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CLEARWATER, Fla. – USF scored the go-ahead runs in the top of the ninth inning as the seventh-seeded Bulls stunned No. 2-seeded East Carolina in the first round of the 2016 American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship Wednesday at Bright House Field.
USF moves on in the winners’ bracket to play Thursday at 7 p.m. ET against either Memphis or UConn. East Carolina will face the Memphis-UConn loser in an elimination game Thursday at 11 a.m.
USF, which had taken two of three games from the Pirates in the teams’ regular-season series two weeks ago, drew five walks in the top of the ninth as the Bulls scored two runs without a hit to break what had been a 2-2 tie.
Duke Stunkel led off with a base on balls to start USF’s rally in the ninth, while Kevin Merrell and Garrett Zech drew one-out walks to load the bases. Luke Maglich worked the count full before watching ball four for the go-ahead run, while Joe Genord took a five-pitch walk with two outs to give the Bulls an insurance run, making it 4-2.
The Pirates had erased a 2-0 deficit to tie the score in the bottom of the seventh on Kirk Morgan’s two-run, two-out double to left. Eric Tyler set the table with a one-out double and Garrett Brooks walked before the runners moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. Morgan sent a 1-2 pitch deep to left, and the ball landed safely despite a diving bid by Montgomery.
USF picked up its first run of the game in the top of the seventh as David Villar’s grounder down the third-base line went for a double, Cameron Montgomery followed with a base hit to left and Duke Stunkel hit a sacrifice fly. A four-pitch walk put runner on first and second for Kevin Merrell, who smacked a base hit to center to bring Montgomery home and give the Bulls a 2-0 lead.
East Carolina loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the eighth on an error and two walks, but reliever Joe Cavallaro worked out of the spot with a strikeout and a fly ball to center.
Cavallaro picked up the win for the Bulls, improving to 6-3 on the year, while Phoenix Sanders picked up the save by working a scoreless ninth in his first relief appearance of the season. USF’s Brandon Lawson went 7.0 innings and struck out eight while allowing seven hits and two earned runs. East Carolina starter Evan Kruczynski also worked 7.0 innings and scattered seven hits with two earned runs and six strikeouts. Matt Bridges took the loss for the Pirates, falling to 2-1.
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. 6 Memphis (19-37) vs. No. 3 UConn (33-22)......................................... 3 p.m.
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. Loser of Game 4............................................. 11 a.m.
Game 7 – Tulane (38-17) vs. Houston (34-22)................................................................ 3 p.m.
Game 8 – USF (24-31) vs. Winner of Game 4................................................................. 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