UCF and Wichita State both picked up wins on Sunday, April 16 to earn American Athletic Conference series victories.

Sunday, April 16
UCF 8, Memphis 6 - Box Score
East Carolina 13, Cincinnati 3 (7 innings) - Box Score
Wichita State 7, Tulane 4 - Box Score
South Florida 13, Houston 2 - Box Score

UCF 8, Memphis 6 - Box Score
ORLANDO – The UCF baseball team rallied from an early five-run deficit to earn an 8-6 win against the Memphis Tigers Sunday afternoon at John Euliano Park to clinch its first American Athletic Conference series win of the season.

The Knights improve to 20-16 on the season and 3-6 in The American, while the Tigers fall to 19-18 and 3-6 in conference action.

UCF scored five runs on six hits in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game at 5-5. Nick Romano singled through the left side to start the rally and Tom Josten followed with his ninth double of the year. With runners on second and third base, Matt Cedarburg extended his hit streak to three games with an RBI single past the second baseman to score Romano and Drew Faurot followed with an RBI single to center field to plate Josten. 

Andrew Brait ripped a 1-0 pitch to right center for a double, scoring Cedarburg to cut the Tigers' lead to 5-3. Ben McCabe increased his RBI total to 28 this season with a single up the middle that plated Faurot and Brait to knot the score at 5-5.

Kyle Kramer worked an efficient sixth inning, striking out the side to bring the Knights' strikeout total to 13 for the game with his fourth on the day. Memphis plated one more run in the top of the eighth inning on an error to take back the lead, 6-5.

Cole Russo was hit by a pitch to lead off the eighth inning, and Corey Robinson entered the game on first base as a pinch runner. A wild pitch, fly out from Romano, and throwing error by the Tigers' pitcher allowed Robinson to round the bases and tie the game once again, 6-6.

Lex Boedicker's ninth home run of the season came in the form of a go-ahead homer to center field for the Knights' win. The two-run shot was his second home run of the series and scored Josten, who reached base on a fielder's choice, to give UCF the 8-6 lead.

Najer Victor entered the game with no outs and a runner on third base in the top of the eighth inning and worked out of the jam with three strikeouts. He threw two scoreless innings to earn the win and retired the final batter on UCF's 17th strikeout of the day, tying the season-high previously achieved against Dartmouth.

East Carolina 13, Cincinnati 3 (7 innings) - Box Score
GREENVILLE, N.C. – No. 9 East Carolina put the finishing touches on its second-straight American Athletic Conference sweep Sunday afternoon, downing Cincinnati 13-3 in seven innings from Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium.  
 
The Pirates (28-8, 7-2 American) posted their eighth-straight victory overall and sixth consecutive in league play to take sole possession of first place in the AAC standings as Houston suffered a 13-2 loss to South Florida Sunday in its series finale with the Bulls at Schroeder Park. The Bearcats (15-22, 3-6) will host ECU later in the season (May 5-7) to complete the home-and-home set.
 
East Carolina rapped out a collective 12 hits with Josh Moylan, Jacob Starling and Cam Clonch combining for six base knocks (two apiece), seven runs scored, six RBI, a double and two home runs. Cam Scheler paced the visitors with two hits and a pair of runs scored.
 
Danny Beal (2-1) recorded the victory in relief, tossing 1.1 scoreless innings with two strikeouts. Josh Grosz turned in a strong 4.2 frames to start the contest, adding seven strikeouts to his season total. Notably, Garrett Saylor pitched the final frame in his first outing since March 22 versus Campbell in Fayetteville. Mitch White (1-1) was tagged with the loss after yielding four runs on two hits in just 0.1 innings of work.
 
ECU got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first inning when Carter Cunningham walked, advanced to second and crossed home plate on a Starling RBI single to center. Cincinnati responded with a pair of runs in the third to grab a 2-1 advantage, but the Pirates answered right back in the home half of the frame. Moylan was hit by a pitch with one out before Starling and Clonch worked a pair of consecutive walks to load the bases. Luke Nowak then drilled a 2-2 offering down the right field line and into the corner for a two-run double to make it 3-2 while Alec Makarewicz ripped a first pitch double to right to score two and extend the lead to three.
 
East Carolina essentially put the game away with another four spot in the fourth inning. Lane Hoover walked to lead things off and Cunningham and Moylan delivered two-straight singles to load the bases with no outs. Starling kept the line moving with a two-run single before Moylan scored on a passed ball and Starling scampered home on a Cunningham sac fly to leave the Purple and Gold in front 9-2.

Wichita State 7, Tulane 4 - Box Score
NEW ORLEANS -- Wichita State banged out 15 hits, including a season-high seven doubles, knocking off Tulane 7-4 on Sunday afternoon at Turchin Stadium. The win secured the series victory, WSU's first series win at Tulane in program history.

The Shockers (20-15, 5-4 American) once again jumped out to a quick lead in the top of the first. Chuck Ingram doubled to start the game, moved to third on a bunt single from Brock Rodden, and scored on a sacrifice fly from Garrett Pennington for a 1-0 advantage. That two-bagger kicked off another incredible game for Ingram, who finished four-for-five with three doubles and three runs scored, giving him 10 hits in the three-game series.

Wichita State made the most of a trio of two-out scoring opportunities to extend the lead in the middle innings. In the third, Jack Little rifled a two-out RBI double to plate Mauricio Millan, lengthening the lead to 2-0. Garrett Pennington doubled home a run with two away in the fourth, and Rodden made it 4-0 by beating out an infield single in the sixth.

That appeared to be more than enough support for Shocker starter Grant Adler, who had cruised through the first five innings without allowing a run. The Green Wave (10-26, 4-5) fought back in the sixth with a pair of unearned runs, breaking up the shutout on a bases-loaded walk by Brennan Lambert before Jake LaPrairie trimmed the WSU lead to 4-2 on a groundout. Tulane then tied the game in the seventh thanks in part to two Shocker errors, setting the stage for a Simon Baumgardt RBI double that knotted the score at 4-4.

Adler settled for a no-decision, allowing just five hits and one earned run in 6.1 innings.

The Shockers struck right back in the top of the eighth with three runs. Jordan Rogers came off the bench to start the rally with a leadoff double, and Kyte McDonald followed with a double of his own to give Wichita State a 5-4 lead. Ingram capped his monster afternoon by rifling an RBI single, coming in to score later in the inning on a double play grounder to restore the WSU lead to 7-4.

Robert Cranz (1-1) took it the rest of the way for Wichita State, turning in a dominant outing in relief. The right-hander fired 2.1 scoreless innings with a career-best five strikeouts, allowing just a single base hit and no walks. He set the side down in order in the ninth to secure the win.

Grant Cleavinger (0-1) took the loss for Tulane, allowing three hits and a run in 1.1 innings out of the bullpen.

South Florida 13, Houston 2 - Box Score
HOUSTON, Texas (April 16, 2023) – In need of a clutch pitching performance on the road in the series finale on Sunday afternoon at Schroeder Park, Jack Cebert stepped up in a big way to help guide the University of South Florida Bulls (16-21, 5-4 American) to a 13-2 victory over the Houston Cougars (20-16, 6-3).

Houston and South Florida entered the three-game weekend series tied atop The American standings with ECU. The ECU Pirates now sit alone in first place at 7-2 in conference play. 

Cebert (3-1) logged his fourth quality start of the season, and second in a row, while turning in a career-best 7.1 IP. His outing came a day after Houston claimed the series win on Saturday with 10 runs against Hunter Mink, who had his streak of four consecutive quality starts snapped.

Cebert allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits with five hits. He retired 15 straight batters from a one-out single in the first inning to a one-out single in the sixth. The right-hander was on the mound in the eighth inning with a chance for his first career complete game with USF leading 11-1 in a potential run-rule victory, but his first free pass of the day (HBP) ended his outing.

Despite Saturday’s loss, the South Florida offense put up at least 10 runs in each of the final two games of the series, after a 6-5 setback in the opener on Friday. USF has scored at least 10 runs in three of its last six games overall. 

The Bulls led 9-0 heading to the bottom of the sixth inning on Sunday before the Cougars scratched the plate.

Bobby Boser opened the scoring with a two-run homer in the top of the first and Joaquin Monque followed suit with a two-run blast in the second to give USF a 4-0 advantage.

Daniel Cantu split the left-center field gap with a two-run double in the top of the fifth and Monque drove in two more runs later in the frame. Drew Brutcher homered for the third straight game in the top of the sixth inning.