was the first to score when graduate student Blake Daniels hit a double at the top of the second inning, allowing sophomore Austin Baskin to score an unearned run.
The next inning saw another run for Memphis after senior Zach Wilson hit a single and then stole second base. He advanced to third and then home when two batters grounded out.
The Bears responded with an aggressive third inning, giving three consecutive singles from senior R.J. Pearson, junior Kolby Johnson and senior Connor Emmet, pushing infielder Pearson home and putting the Bears on the board 2-1.
Midgame, both teams slowed down on the offensive, and the next three innings saw no runs and just one hit, which was from the Bears in the fourth.
At the top of the seventh, Tigers sophomore Braden Webb hit a single and stole third to score the game’s last run.
After a hitless eighth, the game picked up after the Bears racked up two outs in the last inning.
After a pitch hit Emmet, he was awarded first base. Then, he advanced to third after junior Hunter Hicks hit a double.
After Memphis’ pitcher delivered four balls, sophomore Drew Pollum walked, filling the bases.
The game’s fate was left up to sophomore A.J. Mendolia, who came up to bat for the Bears with the bases loaded and struck out looking at sophomore Dalton Kendrick’s fastball.
The game was the Bears’ 19th loss this season, compared to their 16 wins at the time.
“They stayed engaged in the game,” coach Nick Harlan said after the loss. “They gave themselves an opportunity to score late, and that’s something they’ve done really well, they’ve scored runs late, so I think everybody thought we were going to get a hit and tie up the game.”
Harlan said the Bears expected a challenge from the non-conference match against the Tigers.
“We have a lot of respect for their coaching staff. Their head coach has done a tremendous job for a lot of years, so we knew it was going to be a challenge, and we knew we needed to play clean baseball to win,” Harlan said. “We just didn’t play as clean as we needed to today.”
The Bears left 13 players on the base throughout the game. Harlan said the team failed to take advantage of some opportunities.
“You have to come to the field every day, and you have to value every pitch,” Harlan said. “I thought there were a couple of pitches that we let slip away tonight, and it came back to hurt us because it was a close game at the end.”
The following weekend, the Bears won two of three games in a conference series against the Bellarmine Knights, which saw the Bears win 12-1 in the first game April 22.
In a doubleheader the next day, the Bears lost 5-10, then turned the tables to win 10-5, making UCA’s record 18 wins and 20 losses overall.
The win against Bellarmine is UCA’s sixth straight conference series win.
After their April 26 game against the Razorbacks, the Bears will travel to Nashville to play Lipscomb University in a series beginning April 29 at 6 p.m.