Champ Central
CLEARWATER, Fla. – Tyler Bielamowicz went 2-for-3 with a double and a home run as Houston took a 7-6 win against UConn Thursday afternoon to advance to the semifinal round of the American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship at Spectrum Field.
The Cougars (38-19) look to become the first team to reach the final of The American Championship in four consecutive years. Houston has reached the semifinals of the tournament in each of the last three years since the conference went to its current double-elimination format. The Cougars will face either UConn or Memphis Saturday at 10 a.m. ET in the semifinal round.
UConn (32-24) will face Memphis in an elimination game Friday at 11 a.m. ET. The winner of that game would then need to defeat Houston twice on Saturday in order to reach Sunday’s winner-take-all final.
Bielamowicz hit his first home run of the season - a solo shot in the bottom of the third - and smacked an RBI double to right-center in the bottom of the eighth to give the Cougars a two-run lead. Bielamowicz, who batted in the No. 9 spot, joined Lael Lockhart, the No. 8 hitter, to go a combined 5-for-6 with three doubles, a home run and three RBIs for the Cougars.
UConn had built a 4-2 lead in the top of the third inning thanks to Isaac Feldstein’s three-run home run after a pair of Houston errors kept the inning alive. The Cougars tied the game at 4-4 when Jake Scheiner tripled off the wall in right-center, scoring two runs, while Scheiner was thrown out at the plate in his bid for an inside-the-park home run.
Houston’s Corey Julks broke the tie with his sixth home run of the season, a solo shot to left-center to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning, giving the Cougars a 5-4 lead. But the Huskies came back in the top of the seventh to tie it when Keith Kruger led off with an infield hit, moved to second on a sacrifice and scored on Anthony Prato’s base hit up the middle to make it 5-5.
The Cougars took advantage of two UConn errors to reclaim the lead as Connor Wong reached second when his fly ball to rightfield was dropped, and the Huskies misplayed Connor Hollis’ sacrifice bunt, allowing Wong to score to make it 6-5. Bielamowicz’s RBI double that made it 7-5 proved to be a valuable insurance run as the Huskies got one back in the top of the ninth on John Toppa’s RBI single to make it 7-6. But Houston closer Aaron Fletcher left the tying and go-ahead runners stranded as he got Feldstein swinging to end the game.
Brayson Hurdsman was credited with the win in relief, improving to 4-2, while Fletcher picked up his eighth save of the season.
UConn was led by Feldstein, who was 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs. Ryan Radue took the loss for the Huskies, falling to 2-3.
Tickets for the championship will be available at Spectrum Field each day of the tournament or may be purchased in advance by calling the box office at 727-467-4457. The latest information on the American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship is available on the conference’s Championship Central page at
www.TheAmerican.org/Baseball.