Championship Central
CLEARWATER, Fla. – Dallas Beaver’s base hit to rightfield scored Gephry Pena in the bottom of the 10th inning as UCF rallied for an 8-7 win against Memphis Wednesday night in an elimination game of the American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship presented by Air Force Reserve at Spectrum Field.
The Knights trailed 7-4 after four-and-a-half innings, but the bullpen kept the Tigers off the scoreboard for the final five frames, allowing UCF to chip away in the late innings before Beaver won it in the 10th.
UCF (35-21) advances in the tournament to a Friday-night game against either Cincinnati or Tulane (7 p.m. ET). Memphis (27-28) was eliminated with its second loss in the tournament.
Kyle Kemp and Garrett Westberg combined to work five shutout innings in relief for the Knights as Kemp picked up the win (1-0). Kemp worked 2.1 innings and allowed two walks with three strikeouts without surrendering a hit. Westberg pitched 2.2 innings, allowing two hits and a walk with one punch out.
Beaver’s game-winning hit came after Ben McCabe led off with his third hit of the night to center. Pena came in to pinch run and moved to second after Matthew Mika drew a three-ball count before he was intentionally walked to leave runners at first and second. Beaver then stroked a 1-1 pitch to shallow right, and any chance of getting the charging Pena at the plate went away when the Tigers were unable to field the ball cleanly.
UCF had tied it at 7-7 in the bottom of the eighth as Mika led off with a single, moved to second on a hit batsman, took third on a double play and scored after Dalton Wingo legged out a hit on a grounder to deep short.
Memphis had used the long ball to take the lead in the top of the fourth inning as Jason Santana smacked a three-run home run to put the Tigers ahead 5-3, and Ben Brooks followed two batters later with his first round-tripper of the year to make it 6-3. Santana also shined behind the plate, throwing out three base runners on steal attempts to second.
Beaver brought the Knights back within two on a ground ball to second base that scored McCabe, but the Tigers answered with another home run in the top of the fifth as Alec Trela sent a screamer down the leftfield line to give Memphis a 7-4 advantage. The Tigers combined for three homers in the ballgame.
Wingo and McCabe were both 3-for-5 for UCF, while Mika finished 2-for-3, reaching base five times. Memphis saw Trela go 2-for-3, while Nick Vaage was 2-for-4.
The win was UCF’s fifth in extra innings and its sixth walk-off victory of the season. The two losses for Memphis marked the first time in The American’s brief history that the Tigers did not win a game in the tournament.
2019 American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship
Spectrum Field · Clearwater, Fla.
Tuesday, May 21
Game 1: No. 4 UConn 4, No. 5 Houston 3
Game 2: No. 8 Wichita State 6, No. 1 ECU 2
Game 3: No. 2 Cincinnati 11, No. 7 Memphis 6
Game 4: No. 3 Tulane 5, No. 6 UCF 2
Wednesday, May 22 | American Digital Network
Game 5: ECU 13, Houston 2 (Houston eliminated)
Game 6: Memphis vs. UCF | 7 p.m.
Thursday, May 23 | American Digital Network
Game 7: UConn vs. Wichita State | 3 p.m. ET
Game 8: Cincinnati vs. Tulane | 7 p.m. ET
Friday, May 24 | American Digital Network
Game 9: Loser of Game 7 vs. ECU | 3 p.m. ET
Game 10: Loser of Game 8 vs. UCF | 7 p.m. ET
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