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CLEARWATER, Fla. – Rightfielder Lex Kaplan hit two solo home runs as part of a 3-for-4 day as Tulane took a 3-1 win against UConn Wednesday in the first game for both teams at the 2015 American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship at Bright House Field.
Tulane, the No. 3 seed in the tournament, advances in the winners’ bracket to meet East Carolina Thursday at 7 p.m. ET. UConn, the No. 6 seed, will face UCF Thursday at 11 a.m. in an elimination game.
Both of Kaplan’s home runs – his sixth and seventh of the season – came with two outs as the sophomore became the first Green Wave player to hit two round-trippers in a game this season. His blast to right-center put Tulane on the board in the bottom of the first inning, while his deep shot down the rightfield line in the eighth inning gave the Green Wave a valuable insurance run.
Tulane righthander Patrick Deuster worked seven strong innings as he scattered seven hits and four walks with five strikeouts and just one run allowed in his longest outing of the season.
After Kaplan staked Tulane to the early lead, UConn answered in the top of the second inning on a sacrifice fly by Bryan Daniello that was misplayed in the outfield, allowing Blake Davey to score from third and tie the game at 1-1.
Tulane took the lead for good in the bottom of the third when Jake Rogers led off with a double, moved to third on an errant pickoff throw and scored on Stephen Alemais base hit to make it 2-1.
Deuster worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the third inning, and UConn was unable to move a runner into scoring position the rest of the way until there were two outs in the top of the ninth. Closer Ian Gibaut worked the last two innings with two strikeouts to register his ninth save of the season.
Alemais and Garrett Deschamp had two hits each for Tulane, which improved to 34-21 on the season. Deuster lifted his record to 7-5 with the pitching decision.
Davey went 3-for-4, while Willy Yahn was 2-for-4 for UConn, which fell to 33-24. Andrew Zapata took his first loss of the season as he fell to 5-1 after allowing six hits and two runs in four innings.
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
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. 2 East Carolina 4, No. 7 UCF 3
Game 4 – No. 3 Tulane 3, No. 6 UConn 1
Game 5 – Memphis (35-20) vs. Cincinnati (15-40) 7 p.m.
Thursday, May 21 (American Digital Network)
Game 6 – UCF (31-26) vs. UConn (33-24) 11 a.m.
Game 7 – USF (33-22-1) vs. Houston (40-17) 3 p.m.
Game 8 – East Carolina (37-20) vs. Tulane (34-21) 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