In American Athletic Conference baseball action on Friday, Feb. 26, both UCF and Tulane knocked off top-5 programs.

Friday, Feb. 26
UCF 3, No. 1 Ole Miss 2 - Box Score
Tulane 7, No. 5 Mississippi State 3 - Box Score
USF 3, Florida A&M 1 (7 innings - Game 1) - Box Score
USF 13, Florida A&M (Game 2) - Box Score
Memphis 11, Grambling State 9 - Box Score
Wichita State 10, SIU Edwardsville 4 - Box Score
No. 22 East Carolina 6, Georgia Southern 4 - Box Score
Western Kentucky 5, Cincinnati 4 (12 innings) - Box Score
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 3, Houston 2 - Box Score

UCF 3, No. 1 Ole Miss 2 - Box Score
ORLANDO, Fla. – For the third time in UCF history, the Knights have knocked off the No. 1 ranked team in the country. In game one of a three-game set in Oxford, Miss., the UCF baseball team topped the No. 1 Ole Miss Rebels 3-2 at Swayze Field on Friday night. The victory marked the fifth straight win over SEC opponents, all on the road.
 
Knights starting pitcher Colton Gordon set the tone, only allowing just a single run in 7.0 innings of work. The left would finish his outing with six strikeouts, allowing six hits.
 
Ole Miss struck first in the fourth inning, stringing together a few singles together to take a 1-0 lead. The Knights found a response in their half of the seventh, as Jordan Rathbone hit a solo shot into the UCF bullpen beyond left field to tie the game at one. Two batters later, Josh Crouch responds to Rathbone with a solo shot of his own to give the Black and Gold their first lead of the game.
 
Rathbone added what would be a needed insurance run in the top of the ninth, doubling to left to start the inning, and would later come around to score on a throwing error. After coming into the game in the eighth, David Litchfield stayed on to earn the two-inning save, despite giving up a solo home run in the bottom half of the ninth.

Tulane 7, No. 5 Mississippi State 3 - Box Score
STARKVILLE, Mississippi – Redshirt junior Braden Olthoff was a one-man wrecking crew Friday night, as he went 8.0 innings to lead the Tulane University baseball team to a convincing 7-3 victory over No. 5-ranked Mississippi State inside Dudy Noble Field.
 
The California native was in complete control throughout his eight-innings of work, as he struck out six, scattered six hits, walked one and was tagged for only two earned runs to pickup his first victory of the season.
 
With the win, Tulane picked up second straight victory and improved to 3-2 on the year. The win also marked Tulane's first victory over Mississippi State since 1996.
 
New Orleans native Collin Burns continued to swing a hot bat, as he collected his a pair of hits and drove in a pair of runs to extend his hitting streak to nine games.


USF 3, Florida A&M 1 (7 innings - Game 1) - Box Score
USF 13, Florida A&M (Game 2) - Box Score
TAMPA – The USF Bulls (2-3) were firing on all cylinders Friday as the home team opened a four-game series against Florida A&M (0-6) with a sweep at USF Baseball Stadium. The Bulls won the seven-inning opener, 3-1, and proceeded to rout the Rattlers in the finale, 13-0.
 
Jack Jasiak (Spring Hill) and Brad Lord (Crawfordville) each turned in quality starts in their respective outings, and the freshman duo of Drew Brutcher (Lakeland) and Matt Ruiz (Hialeah) remained scorching hot at the plating, combining to go 9-for-15 with seven extra-base hits and six RBI in the twinbill.
 
Game 1
Jasiak (1-0) recorded his first career complete game in the opener, allowing one run on two hits with nine strikeouts over 7.0 IP.
 
The Rattlers played small ball for their lone run of the afternoon against Jasiak, moving a runner into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt and eventually scoring on a sac fly. FAMU's lead was short-live however, as the Bulls took the opposite approach to scoring their first of many more runs to come on Friday.
 
Ruiz deposited his second double in as many at-bats down the right field line to lead off the bottom of the fourth and Roberto Pena (Caracas, Venezuela) followed with a single. Riley Hogan (Orlando) then put USF in front with his first home run of the season to straight-away centerfield.
 
Game 2 
The Bulls wasted little time lighting up the scoreboard in the finale, plating three runs in the bottom of the first and scoring in each of the first four frames to build a 11-0 advantage.
 
Pena broke the scoring seal with an RBI-triple in the first, Hogan followed with an RBI-double and Nick Gonzalez (Tampa) added a run-scoring single. Ruiz connected on his first collegiate homer in the second inning, a two-run blast, and the freshman added an RBI-triple in the third frame.
 
Brutcher capped the scoring with a two-run homer of his own to right field in the seventh inning.
 
Meanwhile, Lord (1-1) was in complete command on the hill en route to his first win with the Green & Gold. The right-hander tossed seven scoreless frames, allowed just three hits and struck out seven batters. Tanner Mink (Palm Harbor) and Caleb Pundsack (Groveland) each contributed a scoreless inning of relief to complete the shutout.

Memphis 11, Grambling State 9 - Box Score
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Amidst at minimum a constant drizzle throughout the game, the Memphis Tigers opened up their home campaign at FedExPark with an 11-9 win over Grambling State. Memphis (2-0) scored at least three runs in three different innings, which included a five-run sixth frame that decided the game. Eight of the nine Memphis starters tallied at least one hit, while Chris Swanberg led the way with four RBIs including a third inning home run.
 
Grambling State (0-1) got out to an early 2-0 lead on the backs of a run in each of the first two frames against Blake Wimberley (ND). Neither run was earned against the Memphis starting pitcher, who settled in for a five-inning performance. Wimberley allowed three runs, all unearned, and struck out eight in the no-decision.
 
Swanberg's home run highlighted a three-run third inning against Kerry Boykins Jr. (ND) that put Memphis in front, while the home team then sent eight men to the plate in a three-run fifth frame against Grambling State reliever Antoine Valerio (L, 0-1). Valerio was charged with six runs, all earned, in just one+ inning of work. Memphis' three-run fifth came on only three hits, all singles, and included Swanberg's second two-RBI hit of the afternoon. Memphis led 6-3 after five innings.
 
Valerio faced the first three Memphis hitters in the sixth inning and allowed all three to reach base successfully before Grambling State went back to the bullpen. Austin Rotramel allowed all three inherited runners to score and allowed two runs of his own over the final three innings, as Memphis took an 11-6 lead into the ninth.
 
After 2.2 innings from Logan Walters (W, 1-0), Memphis turned to Bailey Wimberley (SV, 1) in search of two outs to pick up the save and close out the Memphis win. Walters had already given up three runs in the inning, and though Wimberley entered with the tying run at the plate, he allowed only a single before he retired the final two batters and struck out Rafael Ramirez to end the game as the Tigers held on 11-9.

Wichita State 10, SIU Edwardsville 4 - Box Score
WICHITA, Kan. – Paxton Wallace belted two home runs and tallied seven RBIs to help the Wichita State baseball team take down the SIUE Cougars, 10-4, in the series opener of a three-game series Friday, Feb. 26, at Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field.
 
Wallace, a junior from Greenbrier, Ark., became the first Shocker to drive in seven runs in a game since Johnny Coy had seven RBIs in game one of a doubleheader against North Dakota during the 2012 season.
 
He finished the game going a career-best 3-for-4 to pace WSU at the plate. Wallace belted a two-run shot down the left field line in the bottom of the third inning, prior to blasting a three-run round-tripper to left field in the seventh.
 
Sophomore David VanVooren also enjoyed a career day, posting a career-best three hits in four at bats, while freshman Chuck Ingram had a double and triple in his first collegiate start.
 
Junior right-hander Liam Eddy (1-1) earned the victory on the mound for Wichita State after giving up four earned runs on five hits with seven strikeouts and one walk in six innings. Eddy has struck out a combined 15 batters and walked just one in his first two starts of 2021.

No. 22 East Carolina 6, Georgia Southern 4 - Box Score
STATESBORO, Ga. – A four-run fourth inning proved to be enough as No. 22 East Carolina took game one of the three-game series against Georgia Southern, 6-4, Friday night at J.I. Clements Stadium. With the win the Pirates improve to 5-0 on the year, while the Eagles fall to 1-4.
 
Trailing 2-1 in the fourth, ECU scratched across four runs on three hits to take a 5-2 and held on for its fifth-straight victory to open the 2021 season. Josh Moylan's RBI single scored Connor Norby knotting the game at two-all. With Zach Agnos on third and Moylan standing at first, Ryder Giles' fielder's choice sac bunt scored Agnos. Bryson Worrell followed with an RBI ground out to short scoring Moylan and Lane Hoover reached on a fielding error by pitcher Tyler Owens allowing Giles to cross home.
 
Matt Bridges (1-0) earned the win in relief working 2.1 innings allowing one run (earned) on two hits with a pair of walks and three strikeouts. Cam Colmore earned the save working a scoreless ninth where he struck out the side and issued two walks. Starter Tyler Smith gave up three runs (all earned) on three hits with five walks in four-plus innings. ECU also got pitching performances from Giles (0.1 IP, 1 K), A.J. Wilson (0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 K), Trystan Kimmel (0.0 IP, 1 H), Garrett Saylor (0.0 IP, 1 BB), and Danny Beal (0.2 IP, 1 BB, 1 K).

Western Kentucky 5, Cincinnati 4 (12 innings) - Box Score
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The University of Cincinnati baseball team dropped its second-straight extra-innings game, losing 5-4 in a 12-inning battle at Western Kentucky's Nick Denes Field on Friday.
 
A double by the Hilltoppers 3B Eric Riffe with runners on the corners and one out in the 12th off UC reliever Zach Segal scored the game-winning runs and handed the Bearcats a fourth-straight loss to open the season.
 
Cincinnati (0-4) had taken a 4-3 lead in the top of the inning after an RBI groundout by Joey Bellini scored Cole Harting to break a 3-3 tie. Harting and Eric Santiago hit back-to-back singles and later advanced on a wild pitch before Bellini's poke up the middle.
 
The Bearcats took the lead on four different occasions and each time, the Hilltoppers (2-3) had an answer. UC was its own worst enemy at times, stranding eight runners and hitting five batters, including three-straight WKU batters on consecutive pitches in the bottom of the ninth which loaded the bases and led to the game-tying run.
 
The game started on a great note with a Jace Mercer home run on the first pitch he saw with one out in the top of the fourth to put the Bearcats in the driver's seat. Starer Evan Shawver pitched a gem, going 6.0 innings with a season-best nine strikeouts and giving up a single hit to the Hilltoppers in the no decision.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 3, Houston 2 - Box Score
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Houston was unable to cash in with runners aboard as the Cougars dropped their first contest of the season, 3-2 to A&M-Corpus Christi in the series opener Friday night from Whataburger Field.
 
The teams return to action Saturday at 6 p.m. Houston sends right-hander Ben Sears (0-0, 5.40 ERA) to the mound against A&M-Corpus Christi (4-1) righty Henry Bird (1-0, 0.00 ERA). The contest can be seen on FloBaseball.tv and heard on Stretch Live.
 
The Cougars (4-1) cut their deficit in half in the sixth thanks to Tyler Bielamowicz (3-for-3) who extended his hit streak and RBI streak to four games in the loss. The left fielder drove a single into left, scoring Steven Rivas, who reached on a leadoff walk. Houston made things interesting in the ninth as Steven Rivas plated Cole Turney on a two-out hot shot through the right side before stranding the tying run on first.
 
Houston was unable to add on in the sixth, leaving a pair as a strikeout and flyout ended the top half. Two innings later, after Ryan Hernandez (2-for-3) and Bielamowicz singled, a flyout and strikeout left the pair on.
 
Cougar starter Robert Gasser (1-1) was saddled with the loss. The southpaw tossed 5.0 innings, allowing two runs on three hits while walking a pair and striking out three. Gasser's only blemish came in the third as the Islanders took advantage of a leadoff hit by pitch and walk before Itchy Burts drove an RBI-single into right field and Tristan Welch sent a sacrifice fly into left.