Tigers entertain No. 20 Cougars
Focus on 3-game AAC baseball series
University of Memphis outfielder Kane Barrow had reason to be frustrated after the Tigers dropped a 7-5 decision to Ole Miss on Tuesday night at AutoZone Park.
Barrow appeared to blast a two-run home run into the left-field bullpen in the seventh inning that would have trimmed the Rebels’ lead to one, but the umpires never signaled the ball had left the park. Replays on the video board in right field showed the ball hitting the grassy area in the bullpen and bouncing back on the field.
“I thought it was a home run,” Barrow said. “I slowed up at second base because I thought it hit in the bullpen and bounced back. Some of our guys (in the right-field bullpen) said it did go over and hit some brick behind the fence and shot back.”
Barrow, who went 4-for-5 in the game to raise his average to . 379, didn’t dwell on the lost homer, which would have been his second. Instead, he discussed what matters more to the Tigers: a three-game American Athletic Conference series opening at 6:30 tonight at FedExPark.
The Tigers (17-7, 2-1 AAC) will play host to the Houston Cougars, the nation’s 20thranked team and one coming off an 11-0 win over Baylor on Tuesday. The Cougars (20-9, 1-2) have shut out five opponents this season.
“We’ve got to move on past Ole Miss,” Barrow said. “It was a big game for us, but conference is a lot bigger.”
The Tigers are 13-3 in their past 16 games with the losses coming to Arkansas and Ole Miss i n t he Southeastern Conference and at perennial league contender East Carolina last weekend.
“We are still competing, in moments, pretty good,” Tigers head coach Daron Schoenrock said. “We haven’t won many games by going out and outoffensing teams. We have to pitch and play defense.”
Houston is led by Chris Iriat, who has eight home runs — or as many as the Tigers have as a team, and Kyle Survance, who leads the AAC with 19 stolen bases.
“Going on the road and winning li ke (we did) at a place like Baylor — which has a great history in base-