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CLEARWATER, Fla. – Rightfielder Kyle Survance went 3-for-5 with a home run as top-seeded Houston took an 8-4 win against No. 8-seeded Cincinnati Tuesday night to cap the first day of the 2015 American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship at Bright House Field.
Houston, ranked No. 14 in this week’s Baseball America poll, advances in the winners’ bracket to meet USF Thursday at 3 p.m. Cincinnati will take on Memphis in an elimination game Wednesday at 7 p.m.
The Cougars trailed 4-3 after five innings, but took the lead for good on a two-run triple from Ashford Fullmer as part of a three-run sixth inning before Corey Julks hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh to give Houston a four-run cushion.
A big 6th inning lifts University of Houston Athletics over University of Cincinnati Bearcats 8-4. The Coogs will face USF on Thursday and Cincinnati will face Memphis tomorrowtheamerican.org/baseball
Posted by American Athletic Conference on Tuesday, May 19, 2015
The margin proved to be plenty for Houston southpaw Seth Romero, the American Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year, who closed the door with three innings of scoreless relief in which he struck out six of the 10 batters he faced.
Houston struck first when Jacob Campbell’s double down the leftfield line in the bottom of the first brought home two runners. But Cincinnati got on the board in the top of the second when the Bearcats led off with a single and a double, and R.J. Thompson scored from third on a grounder to second. Thompson drove home Treg Haberkorn in the top of the third to even the score at 2-2.
Survance led off the bottom of the third with a home run to put Houston back on top, Cincinnati answered in the top of the fourth to reclaim the lead, however, when Kyle Mottice hit his first career home run to tie the score and Ian Happ scored from third when an errant throw from shortstop pulled the Bearcat first baseman off the bag on a play that would have ended the inning.
Houston pitching retired 12 Cincinnati players in a row between the fifth and ninth innings as Aaron Fletcher worked a 1-2-3 sixth before Romero sent eight in a row down before allowing a two-out walk in the ninth. The Cougar bats responded with timely hitting in the sixth and seventh innings, as Fulmer’s two-run triple and Julks’ two-run home run both came with two outs.
Fletcher picked up the win for Houston, improving to 2-0, while Romero earned his seventh save of the year. It was the 40th win of the season for the Cougars, who improve to 40-17.
Happ and Thompson were both 2-for-4 to lead Cincinnati (15-40). Tanner Schimmoeller took the loss for the Bearcats, falling to 1-3.
The latest information on the American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship is available on the conference’s Championship Central page at
www.TheAmerican.org/Baseball.
2015 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
bright house field • clearwater, fla.
Tuesday, May 19 (CBS Sports Network)
Game 1 – No. 4 USF 10, No. 5 Memphis 6
Game 2 – No. 1 Houston 8, No. 8 Cincinnati 4
Wednesday, May 20 (American Digital Network)
Game 3 – No. 7 UCF (31-25) vs. No. 2 East Carolina (36-20) 11 a.m.
Game 4 – No. 6 UConn (33-23) vs. No. 3 Tulane (33-21) 3 p.m.
Game 5 – Memphis (35-20) vs. Cincinnati (15-40) 7 p.m.
Thursday, May 21 (American Digital Network)
Game 6 – Loser of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4 11 a.m.
Game 7 – USF (33-22-1) vs. Houston (40-17) 3 p.m.
Game 8 – Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4 7 p.m.
Friday, May 22 (American Digital Network)
Game 9 – Loser of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 5 11 a.m.
Game 10 – Loser of Game 8 vs. Winner of Game 6 3 p.m.
Saturday, May 23 (American Digital Network)
Game 11 – Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 9 10 a.m.
Game 12 – Winner of Game 8 vs. Winner of Game 10 1 p.m.
Game 13 – Loser of Game 11 vs. Winner of Game 11 4:30 p.m. (if necessary)
Game14 – Loser of Game 12 vs. Winner of Game 12 7:30 p.m. (if necessary)
Sunday, May 24 (ESPNU)
Game 15 – Semifinal winners Noon
all times Eastern