No. 11 East Carolina earned a sweep in the first weekend of American Athletic Conference league play on Saturday, April 3. After dropping the first game in their respective series, Tulane and Wichita State picked up wins on Saturday to earn series wins.

Saturday, April 3
UCF 3, USF 0 - Box Score
No. 11 East Carolina 13, Cincinnati 3 (Game 1 - 7 innings) - Box Score
No. 11 East Carolina 2, Cincinnati (Game 2) - Box Score
Wichita State 3, Houston 2 - Box Score
Tulane 8, Memphis 2 - Box Score

UCF 3, USF 0 - Box Score
ORLANDO, Fla. – The UCF baseball team evened the War on I-4 series in the final game in Tampa with a 3-0 shutout over the Bulls. AJ Jones got the starting nod, tossing 7.0 innings to earn his third win of the year.
 
Alex Freeland got the scoring going for the Knights, with an RBI single to plate Gephry Pena in the third inning. The freshman, John Montes started the fourth with a single and capitalized on a South Florida defensive error to cross the plate make the score 2-0 for the Knights. Alex Freeland got UCF going again in the fifth with a double in the right-center gap and was driven in on a sac fly from John Montes' bat.
 
The Bulls couldn't figure out Jones, who went 7.0 IP without allowing a hit until the seventh inning of the contest. David Litchfield took over on the mound with no outs and two runners on in the eighth and retired six straight to earn the save and the victory over USF.

No. 11 East Carolina 13, Cincinnati 3 (Game 1 - 7 innings) - Box Score
No. 11 East Carolina 2, Cincinnati (Game 2) - Box Score
GREENVILLE, N.C. – The trio of Tyler Smith, Cam Colmore and C.J. Mayhue combined to toss a six-hit shutout as No. 11 East Carolina completed a four-game American Athletic Conference sweep of Cincinnati,2-0, late Saturday afternoon at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium. With the win the Pirates improved to 22-5 on the season and 4-0 in league play, while the Bearcats fell to 11-14 overall and 0-4 in conference action.
 
ECU broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning with a pair of runs and rode its pitching staff to its third shutout in the last seven games and second of the weekend. Jacob Starling got the frame going with a double to left field for his first collegiate hit. Ryder Giles followed with an infield single putting runners on the corner for Connor Norby, who singled to left field scoring Starling. Two batters later Seth Caddell laced another shot to left plating Giles for what would be the final run of the game.
 
Colmore (3-0) earned the win in relief scattering two hits over three innings while striking out a career-high five batters. C.J. Mayhue, who earned the win in game one, notched his team-leading fifth save with two perfect innings in relief and five strikeouts. Tyler Smith made sixth start of the year giving up four hits and walking one in four-plus innings.
 
Garrett Schoenle (1-1) suffered the loss allowing both runs in the fifth on seven hits with a walk and six punch outs in five innings. Jackson Murphy gave up four hits and fanned four in 2.2 frames, while Beau Keathley worked one-third of an inning.
 
Eight of ECU's starting nine registered at least one hit in the contest with Norby tallying a pair to lead the way. The first six slots in the lineup combined for eight of the 11 hits. Norby extended his hit streak (14 games) and on-base streak (34 games) with a single in the third stanza, while Thomas Francisco's base knock in the first extended his on-base streak to 31 contests dating back to 2020.
 
GAME 1 RECAP
ECU earned a series win in the opening game of the doubleheader with a 13-3 victory over Cincinnati in seven innings. The Pirates tallied seven hits getting two each from Alec Makarewicz and Connor Norby, while Ryley Johnson's first home run (grand slam) highlighted a seven-run fifth inning.
 
Mayhue (2-1) earned the win in relief working two-thirds of an inning recording two strikeouts. The lefty came into the contest in the fifth frame with two runners on and the Pirates trailing 3-0. Mayhue struck out Eric Santiago and Joe Powell to thwart the potential explosive inning. Starter Jake Kuchmaner gave up three runs (all earned) on nine hits with a walk and five strikeouts in 4.1 innings. The Pirates got relief outings from Josh Grosz (1.0 IP, 1 BB), Danny Beal (0.1, 2 BBs) and Nick Logusch (0.2 IP).
 
Max Bergmann (0-1) suffered the loss after allowing four runs (all earned) on three hits with three walks and two punch outs in 1.2 innings. Starter Evan Shawver worked two full frames where he was touched for a pair of runs (both earned) on two hits with a walk and four strikeouts. Aiden Bradbury was touched for five runs (all earned) on four walks in one third of a frame before passing the ball to Nathan Moore, who gave up two runs (both earned) on two hits with a walk and a strikeout in two innings.

Wichita State 3, Houston 2 - Box Score
HOUSTON, Texas – Jack Sigrist hit a go-ahead RBI single in the top of the ninth inning, and Ryan Stuempfig threw two hitless innings in relief, helping Wichita State baseball turn back the Houston Cougars, 3-2, in the series finale of a four-game American Athletic Conference series Saturday, April 3, at Schroeder Park.
 
With the win, the Shockers (15-9, 3-1 American) take the series from the Cougars (13-14, 1-3 American), three games to one. It's the first series win over Houston since WSU joined The American in 2018.
 
With the game tied, 2-2, and two outs in the top of the ninth, Sigrist connected on a 0-1 pitch, smacking a single through the right side, allowing Seth Stroh to cross home plate and puttting Wichita State in front, 3-2.
 
Houston attempted to rally in the bottom of the ninth after Cougar third baseman Brad Burckel reached on a one-out fielding error, but Ross Cadena threw out Burckel, who was attempting to steal second base, then Garrett Kocis hauled in a foul ball at first for the final out of the game, securing the victory for the Shockers.
 
Sigrist had what proved to be the game-winning hit, while Paxton Wallace went 2-for-3 at the plate and hit the game-tying homer, leading WSU offensively in the game.
 
Tulane 8, Memphis 2 - Box Score
NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane University baseball team (14-13) defeated the University of Memphis (11-15), 8-2 in game four of its series on Saturday inside Greer Field at Turchin Stadium.
 
Eight Tulane starters recorded a hit and six scored at least one run which was more than enough offense for the Wave pitchers as the team's record jumped over .500 for the first time in two weeks.
 
Righty graduate student Trent Johnson took the mound for the Green Wave and tossed seven scoreless innings while striking out two and allowing only three hits.
 
Tulane starting pitching was superb all series. The starters threw a combined 26 innings and allowed only five earned runs while striking out 25 batters.
 
Freshman JT Durham got the start for Memphis and allowed four runs, three earned, on eight hits over four and a third innings of work.