Five American Athletic Conference baseball programs picked up wins in action on Friday, March 5.

No. 17 East Carolina 13, Appalachian State 2 - Box Score
Wichita State 2, Dixie State 1 - Box Score
Cincinnati 7, UNCW 4 - Box Score
USF 3, Stetson 2 - Box Score
Tulane 6, Western Kentucky 5 - Box Score
Liberty 2, UCF 1 (Game 1) - Box Score
Liberty 8, UCF 3 (Game 2) - Box Score
No. 19 Texas 1, Houston 0 - Box Score
Baylor 5, Memphis 4 - Box Score

No. 17 East Carolina 13, Appalachian State 2 - Box Score
GREENVILLE, N.C. – No. 17 East Carolina scored three runs in the third inning and then added runs in the fifth through eighth frames walking away with a 13-2 win over Appalachian State on Friday during opening round action of the 18th Annual Keith LeClair Classic at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium. With the win the Pirates improve to 7-2 on the season, while the Mountaineers drop to 6-3.
 
Trailing 1-0 in the home half of the third, ECU took its first lead at 3-1 and never really looked back. Connor Norby singled to left field to start the stanza and moved to second on Thomas Francisco's walk. Alec Markarewicz plated the first run with a double to right center putting runners at second and third with one out. A balk by Tyler Tuthill allowed Francisco to score and advanced Makarewicz to third before Seth Caddell's ground out to third scored the final run of the inning.
 
Carter Spivey (1-0) earned the win in relief working 1.1 scoreless frames with a pair of walks and three strikeouts. The right entered the contest with two runners on and two outs before getting Andrew Terrell to ground out ending the inning. Starter Tyler Smith allowed two runs (both earned) on two hits with four walk and three strikeouts in 3.2 frames. Nate Nabholz (1.0 IP), Nick Logusch (2.0 IP, 6 Ks) and Josh Grosz (1.0 IP, 2 Ks) tossed the final four scoreless innings out of the bullpen.

Wichita State 2, Dixie State 1 - Box Score
WICHITA, Kan. – Corrigan Bartlett provided the go-ahead home run to lift the Wichita State University baseball team to a 2-1 victory over the Dixie State (Utah) Trailblazers in the opening game of a three-game series Friday, March 5, at Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field.
 
With the game tied, 1-1, entering the bottom of the seventh-inning, Bartlett stepped to the plate and hit a line drive over the left-center wall on the first pitch he saw, breaking the stalemate and putting WSU in front, 2-1. It was Bartlett's second home run of the season.
 
The Trailblazers threatened to tie the game twice in the final two innings, but each time Wichita State made the key play to maintain the lead.

Cincinnati 7, UNCW 4 - Box Score
WILMINGTON, N.C. – The University of Cincinnati baseball team overcame a rough first inning to earn a 7-4 win at UNCW's Brooks Field on Friday.
 
Cincinnati (2-6) has won two of three and scored five runs in the second and third inning to take the lead, adding insurance runs in the fifth and eighth to get to the final margin.
 
Evan Shawver (1-0) picked up his first win of the season and settled down after giving up four runs on five hits in the bottom of the first. After that, Shawver allowed one hit and struck out seven over his final five innings of work. His final line was 6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 8 K.
 
Zach Segal earned the save in a three-inning effort, giving up no runs and just one hit.

USF 3, Stetson 2 - Box Score
DELAND – With a pair of winning streaks on the line, the USF Bulls (5-3) extended theirs to five in a row on Friday night while handing Stetson University (10-1) its first loss of the season in a gritty 3-2 victory.
 
As expected, it was a low-scoring affair in the opener of a three-game series with USF's ace on the hill opposite Stetson's fourth-ranked pitching staff (1.56 ERA). Jack Jasiak and the Bulls proved up to the challenge though as the redshirt freshman struck out a season-high 10 batters and USF's bats continued to slug.
 
Drew Brutcher and Roberto Pena each homered for the Bulls and Jasiak turned in his third consecutive quality start.
 
After a scoreless pair of innings, Jake Sullivan led off the third with a double and came around to score the first run of the game on an RBI groundout by Matt Ruiz. The Hatters answered with a solo home run in the bottom of the frame to knot the score before the Bulls played big fly themselves in the proceeding frames.
 
Brutcher put the Bulls back in front, 2-1, with a solo homer to right field in the top of the sixth and Pena followed suit with his first long ball of the season in the seventh frame.
 
Stetson finally chased Jasiak from the mound in the eighth inning after cutting its deficit to one run only to see its rally snuffed out by Orion Kerkering in relief for the Bulls. Kerkering went on to finish the ninth and record his first save of the season by escaping a bases-loaded jam in a thrilling finish.

Tulane 6, Western Kentucky 5 - Box Score
NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane University Baseball Team (4-5) snapped its three-game losing streak with a 6-5 win over Western Kentucky University (3-5) on Friday night inside Greer Field at Turchin Stadium.
 
Junior outfielder Ethan Groff crushed a go-ahead home run, his first of the year, to deep left in the bottom of the eighth to give Tulane a 6-5 lead.
 
Coming off of an eight-inning gem against Mississippi State, Braden Olthoff got the start and tossed 4.2 innings, striking out five and giving up five runs, three earned.

Liberty 2, UCF 1 (Game 1) - Box Score
Liberty 8, UCF 3 (Game 2) - Box Score
Orlando, Fla. – On the first day of a three-game set, the Knights hosted Liberty for a doubleheader, featuring a 2 p.m. start time on Friday – UCF dropped both contests, 2-1, and 8-3.
 
In game one, Colton Gordon threw a complete game, struck out 10 Liberty batters, and allowed just two runs. Game two saw the Knights bats come alive for 11 hits but were unable to string them together to overcome the eight run deficit.
 
Game One
Getting the Knights offense started with a bang, Ben McCabe hit a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning to give UCF the first lead of the day. UCF starting pitcher, Colton Gordon threw his first complete game of his UCF career, going 9.0 IP with 10 strikeouts, allowing just two earned runs on five Liberty hits.
 
The Knights 1-0 lead held until the sixth, when Liberty would make their mark with a two-run home run to take the lead. It was the only mistake Gordon would make, but the UCF offense was unable to get to the Liberty staff, as they combined for just two hits allowed one run and 13 Ks.
 
Game Two
Once again, the Knights picked up the first lead of the game in the bottom of the first; UCF went up two runs in the first after Gephry Pena stole a pair of bases on his way to being driven in on a Jordan Rathbone RBI single. Two batters later, Matt Archer drove in Rathbone as his eighth RBI of the year.
 
Liberty answered in their half of the second with a run, and again in the fourth on a solo home run to even the game at two runs each.  Junior, Trent Taylor hit his first home run as a Knight in the home half of the fourth to return UCF the lead.
 
After taking the lead once again, the Flames created a comeback in the sixth inning, stringing together three hits, including a two RBI bases loaded double, for four runs in the inning. Liberty added a single run in the seventh and eighth inning to put the game out of reach for the Knights.

No. 19 Texas 1, Houston 0 - Box Score
HOUSTON – After a scoreless game for much of the night, No. 19 Texas pushed the game-winning run across the plate in the eighth inning to defeat Houston 1-0 on Friday evening from Don Sanders Field at Darryl and Lori Schroeder Park.
 
In an intense pitchers' duel, both hurlers earned quality starts after making it the requisite six scoreless innings while allowing less than three earned runs. 
 
Starting pitcher Robert Gasser continued to excel for Houston (6-3) despite finishing the night with the no decision. The California native went 7.0 innings with five strikeouts and allowed two walks. Derrick Cherry (1-1) was saddled with the loss, allowing one run alongside four walks and three strikeouts in 2.0 frames.
 
Starting for Texas (6-4), Ty Madden (2-1) tossed a complete game shutout with 14 strikeouts and limited Houston to only four total baserunners. The Cougars' Brandon Uhse (1-for-4) got one of the team's two hits off Madden on Friday to extend his hitting streak to eight games.

Baylor 5, Memphis 4 - Box Score
WACO, Texas – The Memphis Tigers used the long ball in the first of four games against the Baylor Bears, but solo home runs from Hunter Goodman and Alec Trela were not enough, as the Tigers fell 5-4.
 
For the second straight game, the Tigers scored in the opening half inning. Much like they did on Tuesday against Ole Miss, Memphis (4-2) put one on the board early on a pair of hits. Jaylen Wilbon led off the game with a single and scored two batters later on a double from Ian Bibiloni. Despite the early offensive success against Blake Helton (W, 1-1), the Tigers didn't get to the Bears' starter again until the sixth inning.
 
Baylor (4-4) very quickly followed in the steps of Ole Miss, as like the Rebels did on Tuesday, the Bears put up a crooked number early against Memphis. Blake Wimberley (L, 0-1) struggled in the opening frame, as the Bears sent eight men to the plate. A single from Andy Thomas tied the game, while two batters later, Davion Downey made it 3-1 Baylor with a two-run single. Wimberley settled in after a tough first inning, as the Memphis starter allowed just two more runs over 6.2 innings.