MEMPHIS - Drew Martinez hit a
walk-off single in the bottom of the 11th inning to lift Memphis
past ULM 11-10 in a wild non-conference contest at FedExPark Wednesday night.
Caleb Clowers led a 15-hit attack by the Warhawks going 5-for-7 to up his
batting average to .393 on the season.
Phillip Chapman led off the home half of the 11th
with a double to left field and moved to third on a bunt single by Robby
Graham. Martinez then lined a ball over the head over ULM left fielder Taylor
Abdalla for the game-winner.
Chad Zurcher sent the game to
extra innings with a two-out single between third and short in the bottom of
the ninth. Rick Russell and John Jordan scored on the play after reaching on
back-to-back singles to lead off the inning.
Nick Wade finished 3-for 5,
Kelvin York was 2-for-4 and Casey Auttonberry was 2-for-5 for the Warhawks -
all three also homered in the game. Zurcher finished 2-for-4 with five RBIs
while Tyler Huelsing was 3-for-5 and four others had two hits for the Tigers
(20-21).
ULM (15-25) carried a 10-8
lead into the bottom of the ninth inning thanks to home runs by Wade and Auttonberry
to lead off the seventh and eighth innings.
The Warhawks jumped out to a
7-1 lead with one run in the first and six runs in the second. Wade put ULM on
the board with an RBI single in the first. Boomer Blanchard got the second
inning rolling with a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded and Shane Ardoin
scored on a wild pitch for the second run of the frame.
Wade singled and Judd Edwards
was hit by a pitch to load the bases again for York. York crushed a 2-1
offering from Heith Hatfield out of the park for ULM's second straight grand
slam in a mid-week game and his fourth home run of the season.
Memphis battled back to pull
within two, 7-5, with two runs in the second and third innings. Graham and Martinez
had back-to-back run-scoring hits in the second and J.D. Wallace had a two-run
single in the third.
Clowers extended the Warhawk
lead out to three, 8-5, with a single back up the middle to score Auttonberry
in the fifth. The senior led off the inning with a walk and moved into scoring
position with the first stolen base of his career.
Zurcher tied the game in the
Tigers' next at-bat with a three-run home run on a 3-2 pitch from Josh Miller.
A combined 17 pitchers saw
action in the game. The Tigers send nine different hurlers to the bump and the
Warhawks used eight different pitchers.
Chase Joiner (2-0) tossed the
final three innings for Memphis to pick up the win. He struck out four and
scattered a pair of hits without allowing a run. Derek Ward (0-1) suffered the
loss for the Warhawks after he entered in the bottom of the 11th
inning.
The Warhawks continue their
five-game road trip with three games at Sun Belt Conference foe FIU over the
weekend. The series gets underway at 6 p.m. on Friday from University Stadium
in Miami, Fla.
