University of Memphis Baseball

Riser came to the Tigers after 10 seasons as head coach at Southeastern Louisiana, where he helped guide the Lions to four NCAA Tournament berths and three Southland Conference titles. With a year under his belt, Riser led the Tigers to improving in multiple aspects of the game. On the mound and in the field of play Memphis with a 75th-ranked ERA as a pitching staff and finished 20th nationally in double plays turned in the field. At the plate, Memphis kept a brand of consistency, with at least 90 doubles and 50 home runs for the second season in a row. The season saw Memphis secure series wins over Southeast Missouri, Valparaiso and Lindenwood before jumping into American Conference play, taking a road series against Florida Atlantic and sweeping UAB at home, the first sweep over the Blazers since 2012. The first highlight of the 2025 season was the performance of senior Seth Cox in American play. Cox led the Tigers with a .308 average and .887 OPS, both numbers that led Memphis in conference competitions among qualified players. His effort culminated in Cox being named to the All-AAC Second Team. Another storyline after the conclusion of the season came when James Smith IV was selected in the 14th round of the 2025 MLB Draft by the New York Mets. Smith IV is the 26th player to be drafted under Riser, although Smith IV elected to return for his senior season. Year two of the Riser era saw even more eyes on the program as it was the highest total and average attendance since

A former Tiger catcher and native of Trussville, Alabama, Barton returned to Memphis prior to the 2024 season after spending two seasons as the pitching coach at Mercer University. In year one of Barton’s instruction, the Tigers saved 16 games (T-No. 5 in Memphis history), nine of which were saved by NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watchlist honoree Brayden Sanders. Sanders’ nine saves were also good for fifth-most individually in a season by a Tiger and led The American. Defensively, Memphis turned 54 double plays to rank 12th in the nation. Friday-night starter David Warren was named AAC Pitcher of the Week on April 1 after a career-outing vs. Florida Atlantic (7.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 10 K). The Tigers have created positive momentum within the program and fan base which was evident with a pair of top-five all-time crowds at FedExPark during the 2024 season. Memphis defeated Ole Miss at home on April 2 in front the fifth-largest FedExPark crowd (1,426) in program history and drew another 1,612 spectators (third-largest FedExPark attendance in history) on April 23 when they hosted Mississippi State. In year one, Barton helped the Tiger staff piece together JBB’s No. 5 JUCO recruiting class in the country for 2024. In 2023, Barton helped the Bears to a runner-up conference finish and wins over Baylor and Rutgers. Barton saw standout pitcher Josh Harlow selected by the Cleveland Guardians in the 19th round of the 2023 MLB Draft. The Bears enjoyed a 40-win season and were runners up in the

Kyle Cameron joined the Memphis Baseball coaching staff in August 2023 after a stint as a volunteer assistant coach at Jacksonville State. After serving as the program's Director of Player Development, Cameron moves into his first season as Memphis' pitching coach after being assigned the role in June 2025. So far in his two seasons with the Tigers, Cameron has helped the program with a key on the pitching staff, as the Tigers had numerous improvements in ERA, walks, hits allowed and earned runs allowed from 2024 to 2025. Memphis' ERA dropped by 1.53 from season to season, with the staff also allowing 95 fewer earned runs. Four pitchers saw their ERAs cut in half with Cameron on staff, with Seth Garner continuing to show strength as a weekend starter, cutting 1.12 off his ERA and leading the Tigers with 75.2 innings pitched. Cameron previously spent two seasons at Jacksonville State as a volunteer assistant coach at Jacksonville State, where he oversaw the program's pitchers and catchers. The Gamecocks held a conference record of 37-23 over his two seasons on staff, and had three players drafted in the first 10 rounds of the 2023 and 2024 MLB Draft (Jake Peppers, 2023 9th Round; AJ Causey*, 2024 5th Round; Tanner Jones*, 2024 6th Round) as Causey and Jones transferred to SEC powers Tennessee and Texas A&M prior to being drafted. He also spent one season as a graduate assistant coach at Alabama in 2021, assisting with pitching duties and managing the bullpen during the season.