Highlights
Six teams solidified their seeds for the 2018 American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship presented by Visit St. Pete/Clearwater from May 22-27, following the league’s final Friday of conference play. After No. 20 Houston (16-8) clinched the outright regular season title and top seed on Thursday, USF (14-9-1) took two of three at Cincinnati (12-12) to capture the No. 2 seed. No. 22 UConn (14-10) defeated No. 9 ECU (14-10) in a doubleheader and finished third in the regular season standings, while the Pirates tied for third and took the No. 4 seed. UCF (13-10) took the No. 5 seed after a doubleheader sweep of Tulane, while the Bearcats finished in sixth place in the conference standings.
The final two seeds will be determined in The American’s last two conference games of 2018 on Saturday. Tulane and Wichita State will be battling of the seventh seed, as the Shockers take on Memphis at 2 p.m. ET and the Green Wave faces UCF at 1 p.m. ET.
The Huskies lost Game 1, 6-3, and bounced back with a rubber game win, 4-2, in the series finale. ECU OF Bryant Packard went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a pair of homers, as Trey Benton and Ryan Ross shut out the Huskies for the final four frames, scattering three hits during that span. Southpaw Chase Gardner took the mound for UConn in Game 2, tossing five solid innings, while fanning six Pirates. The Huskies tallied three runs in the third and one in the fifth. Outfielder Troy Stefanski and second baseman Michael Woodworth each had multi-hit games. UConn reliever P.J. Poulin earned his 15th save of the season to set a school record.
Seniors Logan Heiser and Max Wood delivered with a pair of walk-offs to lift the UCF baseball team to a doubleheader sweep of Tulane. After rallying from a pair of deficits in the series opener, Heiser gave UCF a 7-6 victory with a RBI single in the 12th inning. With runners on second and third with no outs, Wood sent a sacrifice fly to deep right field for a 3-2 win over the Green Wave. The Knights’ starter Chris Williams tossed eight innings and fanned seven batters.
USF swept Cincinnati on the road in a doubleheader to clinch the series. The Bulls used a double and a sacrifice fly to tack on two runs in the sixth inning and take Game 1, 8-6. Outfielder Duke Stunkel Jr. and third baseman David Villar combined for six hits, four runs and three RBIs. Starter Peter Stryzelecki tossed seven innings and struck out six. Following a long lightning delay in the seventh inning, shortstop Coco Montes drove in the game-winner with an RBI single in the top of the ninth inning in a 9-8 Game 2 win. Six Bulls recorded a multi-hit game. Second baseman Kyle Mottice went 3-for-4 for the Bearcats.
Memphis second baseman Cale Hennemann hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth to lead Memphis to a 4-3 win over Wichita State in Game 1 Wichita State scored three runs in the fifth inning to take an 8-4 win over Memphis and even the series. Jacob Katzfey went 2-for-5 with three RBI and a home run, while Alex Jackson went 2-for-5 with two RBI and a double. Reliever Liam Eddy earned the win. He threw five shutout innings and allowed just two hits with one walk and five strikeouts. The Shockers and Tigers wrap up the series in a rubber match tomorrow.
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
No. 22 UConn 3, No. 9 ECU 2
Cincinnati 10, No. 22 USF 7
Houston 6, Southeastern Louisiana 3
Friday, May 18
UCF 7, Tulane 6 (12 Innings)
No. 9 ECU 6, No. 22 UConn 3
USF 8, Cincinnati 6
Memphis 4, Wichita State 3
Southeastern Louisiana 5, Houston 4
UCF 3, Tulane 2
No. 22 UConn 4, No. 8 ECU 3
USF 9, Cincinnati 8
Wichita State 8, Memphis 4
Saturday May 19
Tulane at UCF * - 1 p.m.
Wichita State at Memphis * - 2 p.m.
All times ET & subject to change
* conference game