CLEARWATER, Fla. – No. 2-seeded USF eliminated No. 7-seeded Wichita State in a 7-2 win behind a first-career complete game performance by Collin Sullivan on Thursday morning in the American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship presented by Visit St. Pete/Clearwater at Robin Roberts Field. The win marks the first time USF has won two games in the tournament. The Bulls will return to the field this afternoon to play No. 3-seeded UConn at 12:55 p.m. ET.
Sullivan fanned seven batters and scattered two runs on five hits. He tossed seven shutout innings, retiring the side in order three times. Eight USF batters recorded at least one hit to combine for 12 overall, led by Coco Montes, who went 3-for-5. Trey Vickers drove in both the runs for the Shockers.
USF jumped out to an early 4-0 lead through the first three innings. Montes took the first pitch of the game to left field for a stand-up double before David Villar recorded his third RBI of the tournament with an RBI single. Montes lined his second hit of the day to left field in the second inning to bring home Garett Zech.
Vickers put one on the board in the bottom of the second for the Shockers to trim the lead to one with a deep ground-rule double RBI that bounced over the left field fence.
However, Chris Chatfield delivered an RBI double to right field in the following frame. Wichita State turned a 3-6-3 double play, but the Bulls moved another runner across the plate to make it a 4-1 game after three innings. The Bulls pushed three more across in the top of the seventh inning. Chatfield drove in his second run of the game before Zech plated two more with a single through the left side to open up a 7-1 lead.
Vickers earned his second RBI of the game in the seventh inning, bringing home Hunter Gibson with a sacrifice fly to right field that would be the final run of the game. Sullivan came back out to the hill in the final frame and retired three-straight Shockers, as the Bulls clinched the 7-2 elimination game win.
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 (34-22) 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 (33-19-1) 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