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CLEARWATER, Fla. – Nate Rupiper went 3-for-4 and pitcher Dylan Toscano allowed one run with five strikeouts in eight innings of work to lead Memphis to the semifinal round of the 2015 American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship Friday at Bright House Field.
Memphis, the No. 5 seed in the double-elimination tournament, stayed alive to face top-seeded Houston Saturday at 10 a.m. ET in the semifinal round. The Tigers, who have one loss in the tournament, would need two wins against the Cougars to reach Sunday’s final. USF, the No. 4 seed saw its conference tournament run end with its second loss of the week.
The Tigers, who trailed 1-0 through five innings, took the lead in unusual fashion in the bottom of the sixth. Tucker Tubbs led off the inning by hitting his league-leading 17th home run of the season into the leftfield bullpen. Carter White followed with a base hit to center and took second on a groundout to move into scoring position.
The Bulls appeared to catch a break when White was caught between second and third on Brandon Montgomery’s grounder to the shortstop. But Montgomery caught USF in a defensive lapse as he took second in the rundown that retired White, sprinted to third base – which was unoccupied following the rundown – and broke for home as the Bulls were out of position. Montgomery beat the USF catcher in a race to the plate, giving Memphis a 2-1 lead.
The Tigers manufactured a run in the bottom of the eighth to make it 3-1 after Jake Overbey walked, was sacrificed to second, and came around to score on Zach Schritenthal’s base hit to center.
Overbey’s RBI single in the bottom of the eighth gave the Tigers a 4-1 cushion, which was more than enough for closer Nolan Blackwood, who worked a scoreless ninth inning for his 14th save of the season.
Toscano picked up the win, improving to 9-2 after he scattered seven hits and allowed one run with five strikeouts. USF starter Casey Mulholland allowed two runs and eight hits in six innings, but took the loss, falling to 5-8.
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
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
Game 6 – UConn 4, UCF 3 (11 innings) (UCF eliminated)
Game 7 – Houston 7, USF 3
Game 8 – East Carolina 3, Tulane 1
Friday, May 22 (American Digital Network)
Game 9 – Memphis 4, USF 1 (USF eliminated)
Game 10 – Tulane (34-22) vs. UConn (34-24) 3 p.m.
Saturday, May 23 (American Digital Network)
Game 11 – Houston (41-17) vs. Memphis (37-20)
Game 12 – East Carolina (38-20) 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