Jake Curtis fielded the ground ball after a single hop, then made a 360-turn and fired the ball to first base.
The throw made it in time, sealing an 11-10 win for Memphis baseball in the season finale against Wichita State and bringing the Tigers' players and coaches streaming out of the dugout and onto the field at FedEx Park for a celebration.
It wasn't how anyone wanted the season to end.
Memphis (23-32, 10-17 AAC) finished last in the American Athletic Conference in coach Matt Riser's first season, which meant Saturday's season-ending victory won't be something to aspire to in the future. The Tigers did not qualify for the AAC tournament, which takes the top eight out of 10 teams from the conference.
"A group that could've mailed it in at any point in time, could've quit," Riser said. "They had their moments, tried to do their own thing and tried to navigate and tried to steer away from what we were trying to do. Because they are some wild horses. And I love 'em."
His tone was markedly different than the one he'd struck less than 48 hours earlier, when the Tigers opened the series against the Shockers with a 14-1 loss.
"Any guy that has the ability to return, I will cut you at the exit meeting if you give up and quit," Riser said. "I'm going to make sure this culture is changed, and we will not quit. At the end of the day, I don't like losing, I hate losing, but I can live with giving your full effort and getting beat. What we did tonight, halfway through that game, I will not live with and I'll make sure that's changed by next year."
Those comments weren't wholly surprising given Riser's general tone during the season. He came to Memphis after 10 years as the coach at Southeastern Louisiana and has talked repeatedly about changing the culture, consistently emphasizing effort and toughness throughout wins and losses this season.
He's the third coach Memphis has had in as many years. Daron Schoenrock retired after the 2022 season and was replaced by Kerrick Jackson, who went 29-28 in one season before leaving for Missouri.
Riser's postgame ire on Thursday did pay dividends. The Tigers responded with a 13-inning, nearly six-hour loss to the Shockers on Friday.
"Last night makes you angry," Riser said postgame. "Tonight just rips out your heart."
There are plenty of things Memphis needs to do better, and it starts with pitching and defense. The Tigers allowed 411 runs, easily the worst mark in the conference. Memphis allowed the most home runs, the most hits and the highest batting average, too.
But hitting was better. Memphis was in the middle of the pack for most of those stats, with Daunte Stuart and Jacob Compton near the top of the conference in a few different stats.
There's also an off-the-field trajectory to follow. Riser's intensity extends there, too, which helped lead to the creation of a deck for students in left field dubbed "Riser's Riser." Memphis sold out games against Ole Miss and Mississippi State and held a bevy of different promotions throughout the season. There was a petting zoo for Saturday's series finale, complete with an alpaca named Puff who watched Memphis beat Wichita State from behind the Shockers' third-base dugout.
Riser will be active in the transfer portal. He reiterated Saturday that he's only looking for players that fit a specific identity based around aggressiveness and toughness.
"There's 100,000 kids out there that would love to play college baseball," he said. "We're going to find the ones that want to come to Memphis, that believe in what we're doing and buy in to what we're doing."
Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on X @thejonahdylan.
Most Popular
Comments / 0