Saturday, March 07, 2009

Memphis hurlers Ryan Fraser and Marcus Barnes combined on an eight-hit shutout on Saturday afternoon as the Tigers defeated Valparaiso 6-0 at USA Stadium in Millington, Tenn.

Fraser (1-2) struck out seven over seven innings of work while scattering just five hits and walking two for the Tigers.

The Tigers jumped on the scoreboard in the opening inning with a sacrifice fly and Trey Turner added a RBI single in the second.

A two-run double by Drew Martinez in the fourth increased the advantage to 4-0 and Memphis plated their final two tallies in the sixth, capitalizing on a pair of doubles.

Dan DeBruin (Combined Locks, Wis./Kimberly H.S.) and Matt Lenski (Milwaukee, Wis./Marquette University H.S.) each had two hits for the Brown and Gold.  The Crusaders stranded nine runners on base and hit into a pair of double plays as well.

Jon Gulbransen (Appleton, Wis./Fox Valley Lutheran H.S.) started and suffered the loss (2-1) for Valpo, allowing six runs and eight hits in 4.2 innings of work.  He struck out four while walking three.

“Gulbransen couldn’t keep the ball down today and got hit,” head coach Tracy Woodson said.  “Offensively we stranded a bunch of runners and hit into a couple of doubleplays to take us out of innings.”

Valparaiso (4-5) and Memphis (5-5) will conclude their three-game weekend series on Sunday afternoon at USA Stadium with a 1 p.m. contest.