Follow @American_BSB
CLEARWATER, Fla. –  Second baseman Jonathon Artigues went 4-for-5 with three RBIs and No. 8-seeded Tulane got a quality start from pitcher Keagan Gillies as the Green Wave beat top-seeded Houston 11-6 Tuesday afternoon in the American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship presented by Visit St. Pete/Clearwater at Spectrum Field.


 
Tulane (25-31) moves to the winners’ bracket and will face No. 4-seeded ECU Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. ET. The Cougars (33-22) will play an elimination game against No. 5-seeded UCF Wednesday at 9 a.m. ET. Both games will be at Robin Roberts Field.
 
Artigues led a Tulane lineup that saw its top four hitters combine for 10 hits and eight RBIs as Grant Witherspoon, Trevor Jensen and Grant Mathews had two hits each. Artigues’ first hit was a base hit on the first pitch of the game and the first of four singles on the day for the Green Wave’s leadoff hitter.
 
Tulane was able to take a 6-1 lead in the second inning after Artigues’ RBI single was followed by a two-run triple to left-center by Witherspoon. Jensen then delivered a two-run home run to left to cap a five-run inning for the Green Wave.
 
Artigues’ two-run single with two outs in the third gave Tulane an 8-2 lead, and the Green Wave made it a seven-run game on Mathews’ RBI double to left-center to make it 9-2. Tulane threatened to get more in the inning, but Houston centerfielder Grayson Padgett made a running over-the-shoulder catch on Luke Glancy’s rocket to deep center, and the Cougars were able to get the ball in quickly for a spectacular triple play.
 
The lead proved to be plenty for Gillies, who scattered eight hits and allowed two runs in six innings to pick up the win, improving to 6-6 on the year. Connor Pellerin worked the last three innings to pick up his third save of the season.
 
Houston got a leadoff home run by Tyler Bielamowicz and an RBI single by Wendell Champion in the first two innings, but the Cougars were kept off the board the rest of the way until they scored four runs in the ninth – three off the bat of Joe Davis, whose three-run shot to left-center made it 11-6. Houston dropped its American Athletic Conference Championship opener for the first time in the event’s five-year history as starter Aaron Fletcher took the loss, falling to 6-3 on the year.
 
Tulane snapped a four-game slide in The American Championship as the Green Wave picked up its first win in the tournament since its opener in the 2016 event.
 
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.