Championship Central
Box Score
Highlights
CLEARWATER, Fla. – Centerfielder Darien Tubbs laced an RBI double to right-center with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to lead Memphis to a 2-1 win against USF Saturday to complete pool play in the American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship at Bright House Field.
The win for Memphis means that Louisville advances out of Pool A to face Houston Sunday for the American Athletic Conference title and the automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. Memphis and Louisville both finished pool play tied at 2-1, but the Cardinals advanced based on a head-to-head win against the Tigers Thursday.
Tubbs finished the game 3-for-5 with a double and a triple for the Tigers (30-29). His game-winner came after the Tigers drew a pair of two-out walks with their Nos. 8 and 9 hitters. Tubbs drove a 1-0 pitch into the gap in right-center, allowing pinch runner Corey Chafin to score from second base.
USF, which would have reached the final with a win against the Tigers, trailed 1-0 for most of the game until the Bulls tied it in the seventh inning. Nik Alfonso was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Pinch runner Hayden Kelley stole second took third on a wild pitch and scored on Kyle Teaf’s hard chopper to shortstop.
Memphis had gained the early lead when Tubbs led off with a triple to right-center and came home on Jake Little’s grounder to short.
USF had stranded runners in scoring position in the second, fourth and fifth inning before getting the tying run in the seventh. Memphis put runners in scoring position in teh third, fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth before Tubbs won it in the ninth.
Memphis reliever Craig Caulfield picked up the win, improving to 2-2 after he worked 2.2 scoreless innings with four strikeouts. Tigers starter Dylan Toscano pitched 6.1 innings and allowed five hits and one run with six strikeouts.
Lawrence Pardo took the loss for USF, falling to 0-3 after he walked both batters he faced. Bulls starter Brandon Lawson went six innings and allowed five hits and one run with three strikeouts. USF finishes its season at 27-31.
Sunday’s championship game is slated for noon ET on ESPNU between the No. 5 (Louisville) and No. 12 (Houston) teams in this week’s NCBWA poll. The Cardinals took all three regular-season meetings April 11-13 in Houston.
2014 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
bright house field • clearwater, fla.
Tournament
Pool A Record
No. 1 Louisville 2-1
No. 8 Memphis 2-1
No. 4 Rutgers 1-2
No. 5 USF 1-2
Louisville advances to Sunday’s championship game
Tournament
Pool B Record
No. 3 Houston 2-1
No. 2 UCF 2-1
No. 6 Temple 1-2
No. 7 UConn 1-2
Houston advances to Sunday’s championship game
Wednesday, May 21 – Pool Play
UCF 7, UConn 1
Houston 3, Temple 0
Rutgers 10, USF 0 (7 innings)
Thursday, May 22 – Pool Play
UConn 7, Houston 2
Louisville 13, Memphis 3 (7 innings)
UCF 6, Temple 2
Friday, May 23 – Pool Play
Memphis 5, Rutgers 1
USF 2, Louisville 1
Houston 13, UCF 8
Saturday, May 24 – Pool Play
Temple 9, UConn 4
Louisville 9, Rutgers 3
Memphis 2, USF 1
Sunday, May 25 – Final (ESPNU)
Houston (43-15) vs. Louisville (45-14) Noon