USF, Tulane and Wichita State all picked up sweeps in doubleheaders in American Athletic Conference baseball action on Friday, April 2. All three picked up the sweeps after dropping the first game of the series on Thursday.

Saturday, April 2
USF 6, UCF 2 (Game 1) - Box Score
USF 3, UCF 1 (Game 2) - Box Score
Wichita State 3, Houston 2 (Game 1) - Box Score
Wichita State 2, Houston 1 (Game 2) - Box Score
Tulane 7, Memphis 1 (Game 1) - Box Score
Tulane 11, Memphis 2 (Game 2) - Box Score
No. 11 East Carolina 7, Cincinnati 0 - Box Score

USF 6, UCF 2 (Game 1) - Box Score
USF 3, UCF 1 (Game 2) - Box Score
TAMPA – The USF Bulls (12-13, 2-1 AAC) used the longball, played a little small ball, and got a pair of strong starting pitching performances on Friday to complete a doubleheader sweep of the UCF Knights (11-16, 1-2 AAC). The Bulls won the opener, 6-2, and prevailed in the nightcap, 3-1.
 
Redshirt seniors Dylan Burns and Collin Sullivan were the winning pitchers for USF in their respective starts, each allowing just three hits. Burns (2-3) struck out eight over 6.0 IP and Sullivan (1-0) struck out nine over 8.2 IP while allowing just one unearned run.
 
Game 1
It was a rough first inning for Burns, who hit a batter, walked two and allowed two singles, and saw the Knights take an early 2-0 lead.
 
The Bulls answered back quickly though and cut their deficit in half on a two-out solo homer by Carmine Lane.
 
Burns would only allow one more hit over the remainder of his outing, keeping UCF at bay while giving his offense a chance to make a comeback. The right-hander retired 12 of the next 14 batters he faced from the second through fifth innings, including six strikeouts.
 
Roberto Peña was next to trot around the bases for the Bulls in the top of the fourth frame with a three-run big fly to give USF a 4-2 lead. A one-out double by Matt Ruiz in the seventh inning sparked a USF rally which saw the home team add on a pair of unearned insurance runs.
 
Game 2
The Bulls got on the board first in the nightcap on an RBI-groundout by Nick Gonzalez. Daniel Cantu walked to lead off the second inning, advanced to second two batters later, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored the first run of the tilt.
 
In the fourth frame, Riley Hogan and Gonzalez were each hit by a pitch to start the inning. Both runners moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Nelson Rivera and Hogan scored on an infield single by Jarrett Eaton. Gonzalez later scored on a safety squeeze by Ruiz.
 
Those three runs were plenty of support for Sullivan who appeared to be getting stronger as the game progressed. The right-hander's lone blemish came in the third inning when a throwing error by Sullivan vanquished a sure double play on a comebacker to the mound. That run eventually came around to score in the inning.
 
After that miscue, Sullivan was lights out. He faced the minimum from the fourth through eighth innings while striking out six batters in those frames. Looking to close his masterpiece with a complete game effort, Sullivan struck out the first two batters he faced in the ninth, but then surrendered a single, a wild pitch and a walk to end his outing.
 
Logan Lyle entered the game, and after a stolen base, suddenly had the tying runs in scoring position. The senior lefty took care of business though, picking up his veteran teammate and recording the final out of the ballgame.  

Wichita State 3, Houston 2 (Game 1) - Box Score
Wichita State 2, Houston 1 (Game 2) - Box Score
HOUSTON, Texas – The Wichita State University baseball team swept an American Athletic Conference doubleheader at Houston Friday, April 2, at Schroeder Park, winning game one, 3-2, before taking the nightcap, 2-1.
 
With the doubleheader sweep, WSU (14-9, 2-1 American) earned its first wins over Houston (13-13, 1-2 American) since joining The American in 2018 and the first victories over the Cougars since 2006.
 
Wichita State and Houston were tied, 2-2, going into the top of the ninth inning in game one before Paxton Wallace belted a leadoff homer to left to put the Shockers in front, 3-2. It was his fifth round-tripper of the season.
 
WSU closer Aaron Haase threw a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth inning to secure the opening game victory for Wichita State.
 
Wallace paced the Shockers at the plate in game one, going 2-for-3, including a homer, with two runs scored and two RBI, while Garrett Kocis and Corrigan Bartlett each had doubles in the contest.
 
Wichita State reliever Ryan Stuempfig (4-0) earned the win on the mound after tossing a scoreless eighth inning, while Haase locked down his sixth save of 2021 in the ninth. WSU starter Preston Snavely didn't factor into the decision but threw seven innings and allowed just two earned runs on three hits with seven strikeouts and three walks.
 
In the Shockers' 2-1 triumph in the nightcap, freshman right-handed pitcher Jace Kaminska improved to 2-0 on the mound after throwing a career-high seven shutout innings, allowing no earned runs on just five hits with four strikeouts and a walk.
 
Haase secured his second save of the day, and team and American Athletic Conference-high seventh save of the season with a scoreless bottom of the ninth.

Tulane 7, Memphis 1 (Game 1) - Box Score
NEW ORLEANS – Junior lefthander Jack Aldrich struck out a career-high nine batters to propel the Tulane University baseball team to a 7-1 victory over the University of Memphis in game one of its doubleheader on Friday.
 
Memphis jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, as it capitalized on a double steal, but that was all the Tigers could muster on an afternoon where Aldrich was in total command throughout his 7.0 innings of work. Aldrich scattered four hits, allowed just two walks and one earned run in the 26 batters he faced.
 
Memphis threatened to score in the second, but the Green Wave kept the Tigers off the board, as Tulane centerfielder Jared Hart threw out UM shortstop Ben Brooks at the plate. Aldrich then retired 13 of the next 15 batters.
 
Junior Luis Aviles led the way offensively for the Green Wave as he had three RBI and a pair of doubles. Teammates Collin Burns, Jacob LaPrairie and Bennett Lee also collected two hits. Offensively as a team, Tulane collected 12 hits, marking the 10th time this season the Green Wave have totaled 10-or-more hits.

Tulane 11, Memphis 2 (Game 2) - Box Score
NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane University baseball team (13-13) picked up a doubleheader sweep on Friday over the University of Memphis, as it downed the Tigers 11-2 in game two on Friday inside Greer Field at Turchin Stadium.
 
The Green Wave once again received dominant starting pitching, as redshirt junior Donovan Benoit took the ball and worked 7.0 innings, struck out six and allowed only one earned run. Tulane collected a strong bullpen performance from RHP Robert Price, as he worked 2.0 innings of scoreless relief and only allowed one hit.
 
"I'm just real proud of the boys tonight," head coach Travis Jewett said. "After a tough one last night we needed this one in the worst way. I was proud of the kids physically for sure and how they showed up. They played pretty good baseball throughout the day, but I just thought mentally that they were into the thing from the first pitch on."
 
Offensively, Tulane continued its hot hitting, as it collected 13 hits. The Green Wave have now totaled 10-or-more hits in 11 games this year. Tulane's 1-5 hitters were the story of the night, posting 10 hits and six RBI.

No. 11 East Carolina 7, Cincinnati 0 - Box Score
GREENVILLE, N.C. – Gavin Williams struck out a career-high 13 batters over a career-long 6.2 innings in No. 11 East Carolina's 7-0 win over Cincinnati Friday afternoon at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium. With the win the Pirates improve to 20-5 on the season and 2-0 in American Athletic Conference play, while the Bearcats fall to 11-12 overall and 0-2 in league play.
 
Williams (3-0) scatted four hits and walked three in his third start of the season, which culminated in the Pirates' second consecutive shutout when he took the mound. The right-hander fanned multiple batters in the first inning as well a the third through seventh frames, while punching out one in the second. Over his last two starts, he has not allowed a run in 12.2 innings, gave up just seven hits and has 24 strikeouts to just four walks. Carter Spivey was impressive in his 2021 conference debut retiring all seven batters he faced over 2.1 innings with three strikeouts.
 
For the second-straight game the Pirates scored a pair of runs early and jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second frame. Alec Makarewicz got things going reaching on an infield single and moved to third on Josh Moylan's single through the right side. Zach Agnos doubled to left field scoring Makarewicz and two batters later Ryder Giles' sac bunt pushed across Moylan.
 
Dean McCarthy (1-2) took the loss giving up seven runs (all earned) on seven hits with a pair of walk and six strikeouts. The left-hander had at least one punch out in four of six frames with multiple coming in the first and fifth stanzas. Nick Murry (1 BB, 1 K) and Drake Batcho (2 BBs) closed out the final two innings for the Bearcats.