Complete Notes
UCF (30-15, 9-9) and Tulane (22-24, 7-8) each knocked off a ranked opponent on Tuesday to begin the final month of regular season play on a positive note. The American’s baseball programs have combined to take down 19 nonconference ranked foes this year. With three weeks left of the regular season, the American Athletic Conference holds the third-best nonconference winning percentage (.641) among the 31 NCAA Division I conferences. Week 7 of league play will continue this weekend, as Houston remains ahead of the pack for a fifth-straight week.
The American owns the fourth-best RPI ranking (.552) with five top-50 RPI teams. With UConn (25-13-1, 9-6) at No. 12, ECU (30-12, 8-7) at No. 17 and Wichita State (28-14, 5-10) at No. 18, The American is one of four leagues (with the ACC, Pac-12, SEC) to have at least three top-20 RPI teams.
Five American teams were featured in D1Baseball.com’s latest regional projections. UConn and ECU were listed as projected hosts, while UCF and USF (29-15, 11-7) and Wichita State were each spotted in a regional.
For the second straight week, four conference teams earned a national ranking. ECU was featured in all five polls for a seventh consecutive week, receiving its highest ranking from D1Baseball.com at No. 12. UConn was featured in three polls and moved up to No. 19 on D1Baseball.com’s list. Houston cracked the top-25 for the first time since February, coming in at No. 19 on Collegiate Baseball’s poll. The Cougars were featured in three other polls and received votes in USA Today’s poll as well. For the second week in a row, USF was featured on three polls with its highest ranking at No. 22 on D1Baseball.com’s list.
The top of the league clashed last weekend when the Cougars traveled to Greenville and defeated No. 7 ECU in all three games, as Houston picked up its second straight three-game series sweep over a ranked conference opponent. Each match of the series stayed within two runs. The Cougars will host UCF in their final regular season home series this weekend.
UCF 1B Rylan Thomas—the conference’s preseason Player of the Year—has had a standout season and leads the conference in hits (64), runs scored (46), home runs (12), RBIs (51), total bases (111) and on-base percentage (.479).The sophomore has gotten on base in all 45 games this season and has reached safely in 53 games carried over from last season to set a league record. It stands as the third-longest streak in the nation. UCF closed out its April slate with a series win over No. 30 Wichita State and started off May with a 2-1 walk-off win over No. 28 Florida Atlantic on Tuesday, capturing its eighth win over a ranked opponent this season. UCF’s pitching staff ranks ninth in the nation in ERA at 3.00.
UConn picked up its fourth straight conference series after taking two of three against Tulane last weekend. The Huskies used two strong starts to capture Games 1 and 3 of the series to move into third place in league standings, just two and a half games behind Houston. UConn will look to carry the momentum to Memphis this weekend.
Tulane belted four home runs in a 10-7 slugfest win over No. 11 Southern Miss on Tuesday. 3B Kody Hoese’s only two hits of the game were solo homers, as OF Grant Witherspoon hit a three-run shot in the fifth inning before 1B Trevor Jensen sent a two-run homer over the fence in the seventh. The Green Wave has won six of its last seven nonconference games, including two wins over ranked opponents during this span. Tulane will host ECU in a three-game series this weekend.
USF won its third straight series in its final three home games of the year against Memphis to move into second place in The American’s standings. The Bulls will take this week off and prepare for their next game on May 8 when they face No. 1 Florida. USF has won 11 series this year, as they prepare for an eight-game road stretch to conclude the regular season. LHP Shane McClanahan has had at least 10 strikeouts in six of his 11 appearances this season and leads the nation with 15.21 strikeouts per nine innings this year.
Memphis RHP Jonathan Bowlan set a conference and school record after fanning 18 batters in his first career complete game performance in last Saturday’s 8-2 win at USF. His 18 Ks are the most by a NCAA Division I pitcher this season. He faced only four over the minimum, retiring the side in order six times. He retired 18-straight batters between the third and ninth innings.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE / RESULTS
Tuesday, May 1
Miami (Ohio) 7, Cincinnati 2
UCF 2, Florida Atlantic 1 (10 Innings)
Sam Houston State 7, Houston 8
Tulane 10, No. 11 Southern Miss 7
Wednesday, May 2
Wichita State at Kansas State - Cancelled
Friday, May 4
Cincinnati at Wichita State * (ESPN3) - 7 p.m.
UCF at Houston * (ADN) - 7:30 p.m.
UConn at Memphis * - 7:30 p.m.
ECU at Tulane * - 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 5
UConn at Memphis * - 3 p.m.
Cincinnati at Wichita State * (ESPN3) - 3 p.m.
ECU at Tulane * - 5 p.m.
UCF at Houston * - 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 6
Cincinnati at Wichita State * (ESPN3) – 11:30 a.m.
ECU at Tulane * - 1 p.m.
UCF at Houston * - 2 p.m.
UConn at Memphis * - 2 p.m.
All times ET & subject to change
* conference game