Complete Notes
UCF, ECU, and Wichita State started the week with wins in nonconference action, as The American's baseball teams return to conference play this weekend. ECU, USF and Houston share the top spot in the conference's standings with 4-2 records after the first two weeks of league action. The Knights, Bearcats, Pirates and Bulls won their conference series last weekend.
Six conference teams received national attention in this week's polls, as ECU continues to climb up the rankings. For the third straight week, the Pirates made the list in all five polls, with its highest ranking coming from Baseball America at No. 11. For the second week in a row, Wichita State appeared on four national polls, taking the No. 22 spot on the NCBWA's list. UCF also moved up the rankings, coming in at No. 22 on Baseball America's poll. UConn, Houston and USF each received votes on at least one poll this week.
The American's .614 nonconference winning percentage is the fifth best among the NCAA's 31 Division I conferences. In its Midseason Regional Projections, D1Baseball.com listed five American Athletic Conference teams in NCAA regionals with ECU and Wichita State picked in the top 16 to host. ECU RHP Chris Holba, UCF 1B Rylan Thomas and LHP Shane McClanahan were each tabbed Perfect Game Midseason All-America.
After midweek wins over UNC Wilmington and Wofford, ECU will take a four-game winning streak into its nonconference weekend series at Washington. The Pirates improved to 12-1 when registering double-digit hits. 3B Connor Litton is on a 10-game hitting streak, while 2B Brady Lloyd has at least one hit in the past seven games.
Wichita State used a two-run home run from OF Dayton Dugas in the seventh inning to take down Oklahoma State 7-5 on Wednesday night. The Shockers have hit 33 home runs this season, ranking 17th nationally and have held teams to 6.74 hits per nine innings (fifth). Wichita State is scheduled to host Tulane in a three-game series this weekend.
UConn joins ECU on a four-game winning streak after going unbeaten last week in nonconference play. The Huskies started the week with a 4-0 win at Boston College before defeating Hartford 9-1 in its home opener and Central Connecticut 6-1 the following day. UConn then edged Hartford 1-0 to wrap up last week's nonconference slate on Saturday. Head coach Jim Penders earned his 500th career win. The Huskies will look to carry the momentum into this weekend's series at UCF.
UCF took down No. 16 Stetson 4-1 to defeat its fifth ranked opponent this season. Last weekend, the Knights won their sixth series this year, taking two of three from Memphis to even out at 3-3 in conference play. Thomas, the conference preseason Player of the Year, leads the league in batting average (.426), hits (49), home runs (T-8), on base percentage (.500), runs (36) and RBIs (36).
USF won its second straight conference series, taking two of three against Tulane, and averaging 8.7 runs through the three games last weekend. USF leads The American in batting average, slugging percentage, runs, hits, doubles and triples. The Bulls' pitching staff also holds the league's top ERA at 2.71, good for No. 7 in the nation. The top of The American standings will clash this weekend when Houston hosts USF. The Cougars hold a 25-15 all-time series advantage, but the Bulls took two of three in the teams' most recent series last year.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE/RESULTS
Tuesday, April 3
Wright State 5, Cincinnati 1
UCF 4, Stetson 1
ECU 6, UNC Wilmington 4
New Orleans 3, Tulane 2
Wednesday, April 4
ECU 13, Wofford 8
Wichita State 7, Oklahoma State 5
Ole Miss 12, Memphis 0
Friday, April 6
Tulane at Wichita State * (ESPN3) - 1 p.m.
UCF at UConn * - 3 p.m.
Memphis at Cincinnati * - 6 p.m.
USF at Houston * - 7:30 p.m.
ECU at Washington - 9:05 p.m.
Saturday, April 7
UCF at UConn * - 1 p.m.
Tulane at Wichita State * (ESPN3) - 3 p.m.
Memphis at Cincinnati * - 4 p.m.
ECU at Washington (DH) - 5:05 p.m.
USF at Houston * - 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 8
UCF at UConn * - 1 p.m.
Memphis at Cincinnati * - 1 p.m.
Tulane at Wichita State * - 2 p.m.
USF at Houston * - 2 p.m.
All times ET & subject to change
* conference game