CLEARWATER, Florida – Griffin Merritt hit a pair of home runs and drove in five runs as No. 4 Cincinnati defeated No. 5 Tulane, 8-1, in the first game of the 2022 TicketSmarter American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship Tuesday morning at BayCare Ballpark.
The Bearcats (24-29) will move on to face the winner of No. 8 South Florida and No. 1 East Carolina on Thursday, May 26 at 1 p.m. Eastern on ESPN+. With the loss, the Green Wave (31-25-1) will take on the loser of the Bulls and Pirates Wednesday, May 25 at 3 p.m. Eastern on ESPN+.
Merritt, the 2022 American Athletic Conference Player of the Year, hit a 2-run shot to cap a 5-run fifth inning and another 2-run long ball in the seventh inning. He now has 19 home runs on the season. It was the 10
th time a player has hit two home runs in a single game in Championship history.
Beau Keathley (5-3) tossed a gem for Cincinnati, scattering six hits in a 1-run complete game with four strikeouts. Dylan Carmouche (5-5) took the loss, allowing six runs in five innings of work.
Merritt started the scoring in the bottom of the first, doubling to score Cole Harting. In the fifth, Ryan Nicholson’s sacrifice fly that scored Wyatt Stapp pushed the lead to 2-0. Harting doubled to left to score Kameron Guidry and Cam Scheler before Merritt stepped up and hit his first home run of the day.
2022 TicketSmarter American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship
Schedule
Tuesday, May 24
Game 1: No. 4 Cincinnati 8, No. 5 Tulane 1
Game 2: No. 8 South Florida vs. No. 1 East Carolina | 12:32 p.m. | ESPN+
Game 3: No. 7 Memphis vs. No. 2 UCF | 4 p.m. | ESPN+
Game 4: No. 6 Wichita State vs. No. 3 Houston | 47 minutes after Game 3 | ESPN+
Wednesday, May 25
Game 5: Tulane vs. Loser of Game 2 | 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. Winner of Game 2 | 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