Champ Central
CLEARWATER, Fla. – Pitcher Trey Cumbie worked seven shutout innings and centerfielder Corey Julks drove in four runs as Houston advanced to the final of the American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship for the fourth straight season with a 13-3 victory against UConn Saturday morning at Spectrum Field.
Houston (39-19) will play for its second American Athletic Conference Championship title Sunday as the Cougars will face either East Carolina or UCF at noon ET/11 a.m. CT on ESPNews. Houston won the inaugural American Championship in 2014 and fell in the final in each of the last two seasons. UConn (33-25) was eliminated from the tournament with its second loss.
Cumbie, who was named as The American’s Pitcher of the Year earlier in the week, lived up to his billing Saturday as he retired the first 11 men he faced and allowed only a fifth-inning double and a sixth-inning single. He worked a 1-2-3 seventh inning to finish with 104 pitches before coming out with a comfortable 8-0 lead.
Julks went 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs to lead a Cougar offense that had 14 hits.
UConn’s Mason Feole, The American’s Rookie Pitcher of the Year, matched Cubmie’s effort to start his outing as he retired the first 10 Houston batters in order. But the Cougars’ Connor Hollis was hit by a pitch with one out in the fourth and came around to score when Cooper Coldiron’s chopper to second was misplayed by the Huskies.
Houston broke it open with five runs in the fifth as Hollis’ two-run single to left gave the Cougars a 3-0 lead, and Julks’ two-run shot to left made it 6-0.
Lael Lockhart delivered a two-run single in the top of the seventh to give the Cougars an 8-0 lead, and Houston added five more in the ninth to lead 13-0 before UConn was able to get on the board.
Cumbie improved to 10-1 with the win as he finished with seven strikeouts and one walk while allowing two hits in seven complete innings. Feole took the loss for UConn, falling to 7-4.
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.