Complete Notes
The American’s baseball teams wrapped up their midweek slates on Tuesday and will battle for the top seeds of the conference’s 2018 baseball championship presented by Visit St. Pete/Clearwater in their final regular season series this weekend.
After sweeping No. 18 UConn in a doubleheader last Friday, Houston earned at least share of The American’s regular season title for a second-consecutive season with 16-8 conference record. The Cougars will have the top seed heading into The American Championship next week. Three of the Cougars’ final four conference series were victories over ranked opponents. LHP Aaron Fletcher owns a conference-low 1.73 ERA. Fletcher is the reigning Pitcher of the Week and has received that honor three times this season—more than any pitcher in the conference this year.
The American enters the week with the fourth-best RPI in the nation and fourth-best nonconference winning percentage among the 31 Division I conferences at .639. Eight of the league’s nine teams are top-100 RPI programs, while The American is just one of four conferences with three top-25 RPI teams (alongside the ACC, Big 12 and SEC). ECU’s RPI ranking is No. 13, while UConn’s is No. 23 and USF is No. 25.
D1Baseball.com and Baseball America currently projects five teams from The American to make the NCAA Tournament and D1Baseball.com projects one American team to host a regional (ECU). Five teams would be the most to earn a bid to the national tournament in conference history.
UConn, ECU and Houston were featured in numerous national polls this week. ECU extended its streak to nine-straight weeks in all five polls, making the top 10 for the fourth week this season. The Pirates received their highest ranking from D1Baseball.com at No. 9. For the first time this season, Houston joined ECU in making all five lists, receiving its highest ranking at No. 20 from Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball. UConn has been in at least three national polls for a fourth-consecutive week with its top ranking coming from the NCBWA at No. 22.
UConn and ECU have been true road warriors this season. The Huskies set a program record with a 22 wins on the road this season, good for the second-most in the nation. UConn eclipsed their previous school record of 21 road wins back in 2010. ECU holds an 18-2 away record this season, which ranks No. 2 in the nation.
ECU is still in contention for a share of the regular season title after taking two of three against Cincinnati, clinching the series with a 6-5 walk-off win on Sunday. DH/OF Bryant Packard is batting a league-high .409 and has the second-longest hitting streak in the country at 29 games. It will be a top-25 match-up when ECU heads to UConn this weekend for its final conference series. The Huskies have taken down two ranked conference foes in series earlier this year. ECU leads the all-time series against UConn, 35-12.
The American’s teams have had solid defensive outings this season and rank in the top 20 in multiple statistical categories. Both Cincinnati and Tulane are only two of 16 teams in the nation to have turned a triple play this season. The Bearcats have also turned the most double plays in the nation with 62 and 1.22 per game this year. ECU owns the 19th-best fielding percentage in the nation at .979, while UCF is No. 11 in the country with a 3.19 ERA. The Knights also have the most shutouts in the nation with nine and have held teams to 7.09 hits allowed per nine innings, good for No. 2 in the NCAA. USF is fifth in the nation with 10.2 strikeouts per nine innings, fueled by southpaw ace Shane McClanahan who leads the nation with 15.06 strikeouts per nine innings.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE / RESULTS
Tuesday, May 15
Cincinnati 14, Ohio State 4 (7)
Rhode Island 4, No. 22 UConn 3
No. 9 ECU 12, Campbell 8
Louisiana 7, Tulane 6
Kansas State 7, Wichita State 3
Memphis 10, UT Martin 0 (7)
No. 20 Houston 7, Rice 2
Thursday, May 17
ECU at UConn * - 1 p.m.
USF at Cincinnati * - 6 p.m.
Tulane at UCF * - 6:30 p.m.
Houston at Southeastern Louisiana - 7 p.m.
Wichita State at Memphis * - 7:30 p.m.
Friday, May 18
UConn at ECU *- 1 p.m.
USF at Cincinnati * - 6 p.m.
Tulane at UCF * - 6:30 p.m.
Houston at Southeastern Louisiana - 7 p.m.
Wichita State at Memphis * - 7:30 p.m.
Saturday May 19
Tulane at UCF * - 1 p.m.
ECU at UConn * - 1 p.m.
USF at Cincinnati * - 1 p.m.
Wichita State at Memphis * - 2 p.m.
All times ET & subject to change
* conference game