Courtesy of Wichita State Athletics
WICHITA, Kan. -- Memphis used a trio of two-run innings and a strong relief appearance from David Warren to claim the series finale against Wichita State by the score of 6-3 on Sunday afternoon at Eck Stadium.
The Shockers (26-17, 10-5) struck first on a two-run homer off the bat of Payton Tolle in the first, giving him 10 homers on the season to join Brock Rodden and Garrett Pennington in double figures. But the Wichita State offense went quiet after the long ball, silenced by the combination of Memphis starter Luke Ellis and Warren (3-4), who kept WSU off the board until the seventh. Warren allowed four hits and just one run to earn the win out of the Tigers bullpen, striking out four and walking one.
Memphis (22-22, 5-10) answered Wichita State's early two-spot with a pair of runs in the top of the second, getting RBI singles from Shane Cox and Brayland Skinner to knot the score at 2-2. The Tigers pushed across the go-ahead runs in the fifth, as Jake Curtis smacked a run-scoring double and Austin Baskin tacked on a sacrifice fly for a 4-2 lead.
All four runs came off Wichita State starter Grant Adler (4-3), who struck out five and did not walk a batter.
The Tigers added a pair of key insurance runs in the top of the seventh on productive outs; Brennan DuBose drove home one run with an RBI groundout and another Baskin sacrifice fly that stretched the margin to 6-2.
Wichita State put together a two-out rally in the seventh, pulling a run back when Ingram singled and Rodden doubled him home to cut the Memphis lead to 6-3.
The Shockers would threaten in the eighth against Memphis closer Dalton Kendrick, drawing a pair of walks to bring the tying run to the plate. But Kendrick escaped the jam and pitched around an error in the bottom of the ninth to nail down his league-best 11th save.
Wichita State's bullpen allowed just two hits and two unearned runs over four innings, getting strong performances from Robert Cranz, Jace Miner and Cameron Bye.
Ingram, Rodden and Kyte McDonald each had two hits to lead the Shocker offense. McDonald has now reached base safely in eight consecutive plate appearances, and added two stolen bases to give him a team-high 16 for the season.
The Shockers are back in action on Tuesday night against Kansas State. First pitch from Eck Stadium is scheduled for 6:00 pm.