Complete Notes |
Conference Stats
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – American Athletic Conference baseball teams prepare for another busy week, starting with a combined 10 midweek games. The league is off to an 11-3 start against nonconference opponents in April, bolstering a 126-82 (.606) record against other conferences. The American owns the fifth-best RPI ranking among the 31 NCAA Division I conferences heading into this week’s action.
Winning its third-straight American series, ECU (24-7, 8-1) cracked the top 10, coming in at No. 8 on D1Baseball.com’s national poll this week. The Pirates have been a top-15 team all season and are listed at No. 16 in the NCAA’s latest RPI report to lead five of The American’s nine teams that hold top-70 RPI rankings. With UConn listed at No. 31, The American is one of six conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC) to have two top-35 RPI teams.
Along with ECU, UCF (20-12, 3-6), Cincinnati (13-17, 5-4) and Tulane (21-11, 4-2) are coming off American series wins. Memphis (16-14, 3-3) also took two of three in a nonconference set against Southern last weekend. UConn (19-12, 5-4), UCF and Tulane each received votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association’s (NCBWA) national poll this week.
After taking two of three games in a series at Houston last weekend, ECU has won nine of its last 10 games The Pirates will take a break from American play this week, playing four nonconference games on the road. It’ll be a rematch of last year’s NCAA Greenville regional when ECU heads to UNC Wilmington Tuesday night. ECU will then take a trip to the West Coast, facing No. 1 UCLA in a three-game series. Five players are batting over .300 for the Pirates with Burleson hitting .386 to lead the way. One of the conference’s top two-way players, Burleson holds a 2.73 ERA with 36 strikeouts and two pitching wins in 29.2 innings pitched. Spencer Brickhouse is slugging .753, which ranks second in the conference. On the mound, Jake Agnos owns a 2.76 ERA with four wins and 69 strikeouts to lead The American.
After winning its second-straight American series, Tulane moved into second place in the conference’s standings. After falling 12-11 in an 11-inning series opener against Wichita State, the Green Wave battled back, sweeping a Saturday doubleheader against the Shockers. Third baseman Kody Hoese had an outstanding week at the plate, batting .579 and slugging 1.316. He tallied 11 hits, nine RBIs, nine runs scored, four home runs and two doubles to earn his first American Player of the Week honor. Hoese is hitting .403 to lead The American, as his 16 home runs are tied for the lead in the country and 113 total bases tops the nation entering this week. Tulane continues its midweek slate, taking on Southeastern Louisiana on Tuesday night.
Cincinnati is coming off a key series win at then-No. 22 UConn. The Bearcats won the series opener 5-4 before securing Sunday’s rubber match, 10-4. Cincinnati is tied for third place in the conference’s standings with UConn and has won seven of its last 10 games. The Bearcats continue their action at the 11th annual Joe Nuxhall Classic, which will be held at Marge Schott Stadium Tuesday and Wednesday. In addition to Cincinnati, the tournament features Miami (Ohio), Wright State and Xavier. Cincinnati will take on crosstown rival Xavier Tuesday night. Cincinnati head coach Scott Googins spent 12 years at the helm of the Musketeers and is the winningest coach in Xavier history. The Bearcats will play Wednesday at 3 p.m. ET with their opponent to be determined by Tuesday’s results.
UConn will look to bounce back in midweek action with a road game at Bryant and a home game against Northeastern. UConn plays Northeastern for the second time this season after defeating the Huskies 7-4 in Conway, S.C. on March 1. Senior captain John Toppa enters the week with 197 career hits and is three hits shy of becoming the 20th Husky to record 200 hits in a career.
UCF prepares to hit the road for the next seven of eight games, starting Tuesday night at Jacksonville. The Knights earned their first American series win, taking two of three against War on I-4 rival USF. UCF won 4-1 on Friday and completed a 5-0 shutout win Saturday into Sunday, as the game was delayed due to inclement weather. Chris Williams was named The American’s Pitcher of the Week after earning the shutout win Saturday, pitching 6.1 innings with six punch outs and no walks. Ray Alejo has 16 multi-hit games this season. UCF is 8-0 in midweek contests, including wins over No. 3 Florida and No. 14 Florida State this season.
Memphis swept a Saturday doubleheader against Southern to clinch its fifth series of the season. The Tigers won via walk-off in a 12-inning 14-12 slugfest before using a pair of five-inning surges to win 10-1 in eight innings in the series finale. Chris Durham turned in a stellar performance on the mound in Game 2 of the twin bill. The junior threw 6.2 innings, surrendering just one run and tying a career-high nine strikeouts. Freshman Hunter Goodman ranks third in The American with 36 RBIs, while lefthander Hunter Smith is second in the league in strikeouts with 54. With no midweek games on deck, Memphis will return to conference play at UConn this weekend.
Houston handed ECU its first American loss of the year, snapping the Pirates’ 10-game winning streak with a 2-0 win Friday night. However, the Cougars dropped the final two games of the series, and will look to bounce back in Huntsville, Texas, at Sam Houston State Tuesday night as part of the Don Sanders Cup. The Cougars defeated Sam Houston State in Game 1 of the three-game season series, 2-1 in March. Houston has won its past four midweek games.
USF ended its weekend on a high note, defeating UCF 6-3 in Sunday’s series finale. Joe Genord went 3-for-5, including hitting his ninth home run of the season. On the weekend, USF’s bullpen combined to throw 15.0 innings, allowing just one run on nine hits. The Bulls are back home for a matchup against Bethune-Cookman Wednesday night. USF defeated the Wildcats 7-4 on the road in March.
Wichita State is coming off a 2-2 week, as the Shockers have won seven of their last 10 games. Wichita State has come out on top in their past eight nonconference games, as the Shockers welcome Oklahoma State to Eck Stadium Wednesday night. The Shockers fell to the Cowboys 10-7 in on the road in early March. Luke Ritter slugged .933 and hit .533 through four games last week. He has reached safely in to 44 games dating back to last season. Ritter is batting .398 on the year, which ranks second in The American. Teammate Jordan Boyer is hitting .382, good for fifth in the conference.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Tuesday, April 9
UConn at Bryant - 3 p.m.
ECU at UNCW - 6 p.m.
Xavier at Cincinnati - 6:30 p.m.
UCF at Jacksonville - 7 p.m.
Tulane at Southeastern Louisiana - 7 p.m.
Houston at Sam Houston State (ESPN+) - 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, April 10
Northeastern at UConn - 3 p.m.
TBD at Cincinnati - 3 p.m.
Bethune-Cookman at USF - 6:30 p.m.
Oklahoma State at Wichita State (ESPN3) - 7 p.m.
Friday, April 12
Memphis at UConn* - 3 p.m.
UCF at Cincinnati* - 6 p.m.
Houston at Wichita State* - 7 p.m.
USF at Tulane* - 7:30 p.m.
ECU at UCLA - 9 p.m.
Saturday, April 13
Memphis at UConn* - 1 p.m.
Houston at Wichita State* - 3 p.m.
USF at Tulane* - 3 p.m.
UCF at Cincinnati* - 4 p.m.
ECU at UCLA - 5 p.m.
ECU at UCLA - 9 p.m.
Sunday, April 14
UCF at Cincinnati* - 1 p.m.
Memphis at UConn* - 1 p.m.
Houston at Wichita State* - 2 p.m.
USF at Tulane* - 2 p.m.
All times Eastern and subject to change
*Denotes conference game