CLEARWATER, Fla. – Lael Lockhart Jr. went 2-for-4 at the plate, driving in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, and worked 1.1 scoreless innings of relief to pick up the save as Houston won for the second time Thursday, taking a 5-3 victory against ECU in the semifinal round of American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship at Spectrum Field.
The Cougars (36-22), who had reached the semifinal round with an 18-7 win against Tulane earlier Thursday, broke a 3-3 tie in the nightcap on Lockhart’s base hit to shallow right that brought Tyler Bielamowicz home from third. The Pirates added an insurance run on Joe Davis’ sacrifice fly, which scored Jared Triolo to give Houston a 5-3 advantage.
The Pirates (41-16) threatened to tie it or take the lead in the top of the eighth, getting two men on with two outs before Lockhart, who had started the game as the first-baseman, moved to the mound. After walking the first batter he faced, Lockhart got out of the jam on a groundout to short, leaving the bases loaded.
Lockhart retired the Pirates in order in the ninth inning to keep the Cougars alive and force Friday’s rematch, which will send the winner to the final.
Seven of the nine Houston players finished with at least one hit, while Lockhart was the only player with two hits for the Cougars. Joey Pulido took the win in relief, improving to 5-2 on the year, while Lockhart earned his third save of the season.
ECU saw four of its eight hits come from the two bottom hitters in the order as Alec Burleson and Turner Brown were both 2-for-3. Jake Agnos took the loss for the Pirates, falling to 4-4.
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 (7 innings) (Tulane eliminated)
Game 11 – Houston 5, ECU 3
at Robin Roberts Field (American Digital Network)
Game 10 – USF 7, Wichita State 2 (Wichita State eliminated)
Game 12 –USF 13, UConn 0 (7 innings)
Friday, May 25
at Spectrum Field (American Digital Network)
Game 14 – USF (37-20-1) vs. UConn (34-19-1) 10 a.m.
at Robin Roberts Field (American Digital Network)
Game 13 – Houston (36-22) vs. ECU (41-16) 10 a.m.
TBD
Game 15 – Semifinal winners TBD
all times Eastern
dates and times subject to change