CHAMP CENTRAL
BOX SCORE
HIGHLIGHTS
COACH PIERCE INTERVIEW
PHOTO GALLERY
CLEARWATER, Fla. – Jake Willsey went 2-for-3 with a home run and Alex Massey pitched into the ninth inning, scattering two hits and striking out seven to lead Tulane to a 5-0 win against UCF in an elimination game of the American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship Friday at Bright House Field.
The win sends top-seeded Tulane (39-18) to the semifinal round of the championship, where the Green Wave will face Houston at 10 a.m. ET. Tulane would need to defeat the Cougars twice Saturday in order to reach Sunday’s winner-take-all final. UCF (26-33), the No. 8 seed, saw its season come to an end with its second loss of the tournament.
Tulane registered its 13th shutout of the season – the most in Division I baseball in 2016.
Willsey led off the top of the fifth inning by sending a 1-1 pitch to deep left-center for his 10th home run of the season, giving the Green Wave the only run it would need. Tulane added three more in the seventh inning as Richard Carthon’s two-run double to left-center brought home Willsey and Hunter Hope, and Stephen Alemais’ base hit to left delivered Carthon.
The Green Wave made it 5-0 when Jake Rogers scored from third on a grounder to second in the eighth inning.
Massey came out of the game after he walked the first two batters of the ninth. But Eric Steel got a double-play ball on the first batter he faced before ending the game with a fly ball to right.
Massey was credited with 8.0 innings and allowed two hits – a single in the third inning and a double in the fourth. He pitched five 1-2-3 innings on his way to his sixth win of the season (6-4). Cre Finfrock took the loss for UCF, finishing the year at 4-7.
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 – Memphis 5, East Carolina 4......................................... (East Carolina eliminated)
Game 7 – Houston 5, Tulane 3
Game 8 – UConn 9, USF 1
Friday, May 27 (American Digital Network)
Game 9 – Tulane 5, UCF 0............................................................................... (UCF eliminated)
Game 10 – USF (24-32) vs. Memphis (20-37)................................................................. 3 p.m.
Saturday, May 28 (American Digital Network)
Game 11 – Houston (35-22) vs. Tulane (39-18)
Game 12 – UConn (35-22) 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