Highlights
With the conference season just a week away, American Athletic Conference baseball teams enjoyed a 8-1 Sunday against nonconference foes on the way to clinching six weekend series. No. 19 UCF, No. 17 ECU, Houston and USF swept away their weekend opponents, while Cincinnati and UConn posted rubber match wins to claim a series vicotry.
UCF clinched its fifth series sweep of the year and seventh shutout this season with an 8-0 win over Chicago State. The Knights’ pitching staff tossed a two hitter with 15 strikeouts, led by starter JJ Montgomery, who threw six innings with 11 K’s. The Knights outscored Chicago State 38-1 on the weekend, while the pitchers posted an 0.33 staff ERA with 35 strikeouts and just nine walks in 27 innings.
For the second time this season, USF won on a walkoff, as it defeated Army West Point, 5-4, to extend the win streak to eight. Outfielder Garrett Zech laced the second pitch of his at-bat into left field, giving the Bulls the series sweep. The bullpen combined to throw 5.1 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and one walk with nine strikeouts. USF had 10+ hits for the 13th time this season.
Tyler Smith and Ryan Ross combined for 11 strikeouts, while Connor Litton and Bryant Packard each tallied a pair of hits helping No. 17 ECU to a 4-0 shutout and weekend sweep of Maryland. ECU's pitching staff tossed its fourth shutout of the season, as The weekend sweep was the third of the year for ECU.
Highlighted by a four-run second inning, Houston collected 11 hits and six runs to wrap up a successful weekend with a 6-2 Game 2 win over Columbia. Clay Aguilar tossed 2.2 shutout frames to extend his streak to 5.0 scoreless innings in relief, as the Cougars improve to 9-3 at home with the win.
The Huskies knocked off No. 29 St. John’s in a three-game series, taking home the rubber game, 3-1. UConn’s bullpen fired 7.1 shutout innings, allowing three hits and striking out 13 through its two victories in the series.
Only seven of the game's 17 runs were earned while twenty total free bases were handed out, as Cincinnati took the series over Toledo with a 9-8.
Memphis broke out with a 12-hit performance on the way to a 7-5 win at North Florida The Tigers did their damage in the first and third innings and got 3.1 scoreless innings out of the bullpen to hold down the win. Tyler Webb and Colton Neel both went 3-for-5 with two runs scored to set the table for the offense.
Wichita State fought back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat Creighton 7-4 and split the two-game series. Second baseman Luke Ritter went 2-for-5 with three RBI and a home run, while designated hitter Paxton Wallace went 1-for-3 with two RBIs.
THIS WEEK’S RESULTS
Tuesday, March 13
UConn 12, No. 30 Coastal Carolina 10
VCU 3, No. 17 ECU 0
No. 19 UCF 6, Bradley 5 (13 Innings)
USF 10, Florida Gulf Coast 3
McNeese State 7, Houston 6
Louisiana 5, at Tulane 2 (11 Innings)
NO. 24 Missouri 9, No. 20 Wichita State 4
Wednesday, March 14
Miami (Fla.) 4, No. 19 UCF 3
No. 17 ECU 2, Elon 1
USF 6, Jacksonville 1
No. 5 Auburn 5, Memphis 4
No. 15 Southern Miss 12, Tulane 3
Thursday, March 15
Wright State 14, Cincinnati 8
Friday, March 16
Wright State 14, Cincinnati 8
No. 29 St. John’s 13, UConn 4
Cincinnati 5, Toledo 4
North Florida 4, Memphis 1
No. 19 UCF 10, Chicago State 0
No. 17 ECU 4, Maryland 0
USF 12, Army 0
Houston 1, New Mexico 0
Long Beach 13, Tulane 2
Saturday, March 17
UConn 1, St. John’s 0
Toledo 13, Cincinnati 7
North Florida 7, Memphis 5
Creighton 3, No. 20 Wichita State 1
No. 17 ECU 18, Maryland 4
Tulane 10, Long Beach State 6
No. 19 UCF 20, Chicago State 1
USF 5, Army 3
Houston 4, Columbia 3
Sunday, March 18
No. 19 UCF 8, Chicago State 0
Cincinnati 9, Toledo 8
UConn 3, No. 29 St. John’s 1
No. 17 ECU 4, Maryland 0
Memphis 7, North Florida 5
USF 5, Army 4
No. 20 Wichita State 7, Creighton 4
Houston 6, Columbia 2
Long Beach State 1, Tulane 0