CLEARWATER, Florida – No. 1 East Carolina defeated No. 8 South Florida, 7-4, in the second game of the 2022 TicketSmarter American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship Tuesday afternoon at BayCare Ballpark.
With the win, the Pirates (39-18) will play No. 4 Cincinnati on Thursday, May 26 at 1 p.m. Eastern on ESPN+. With the loss, the Bulls (28-28) will take on No. 5 Tulane in an elimination game Wednesday, May 25 at 3 p.m. Eastern on ESPN+.
The Pirates opened the scoring on an RBI triple by Josh Moylan that scored Alec Makarewicz in the bottom of the second. ECU made it 3-0 in the third after Zach Agnos scored on a wild pitch and Bryson Worrell came around to score on an RBI single by Ben Newton.
In the sixth inning, the two teams traded grand slams to bring the score to 7-4 East Carolina. Nelson Rivera smashed a deep shot to left field for the Bulls in the top of the inning to take a 4-3 lead. After a triple by Marcus Brodil, East Carolina’s Worrell threw a strike from center field on a fly ball by Bobby Boser to nab Brodil at the plate. In the bottom of the inning, Worrell stepped up with the bases loaded and drilled his 13
th home run to right to put the Pirates back in front, 7-4.
Agnos went 4-for-5 from the plate and also picked up the win to move to 3-0 on the season with 1.2 innings of scoreless relief. Ben Terwilliger earned his fifth save of the season with two scoreless innings. ECU starter C.J. Mayhue did not allow a run in four innings of work.
South Florida’s Orion Kerkering (5-7) took the loss, allowing four runs in the sixth inning.
2022 TicketSmarter American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship
Schedule
Tuesday, May 24
Game 1: No. 4 Cincinnati 8, No. 5 Tulane 1
Game 2: No. 1 East Carolina 7, No. 8 South Florida
Game 3: No. 7 Memphis vs. No. 2 UCF | 4:42 p.m. | ESPN+
Game 4: No. 6 Wichita State vs. No. 3 Houston | 47 minutes after Game 3 | ESPN+
Wednesday, May 25
Game 5: South Florida vs. Tulane | 3 p.m. | ESPN+
Game 6: Loser of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4 | 47 minutes after Game 5 | ESPN+
Thursday, May 26
Game 7: Cincinnati vs. East Carolina | 1 p.m. | ESPN+
Game 8: Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4 | 47 minutes after Game 7 | ESPN+
Friday, May 27
Game 9: Winner of Game 5 vs. Loser of Game 7 | 1 p.m. | ESPN+
Game 10: Winner of Game 6 vs. Loser of Game 8 | 47 minutes after Game 9 | ESPN+
Saturday, May 28
Game 11: Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 9 | 9 a.m. | ESPN+
Game 12: Winner of Game 8 vs. Winner of Game 10 | 47 minutes after Game 11 | ESPN+
Game 13 (If Necessary): Loser of Game 11 vs. Winner of Game 11 | 47 minutes after Game 12 | ESPN+
Game 14 (If Necessary): Loser of Game 12 vs. Winner of Game 12 | 47 minutes after Game 13 | ESPN+
Sunday, May 29
Game 15: Semifinal Winners | Noon | ESPNEWS