CHAMP CENTRAL
BOX SCORE
HIGHLIGHTS
COACH PENDERS INTERVIEW
PHOTO GALLERY
CLEARWATER, Fla. – Leftfielder John Toppa drove in four runs and conference Pitcher of the Year Anthony Kay went the distance to pick up his eighth win of the season as No. 3-seeded UConn won its 10th straight game with a 6-2 victory against No. 6-seeded Memphis in the first round of the 2016 American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship Wednesday at Bright House Field.
UConn moves on in the winners’ bracket to play Thursday at 7 p.m. ET against USF. Memphis will face East Carolina in an elimination game Thursday at 11 a.m.
UConn scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth on Toppa’s chopper over the first-baseman’s head with two runners on base. Toppa came around to score on the play as an errant throw to second sailed into centerfield, allowing him to cross the plate standing up.
The Huskies added three more in the bottom of the sixth as Willy Yahn scored on a wild pitch, and Toppa delivered a two-run single to right-center to give the Huskies a 6-1 lead.
Memphis had taken a 1-0 lead in the second inning on Jake Overbey’s RBI single to left.The Tigers got one back in the top of the eighth when Brandon Grudzielanek scored on a grounder to second, but Kay was never threatened on his way to his eighth win of the season.
Kay, who won his sixth straight decision, improved to 8-2 after he allowed nine hits and two runs with six strikeouts and two walks. Colton Hathcock (5-8) took the loss for Memphis.
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 – Cincinnati (26-29-1) vs. UCF (25-32)............................................................... 7 p.m.
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. Winner of Game 5...................................................... 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