Champ Central
CLEARWATER, Fla. – Four players accounted for eight of UConn’s nine hits and five of its seven runs as the Huskies advanced to the semifinal round of the American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship with a 7-5 win against Memphis Friday morning at Spectrum Field.
UConn (33-24), the No. 3 seed in The American Championship, advances to the semifinal round of the tournament for the third straight year. The Huskies will face Houston Saturday at 10 a.m. and would need two wins against the Cougars to advance to Sunday’s final. Memphis (30-29) saw its tournament run end with its second loss of the week.
The Huskies got two hits each from the No. 2, 3 and 4 hitters in their order as Anthony Prato, Willy Yahn and Isaac Feldstein were all 2-for-5. First baseman Chris Wenkel was 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
The Huskies trailed 5-3 after six innings, but scored three in the seventh and two in the eighth to win it.
UConn tied the game in the top of the seventh on an RBI single by Keith Krueger, a sacrifice fly by Toppa and a base hit to left by Prato, which made it 5-5.
The Huskies reclaimed the lead one inning later when Winkel smacked a triple to the deepest part of the ballpark in center to score Feldstein to make it 6-5. Winkel came home on the front end of a double steal to add an insurance run and give the bullpen a two-run cushion.
UConn threatened for more in the top of the ninth, but Memphis rightfielder Chris Carrier gunned down Yahn at the plate for the third out to keep the lead at two runs.
UConn had taken a 2-0 lead in the third inning on an RBI double by Yahn, who also came around to score on a misplayed grounder to third. Memphis answered with three in the bottom of the fifth Carlos Wiliams drew a one-out walk, took third on a hit-and-run and scored on a double steal. Tyler Webb came in on Brandon Grudzielanek’s triple to center, and Grudzielanek came home on a wild pitch to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead.
Zach Schritenthal scored for Memphis after an errant throw in the sixth to give the Tigers a 4-2 lead, and Jason Santana gave the Tigers a two-run lead with his base hit to center that brought Williams home.
Reliever John Russell picked up the win for UConn, improving to 3-2 after he worked 3.1 scoreless innings. Taylor Bobo (0-2) took the loss for the Tigers.
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.