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CLEARWATER, Fla. – Second baseman Brandon Montgomery went 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs to lead Memphis to a 14-9 win against Cincinnati Wednesday night at the 2015 American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship at Bright House Field.
The fifth-seeded Tigers remain alive in the double-elimination bracket and will face either USF or Houston Friday at 11 a.m. ET in an elimination game. Cincinnati, which started five freshmen and used nine first-year players in the game, saw its season come to an end with its second loss in the championship.
Memphis, which jumped to a 5-0 lead in the top of the first only to see Cincinnati tie the score in the bottom half of the inning, took the lead for good in the second inning before pulling away in the middle innings.
Centerfielder Darien Tubbs was 3-for-6 with a triple, while catcher Carter White was 1-for-4 with a two-run double for the Tigers, who had 12 hits against six Bearcat pitchers.
The Tigers saw their first four batters of the game reach base as Tubbs came home on a throwing error and White delivered his two-run to make it 3-0. Montgomery followed with a two-run home run to give the Tigers a 5-0 lead after just one-third of an inning.
Cincinnati came back with five of its own in similar fashion as Ryan Noda smacked a two-run double to put the Bearcats on the board, R.J. Thompson delivered an RBI single to left and Dan Wenzel sent a two-run home run to left-center to make it 5-5.
Tucker Tubbs’ RBI single in the top of the second gave Memphis a 6-5 lead, and the Tigers added three more in the fifth as the Bearcats misplayed a bases-loaded grounder to the pitcher before Jake Little laced a two-run single to right, giving Memphis a 9-5 advantage.
Cincinnati got one back in the bottom of the fifth, but Memphis tacked on four more runs in the top of the sixth to break it open. Kane Barrow drew a bases-loaded walk to start the rally and Montgomery’s two-run double was preceded by a Nate Rupiper sacrifice fly to make it 13-6. The Tigers made it an eight-run game in the seventh inning on Darien Tubb’s RBI triple.
Cincinnati closed to within five in the bottom of the eighth, capped by an RBI triple by Treg Haberkorn and an RBI single by Ian Happ. But the Bearcats stranded two runners in the eighth inning and two more in the ninth.
Relief pitcher Matt Ferguson (2-0) was credited with the win for Memphis (36-20) after he worked 3.1 innings and allowed one run with two strikeouts.
Cincinnati (15-41), which had a 15-12 advantage in hits, was led offensively by Kyle Mottice, who was 3-for-5, and Haberkorn, who was 2-for-5 with a triple two RBIs. Andrew Zellner took the loss, falling to 2-5.
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 14, Cincinnati 9 (Cincinnati eliminated)
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. Memphis (36-20) 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