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CLEARWATER, Fla. – Brooks Morgan’s home run to left field in the bottom of the 10th inning gave UCF a 7-6 walkoff win against Cincinnati Wednesday in an elimination game of American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship at Bright House Field.
UCF (26-32) remains alive in the tournament, has an off day Thursday, and will face either Houston or Tulane Friday at 11 a.m. ET in an elimination game. Cincinnati was eliminated from the tournament with its second loss.
UCF, which overcame a four-run deficit in the seventh inning, twice rallied in its final at bat as the Knights scratched a run across in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings before scoring two in the bottom of the 10th to win it.
Morgan, who entered the game as a defensive replacement in the top of the 10th, drove an 0-1 pitch over the fence in left for his second home run of the season. The Knights had tied it in the 10th when Josh Moser led off with a triple to the right-center gap and came home on Ryan Crile’s sacrifice fly to left.
Cincinnati (26-30-1) had taken a 6-5 lead in the top of the 10th after A.J. Bumpass’ bases-loaded grounder up the middle with one out scored Treg Haberkorn from third.
UCF forced extra innings when Austin Griffin led off with a double to right-center, and pinch runner Anthony George moved to third on a fly ball and scored on Brandon Bozeman’s grounder, making it 4-4.
The Knights trailed 4-0 in the seventh, but tied as they parlayed five hits and an errant throw into four runs. Hamblin delivered the big blow with a bases-loaded single to right that drove in one run, while the other two UCF runners scored when an errant throw to second base went into the outfield, making it 4-3. Brennan Bozeman took the next pitch down the right field line to score Hamblin, tying the game at 4-4.
Cincinnati reclaimed the lead in the top of the eighth when an error, a base on balls and an intentional walk loaded the bases for Thompson, who poked a sacrifice fly to right-center and score pinch runner Vince Augustine, making it 5-4.
UCF finished with 14 hits as Hamblin went 2-for-3 with two RBIs from the No. 9 hole. Harrison Hukari picked up the win, improving to 3-3 on the year after he worked the last three innings for the Knights.
Cincinnati had all nine starters register at least one hit as Haberkorn led the way with a 3-for-4 showing. A.J. Kullman took the loss, falling to 4-3.
The Championship continues Thursday with three games, all on The American Digital Network, The latest information on the American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship is available on the conference’s Championship Central page at
www.TheAmerican.org/Baseball.
2016 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Bright House Field · Clearwater, Fla.
Tuesday, May 24 (CBS Sports Network)
Game 1 – No. 5 Houston 9, vs. No. 4 Cincinnati 1
Game 2 – No. 1 Tulane 4, No. 8 UCF 3
Wednesday, May 25 (American Digital Network)
Game 3 – No. 7 USF 4, No. 2 East Carolina 2
Game 4 – No. 3 UConn 6, No. 6 Memphis 2
Game 5 – UCF 7, Cincinnati 6 (10 innings) ........................................ (Cincinnati eliminated)
Thursday, May 26 (American Digital Network)
Game 6 – East Carolina (34-20-1) vs. Memphis (19-37)............................................. 11 a.m.
Game 7 – Tulane (38-17) vs. Houston (34-22)................................................................ 3 p.m.
Game 8 – UConn (34-22) vs. USF (24-31)........................................................................ 7 p.m.
Friday, May 27 (American Digital Network
Game 9 – Loser of Game 7 vs. UCF (26-32).................................................................. 11 a.m.
Game 10 – Loser of Game 8 vs. Winner of Game 6...................................................... 3 p.m.
Saturday, May 28 (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 (if necessary)................. 4:30 p.m.
Game 14 – Loser of Game 12 vs. Winner of Game 12 (if necessary)................. 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 29 (ESPNews)
Game 15 – Semifinal winners.............................................................................................. Noon
all times Eastern