Championship Central
CLEARWATER, Fla. – Third baseman David Langer’s walk-off single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted UConn past Houston 4-3 in the opening game of the American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship presented by Air Force Reserve Tuesday morning at Spectrum Field.
The Huskies advance in the winners’ bracket of the double-elimination championship and will face either ECU or Wichita State in their next game Thursday at 3 p.m. ET. The Cougars will face the ECU/Wichita State loser Wednesday at 3 p.m. ET in an elimination game.
Langer, the No. 9 hitter in the UConn lineup, took the second pitch he saw from Fred Vilarreal to centerfield, allowing pinch runner Thad Phillips to score from second well ahead of the throw. Langer’s gamewinner was only the second UConn hit with runners on base.
Houston had loaded the bases in the top of the ninth inning, but UConn reliever Jacob Wallace retired Brad Burckel on three pitches to get out of the jam.
The win for UConn came after Houston had overcome an early 2-0 deficit to build a 3-2 lead in the seventh inning. The Huskies got the tying run in the bottom of the seventh before Langer won it in the ninth.
Houston’s Koby Hyland hit a two-out single to rightfield in the top of the seventh, bringing home Grayson Padgett to give Houston its first lead at 3-2, but UConn answered quickly when designated hitter Paul Gozzo hit his fourth home run of the year deep to leftfield, tying the game at 3-3.
The Huskies jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second on Kyler Fedko’s two-run home run to left. Houston came back to tie on a pair of solo home runs as Jared Triolo drilled a shot to left in the fourth inning before Joe Davis smacked his 18th round-tripper of the season to make it 2-2.
Gozzo and Fedko were the only UConn players with multiple hits as Gozzo went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, while Fedko was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Wallace, the unanimous first-team all-conference reliever in 2019, picked up the win for the Huskies, improving to 3-1 after stranding three Houston baserunners in the ninth. Villarreal took the loss for the Cougars, falling to 5-4. Five UConn pitchers combined to scatter six hits and strike out 14 batters.
Houston was led offensively by Triolo, who was 2-for-4.
2019 American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship
Spectrum Field · Clearwater, Fla.
Tuesday, May 21 | American Digital Network
Game 1: No. 4 seed UConn 4, No. 5 seed Houston 3
Game 2: No. 8 seed Wichita State vs. No. 1 seed ECU | 1:15 p.m.
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: Houston 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: UConn 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