CLEARWATER, Fla. – Joe Davis went 3-for-5 with a double and six RBIs, including his school-record 32nd career home run, as top-seeded Houston stayed alive to reach the semifinal round of the American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship with an 18-7 win against Tulane Thursday morning at Spectrum Field.
The Cougars, who advanced to the championship semifinals for the fourth straight year, will need to defeat No. 4-seeded ECU in consecutive games in order to make their fifth straight appearance in the tournament final (the 2013 tournament featured pool play). Houston and ECU will meet at 1:10 p.m. ET Thursday; if the Cougars win, the date and time of the second game would be determined later.
All nine Houston batters had at least one hit and scored at least one run against the Green Wave as the Cougars built an early 7-0 lead and broke open what had been a 7-5 game with a nine-run fourth inning. Houston led 18-5 after six innings, and after Tulane managed two runs in the seventh, the game ended due to the 10-run rule.
Davis, who tied Houston’s career home runs yesterday against UCF, broke the record Thursday with his 10th round-tripper of the season and the 32nd of his career. He broke the record set by Pat Hewes, who had 31 home runs from 1985-86.
Cougar relief pitcher Fred Villarreal was credited with the win after he worked 3.2 innings, allowing five hits and two runs with three strikeouts. Villarreal improved to 1-2 with the victory.
Tulane was led by leftfielder Luke Glancy, who went 3-for-4 with two RBIs.
The latest information on the American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship is available on the conference’s Championship Central page at
www.TheAmerican.org/Baseball.
2018 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
presented by visit st. pete/clearwater
SPECTRUM field • clearwater, fla.
UPDATED TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Tuesday, May 22
Game 1 – No. 4 ECU 8, No. 5 UCF 4
Game 2 – No. 8 Tulane 11, No. 1 Houston 6
Wednesday, May 23
at Spectrum Field
Game 3 – No. 7 Wichita State 4, No. 2 USF 3
Game 4 – No. 3 UConn 6, No. 6 Cincinnati 2
Game 8 –UConn 7, Wichita State 5
at Robin Roberts Field
Game 5 – Houston 6, UCF 2 (UCF eliminated)
Game 7 – ECU 6, Tulane 5
Game 6 – USF 9, Cincinnati 4 (Cincinnati eliminated)
Thursday, May 24
at Spectrum Field (American Digital Network)
Game 9 – Houston 18, Tulane 7 (Tulane eliminated)
Game 11 – ECU (41-15) vs. Houston (35-22) 1:10 p.m.
at Robin Roberts Field (American Digital Network)
Game 10 – USF 7, Wichita State 2 (Wichita State eliminated)
Game 12 – UConn (34-18-1) vs. USF (36-20-1) 12:55 p.m.
TBD (American Digital Network)
Game 13 – Loser of Game 11 vs. Winner of Game 11 (if necessary) TBD
Game 14 – Loser of Game 12 vs. Winner of Game 12 (if necessary) TBD
TBD (ESPNews)
Game 15 – Semifinal winners TBD
all times Eastern
dates and times subject to change