By the time the final out dropped late Friday night at the Tigers Softball Complex, it was closer to breakfast than first pitch. The University of Memphis softball team opened its home 901 Classic with games that did not start until 11 p.m. and 1 a.m., stretching into the early hours of Saturday and testing every bit of its focus and stamina. Frustration was real, from the dugout to the stands, but the standard inside this program did not budge – the goal remained the same: win, regardless of the clock.
Across a long, weather-plagued weekend, Memphis dropped two late-night contests to Ball State and Miami of Ohio before responding with a dramatic walk-off over Evansville and a dominant, ultimately wiped-out performance against Kansas City. The Tigers left the 901 Classic at 3–5, bruised by circumstances but buoyed by the resilience they showed when the schedule and the skies stacked the odds against them.
Long Night, Harsh Lessons
Memphis’ weekend began in chaos and attrition. First pitch against Ball State on Friday was pushed back so far that the opener did not begin until late in the evening, setting the stage for an eight-inning grind that slipped away in extras.
For six-plus innings, the Tigers looked ready to steal one from the Cardinals. Paris Brienesse sparked the offense with a triple, then came all the way around to score on an outfield error to give Memphis the early edge. In the circle, right-hander Taniyah Brown again gave her team a chance, working through traffic and high-leverage spots while allowing just one run into the seventh.
The margin, however, proved too thin. Protecting a one-run lead in the seventh, Memphis issued a bases-loaded walk that pushed the game to extras and flipped the pressure squarely back onto the home dugout. Under the international tiebreaker and ghost-runner rule, Ball State immediately pounced, scoring on a wild pitch and a throwing error before Skylinn Pogue cleared the bases with a three-RBI single that blew the game open.
Another run scored on a Memphis miscue, and the Tigers’ lone answer – a sacrifice fly from RBI leader Mya Clark – was not enough in a 6–2 defeat. Even in the loss, Brown’s line underscored her early importance to the staff, as she finished the night with a team-best earned run average over a staff-leading innings total.
The night only got later from there. Game two against Miami did not get underway until 11:15 p.m., with the final out recorded after 1:20 a.m. as Memphis trudged past the five-hour mark of continuous softball. The Tigers created an early chance when Neely Taylor ripped a double in the first and reached third, but she was stranded, and Miami seized control in the second inning.
The RedHawks strung together a six-run frame, fueled by a string of RBI hits and aided by Memphis defensive mistakes that turned a close game into an uphill climb. Miami added another run on a double steal in the fourth, while the Memphis offense went quiet, going down in order in four straight innings from the second through the fifth.
Freshman Brylee Butts briefly jolted the dugout awake with a sixth-inning triple, her first collegiate hit, but she was stranded, and Memphis could not cash in a bases-loaded opportunity in the seventh. The Tigers fell 7–0 in a game that officially ended in the early morning hours, the second straight contest that tested their legs as much as their swings.
Even in defeat, a few trends emerged that could matter later. Memphis now has six triples through its first seven contests, with Brienesse and Butts both adding to that total on the opening night of the 901 Classic. Veteran hitter Ariel Davis continued to set the pace in the lineup, leading qualified Tigers in batting average through the weekend and providing steady at-bats amid the chaos.
Walk-Off Response And Weather Whiplash
If Friday was about survival, Saturday was about response. A tired Memphis team returned to its home field with a chance to reset against Evansville, and the Tigers delivered their first walk-off of the season.
Evansville struck first, punching across three runs in the opening frame on an RBI single and a two-RBI knock from Brooke Voss to grab early momentum. Memphis answered in kind in the bottom half, tying the game with a two-RBI single from Kennedy Semien and another run when Brienesse scooted home on an error.
The Aces rebuilt a three-run cushion behind an RBI double, a sacrifice fly, and an RBI single, and even after Memphis cut into the deficit on an Ariel Davis RBI groundout, Evansville’s solo home run in the sixth restored the margin. What followed in the seventh was controlled chaos that turned a long weekend on its head.
Trailing by two, Memphis worked a pair of walks to put runners on first and second, then forced Evansville into back-to-back defensive mistakes. A ground ball from Faith Brown was mishandled, allowing Semien to score from second, and when Brown stole second, an errant throw let Jasmine Mack sprint home from third with the tying run.
Moments later, with one out and the winning run on second, Deana Cunningham lined a walk-off single to left, plating Brown and sealing an 8–7 comeback win. It marked the first walk-off hit of Cunningham’s career and gave the Tigers their first true last-at-bat victory of the young season.
Memphis used four arms to navigate the Aces lineup, with Taylor Caton, Brown, Jazmine Chavez, and Jericho Tate each recording a strikeout and sharing the workload. Chavez and Tate both turned in scoreless relief innings, and Tate earned her first win of the season by setting down Evansville in order in the top of the seventh to set up the walk-off dramatics.
Offensively, Semien finished with a hit, two RBI, and a run scored and now leads the team in both batting average and RBI among qualified hitters. Cunningham went two-for-three with the game-winning knock, while Davis and Kylie Waldrep continued to provide production in the middle of the order.
Game two on Saturday briefly showed what this offense looks like when everything clicks. Kansas City took early control with two runs in each of the first two innings, but the Tigers erupted for 13 runs in the bottom of the second, with seven different players driving in runs. That outburst would have gone down as the second-highest single-inning run total of the Trena Prater era and would have marked Memphis’ second double-digit scoring game of the season.
Instead, the weather stole the spotlight. A lengthy delay in the second inning foreshadowed what was coming, and another stoppage before the fourth ultimately forced the game to be ruled a no-contest, wiping all statistics from the box score. By the end of the day, the final slate of the 901 Classic – including Memphis’ remaining contest – was cancelled due to inclement weather.
Standard Does Not Change Going Forward
The weekend’s final numbers read like a grind. Memphis leaves its home tournament at 3–5, having played past 1 a.m., watched a 13-run inning vanish from the record book, and still found a way to celebrate a walk-off at home. Along the way, the Tigers got production from a rising core, with Davis, Clark, Semien, and Waldrep pacing the offense, and confirmation that Brown and Tate can steady the circle in tight spots.
There is little time to dwell on either the frustration or the thrill. With the last day of the 901 Classic washed out, Memphis now pivots to a midweek nonconference matchup against a ranked Mississippi State squad before returning home to host the Blues City Invitational. The Tigers will welcome Kentucky, North Carolina A&T, Bradley, and Indiana State, and the start times should be more conventional.
The expectations, however, will look very familiar. Late nights or not, weather delays or not, the standard in the Memphis dugout is unchanged – show up, compete, and find a way to win.
