Complete Notes | Stats
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Another memorable baseball season is in the books, as The American’s 2019 campaign came to an end in June. ECU (47-18) capped another strong year for the conference after advancing to its fifth
NCAA Super Regional and second in four seasons (2001, 2004, 2009, 2016). The Pirates were one of three American teams to book a bid to the NCAA tournament, as UConn advanced to the final of the Oklahoma City Regional and Cincinnati, the 2019 American Tournament champion, competed in the Corvallis Regional, punching a ticket to the national tournament for the first time in 45 years.
Think of The Ratings
The American has had at least three NCAA tournament teams in each of the last five years, including a regional host in all but one season during the conference’s six-year span. Seven of the league’s nine teams concluded the season with top-100 RPI rankings to collectively boast the fifth-best RPI ranking among the 31 NCAA Division I conferences. With ECU listed at No. 6 and UConn at No. 27, the conference was one of six leagues to conclude the year with two programs in the top 30 of the final RPI report (ACC, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC, Missouri Valley). The American has been a top-six RPI conference in each of its six seasons.
The conference ended the year with a 178-112 (.613) nonconference record, including 19 wins against ranked opponents with eight of the nine American teams taking down a top-30 foe.
Starting Nine
Nine American Athletic Conference athletes earned
All-America recognition from the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, College Baseball Foundation, College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), D1Baseball.com, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), Perfect Game/Rawlings and the Senior CLASS Award as announced by the organizations this spring. UConn righthander Jacob Wallace, ECU lefthander Jake Agnos, ECU utility player Alec Burleson, ECU designated hitter Spencer Brickhouse, Tulane third baseman Kody Hoese, Tulane outfielder Hudson Haskin, Memphis outfielder Hunter Goodman, Memphis shortstop Alec Trela and Wichita State infielder Luke Ritter all picked up awards. Wallace, Burleson, Agnos and Hoese were each named to at least six All-America teams. In total, the nine players combined for 40 All-America nods from nine organizations.
MLB Draft
Tulane’s Hoese was selected in the first round of the 2019
Major League Baseball Draft as the 25th overall pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers to highlight 35 American players selected this season. Hoese became the conference’s sixth all-time first round pick, as The American has seen at least one of its players get selected in the MLB first round in each of the past five years. The American has seen 165 of its players get drafted by an MLB team in its six-year span.
Three players were picked in the top 100. The conference has had at least 30 selections for the past two seasons, as 35 are the second-most draft picks in league history. This year’s picks consisted of 20 pitchers and 15 position players. ECU led the league with seven selections.
ECU Posts Another Banner Season
Picked first in The American’s preseason coaches’ poll, ECU once again posted another tremendous season, capped by the program’s fifth trip to an NCAA Super Regional. The Pirates, who were ranked as high as sixth nationally, became the first team in American Athletic Conference history to win 20 league games. ECU clinched its first American regular season title after winning all eight regular season conference series. Making their 30th NCAA regional appearance, the Pirates hosted the Greenville Regional for a second-straight year. After dropping its regional opener, ECU won four-straight games to secure the Greenville Regional title and advanced to its second Super Regional in four years at Louisville.
Head coach Cliff Godwin was voted The American’s Coach of the Year, earning the award for the second time. Junior southpaw Jake Agnos was named the league’s Pitcher of the Year. He ended the season with a league-low 2.29 ERA, setting The American’s single-season record with 145 strikeouts and career record with 295 Ks. Agnos was drafted in the fourth round by the New York Yankees and was named to seven All-America teams. Bryant Packard, the league’s 2018 Player of the Year, hit .359 throughout his career to set the conference’s all-time batting average record. Packard was drafted by the Detroit Tigers.
The Pirates passed Tulane in hits during their postseason run to set The American’s single-season record with 642 on the season. ECU ended the year ranked first in the nation with 72 sacrifice hits, as senior shortstop Turner Brown ended his career as The American’s all-time leader with 43 sacrifice bunts and 235 games played (tied with Houston’s Joe Davis).
The Green Wave’s Pow6rful Offense
The Green Wave made its presence felt at the plate, as Tulane led The American in eight offensive categories, setting seven single-season records on the year. With six starters in the lineup batting .310 or better, Tulane set all-time conference records in batting average (.302), slugging percentage (.518), on-base percentage (.403), runs scored (446), RBIs (413), home runs (89) and total bases (1055). The Green Wave ended the year ranked top 25 in the nation in 11 offensive categories.
#Hammerin’ Hoese
After batting .291 with five home runs in 2018, Hoese, The American’s Player of the Year, established himself as one of the conference’s all-time top hitters this season. Leading the league with a .391 batting average to end the year, he ranked among the top 20 in the nation in nine offensive categories, finishing second in the country with 183 total bases and a .779 slugging percentage. He became the first conference player to hit 20 home runs. Hoese set American single-season records in home runs (23), total bases (183), slugging percentage (.779) and runs scored (72). A two-time American Player of the Week, Hoese was named National Hitter of the Week by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) on April 9. He was a semifinalist for the 2019 Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy before being named to seven All-America teams.
Cincinnati Wins First American Title
Cincinnati won its first conference championship in 52 years with a 22-5 victory over UConn on May 26. The win gave the Bearcats their first NCAA berth since 1974 and first conference postseason title since 1967, when they won the Missouri Valley Conference crown. Cincinnati, which had been 0-10 all-time in The American Championship and had lost 17-straight conference tournament games since 2008, went 4-0 on the week to win the 2019 American title. The Bearcats had been tabbed eighth of nine teams in The American’s preseason coaches’ poll before finishing second in the regular season.
Cincinnati rewrote the tournament's record book with 22 runs, 24 hits, four home runs and a 17-run margin of victory, wrapping an impressive offensive showing in which the Bearcats scored a tournament-record 51 runs in their four games. Cincinnati hit a conference-record .390 during the week (60-for-154) after hitting .246 as a team in the regular season. Rightfielder A.J. Bumpass was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after he hit .643 with a double, a triple, two home runs and seven RBIs in the tournament.
The Bearcats went on to take down the No. 16 national seed and 2018 NCAA Baseball Champion Oregon State in the opening round of the Corvallis Regional on June 1, as Bumpass drove in the game-winning run with an RBI triple in the ninth inning in the 7-6 victory. The Bearcats secured their first NCAA tournament win since 1971 and became the fifth American team to defeat an NCAA regional host.
UConn’s Jim Penders Named Northeast Coach of the Year
After guiding the Huskies to their 21st NCAA tournament berth and sixth appearance since 2010, UConn head coach Jim Penders was named
Northeast Coach of the Year by the ABCA and Diamond Sports. In his 16th year at the helm of the Huskies, Penders earned the award for the third time in his career and first time since the 2011 season. Earning their second-straight NCAA at-large bid, UConn competed in the Oklahoma City Regional and advanced to a regional final for a second-consecutive season.
UConn closer Jacob Wallace was selected as an All-American by seven organizations after locking down the fifth-most saves in the country with a conference-best 16 this season. The righthander went 3-1 with a 0.64 ERA, allowing only three earned runs and 10 walks on the year. In 30 appearances, he struck out 68 in 42.0 innings of work. Making two appearances out of the bullpen against Oklahoma State in the final two games of the NCAA Oklahoma City Regional, Wallace retired all 15 batters he faced in order, including striking out 12, in 5.0 shutout innings. He was picked in the third round of the MLB Draft by the Colorado Rockies.
UConn’s 39 wins during the 2019 season are the third most in program history. The Huskies posted three wins over top-10 programs after facing the 34th-toughest schedule in the country. Penders became the all-time winningest coach in UConn history with his 557th win coming against Tulane on May 16.
Davis Leaves his Mark in American History
The American says goodbye to one of its all-time greatest hitters in Houston’s Joe Davis. The senior slugger left his mark in conference history, posting the league’s all-time career records in hits (288), RBIs (223), home runs (53), total bases (503), doubles (52), games played (235) and RBIs per game (0.95). Davis is a four-time American All-Conference selection and was drafted by the Boston Red Sox.
Eric Wedge Named Head Baseball Coach at Wichita State
Wichita State named Eric Wedge its
new head baseball coach to lead the Shockers in 2020. Wedge, who was a catcher for the Shockers from 1987-89 and earned first team All-America honors in 1989, is the 22nd head coach in the history of Shocker baseball. He has 15 years of coaching experience including 10 years as a Major League manager with the Cleveland Indians and Seattle Mariners.
UCF Shines in Midweek Action
UCF capped its midweek regular season slate with a 14-1 record, including wins over No. 3 Florida, No. 14 Florida State, No. 17 Miami (Fla.) and Florida Atlantic (RV).
Two Rookie All-Americans
Two players earned Freshmen All-America nods under The American’s banner this season with Memphis’ Hunter Goodman and Tulane’s Hudson Haskin earning the honors. Goodman was one of the top rookie hitters in the nation and led the conference with 67 RBIs. He was named The American's Newcomer Position Player of the Year and was placed on five
Freshmen All-America teams. He finished the year ranked top 10 in The American in hits (78), runs scored (51), home runs (13), RBIs (67), total bases (137) and slugging percentage (.573). Haskin was named to four Freshmen All-America teams. He held the second-best batting average (.372) and slugging percentage (.647) in the conference with 77 hits, 19 doubles, 10 home runs, four triples and 52 RBIs. Haskin ended the year ranked in The American’s top 10 in eight offensive categories.