Championship Central | Complete Notes | Statistics
CLEARWATER, Fla. – The American Baseball Championship presented by Air Force Reserve returns to Spectrum Field from May 21-26, as eight conference teams punched a ticket to Clearwater, Florida, for a shot at the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. Live coverage of the first five days will be provided by the American Digital Network Plus on Facebook. The championship game on May 26 will be televised at Noon ET on ESPNews.
Three teams have won the conference’s baseball tournament title. Houston (2014 and 2017) and ECU (2015 and 2018) have captured two, while UConn won the title in 2016. All three of these teams are the only current American members to reach the title game and are in the same side of the bracket at this year’s championship.
The tournament will be played in a double-elimination format through the semifinal round. The championship final is a winner-take-all matchup Sunday, May 27. With six top-100 RPI programs, the American boasts the fifth-best RPI ranking among the 31 NCAA Division I conferences.
ECU, which became the first team in American Athletic Conference history to win 20 league games, clinched its first American regular season title and earned the No. 1 seed for the tournament. The Pirates won all eight of their regular season conference series and has been ranked as high as No. 6 nationally. The Pirates, who won the 2018 tournament title as a No. 4 seed, are 10-5 all-time in American tournament play and have advanced to three of the past four title games. The Pirates will take on No. 8 seed Wichita State in the opening round Tuesday.
ECU owns a dynamic pitching staff, leading the conference with a 3.55 ERA. Lefthander Jake Agnos was named The American’s Pitcher of the Year after setting the conference’s single-season strikeout record with 124 Ks. He leads the conference with a league-low 2.06 ERA and went 8-2 in 14 starts on the mound, averaging 13.45 strikeouts per nine innings. ECU head coach Cliff Godwin earned his second-career American Coach of the Year nod after winning the award in 2015. The Pirates had nine All-Conference selections, including six on the first team.
Wichita State took two of three in its final conference series against USF on the road to earn the conference’s last bid to the tournament. The Shockers are led by two-time first team All-Conference selection Luke Ritter and Jordan Boyer who are each hitting over .300 this season.
Picked to finish eighth in the conference’s preseason coaches’ poll, Cincinnati ended the regular season in second place to clinch the No. 2 seed heading into the tournament. The Bearcats rallied through April, going 12-6 during that month with Wyatt Stapp (.347), Joey Bellini (.342) and Eric Santiago (.311) each batting over .300. Cincinnati looks to win its first American Championship game after receiving their highest tournament seed. Cincinnati has been one of top defensive teams in The American and enters the championship ranked fifth in the nation with 55 double plays. Cincinnati will take on No. 7 seed Memphis in the first round.
Memphis comes in as the No. 7 seed after the Tigers ended the regular season on a high note, winning 10-9 at ECU in the series finale. Memphis freshman Hunter Goodman was named the conference’s Newcomer Position Player of the Year after establishing himself as one of the top rookies in the league. Goodman ranks in the top 10 in the conference in seven offensive categories, including a conference-best 66 runs batted in.
Tulane, which is the No. 3 seed, owns The American’s top offense. The Green Wave spent most of the season in second place and leads the conference in 10 offensive categories. Junior third baseman Kody Hoese was named The American Player of the Year. He ranks among the top 20 in the nation in eight offensive categories and leads the country with 177 total bases and an American-record 23 home runs. Tulane will take on No. 6 seed UCF in the final game of the opening day.
UCF went 14-1 in midweek games, including wins over No. 3 Florida, No. 14 Florida State, No. 17 Miami (Fla.) and Florida Atlantic (RV). The Knights finished the regular season with an 11-inning walk-off victory over Houston, improving to 5-1 in walk offs and 4-1 in extra-inning games this year. Four Knights are batting over .300 this season with Tyler Osik (.330), Matthew Mika (.320), Dallas Beaver (.320) and Ray Alejo (.312) powering UCF’s offense. The Black and Gold is 5-9 all-time at the American Championship.
UConn claimed the fourth seed and is 12-9 all-time in American tournament games. The Huskies are led by Michael Woodworth, who is hitting .431 (25-for-58) with runners in scoring position this season. Closer Jacob Wallace has been lights out with 14 saves to lead The American. UConn southpaw Mason Feole earned his third-straight first team All-Conference honor, as six Huskies received All-Conference recognition. UConn is 8-2 in neutral-site games and owns 13 wins on the road in 2019.
UConn will face No. 5 seed Houston in Tuesday’s championship opener. UConn and Houston are 2-2 against each other all-time in American tournament play. The Huskies defeated the Cougars 7-2 in the 2016 American title game.
Houston took the No. 5 seed and owns the best conference tournament record with a 14-5 mark. The Cougars have advanced to all but one American Championship title game and have never been eliminated before the semifinal round. The Newcomer Pitcher of the Year award went to the Cougars’ junior righthander Devon Roedahl. He holds a 3.64 ERA with seven wins and four saves out of the bullpen. The tournament also welcomes back Houston’s Joe Davis, who owns the league’s all-time career records in hits, RBIs, home runs, total bases, doubles and RBIs per game.
2019 American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship
Spectrum Field · Clearwater, Fla.
Tuesday, May 21 | American Digital Network
Game 1: No. 5 seed Houston vs. No. 4 UConn seed | 9 a.m. ET
Game 2: No. 8 seed Wichita State vs. No. 1 seed ECU | 47 minutes following Game 1
Game 3: No. 7 seed Memphis vs. No. 2 seed Cincinnati | 4 p.m. ET
Game 4: No. 6 seed UCF vs. No. 3 seed Tulane | 47 minutes following Game 3
Wednesday, May 22 | American Digital Network
Game 5: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 | 3 p.m. ET
Game 6: Loser of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4 | 47 minutes following Game 5
Thursday, May 23 | American Digital Network
Game 7: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 | 3 p.m. ET
Game 8: Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4 | 47 minutes following Game 7
Friday, May 24 | American Digital Network
Game 9: Loser of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 5 | 3 p.m. ET
Game 10: Loser of Game 8 vs. Winner of Game 6 | 47 minutes following Game 9
Saturday, May 25 | American Digital Network
Game 11: Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 9 | 10 a.m. ET
Game 12: Winner of Game 8 vs. Winner of Game 10 | 47 minutes following Game 11
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
Sunday, May 26 | Championship | ESPNews
Game 15: Semifinal Winner vs. Semifinal Winner | Noon ET