Four American Athletic Conference baseball squads picked up series opening wins on Friday, March 25.

Friday, March 25
South Florida 9, Niagara 4 - Box Score
East Carolina 8, VCU 2 - Box Score
Tulane 12, Dayton 1 - Box Score
Houston 13, Western Carolina 3 - Box Score
Indiana State 12, Memphis 0 - Box Score
Xavier 8, Cincinnati 7 - Box Score
Samford 4, UCF 3 - Box Score
Creighton 6, Wichita State 1 - Box Score

South Florida 9, Niagara 4 - Box Score
TAMPA (March 25, 2022) – Right-handed pitcher Orion Kerkering (Venice) allowed just two baserunners on Friday night and the University of South Florida (15-7) offense provided plenty of support in a 9-4 victory over Niagara University (2-16) in the opener of a three-game series at USF Baseball Stadium.

Kerkering (4-1) turned in his third quality start of the season as the converted closer logged a career-high 7.0 IP in his starting effort. The redshirt-sophomore scattered just two hits and allowed one run while striking out eight batters. Kerkering has struck out 51 batters this year over 35.0 IP.

South Florida's bats produced eight or more runs for the fifth time in the last seven games. The Bulls are averaging 9.4 runs over their last 10 games and have an 8-2 record in that span.

East Carolina 8, VCU 2 - Box Score
GREENVILLE, N.C. – All nine starters in East Carolina's lineup registered at least one hit lifting the Pirates to an 8-2 series opening win over VCU Friday night at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium. With the victory, the Pirates improved to 13-10 on the year while the Rams dropped to 11-9.
 
Leading 1-0 going to the third frame, the Pirates plated five runs on five hits and batted around to take a commanding 6-1 lead. Lane Hoover got things going with a walk and moved to second on Jacob Jenkins-Cowart's single to left field. Alec Makarewicz followed with a bunt single coupled with a Ram throwing error by Campbell Ellis that allowed Hoover to score the first run. Zach Agnos tallied the second of his three hits with an RBI single through the left side pushing across Jenkins-Cowart before Josh Moylan loaded the bases after being hit by an Ellis pitch. Two batters later, after a Ram pitching change, Ben Newton plated Makarewicz on a sac bunt and Ryder Giles' base knock up the middle scored Agnos and Moylan to cap the frame.
 
Jake Kuchmaner (3-1) earned the win allowing two runs (one earned) on seven hits with a pair of walks and five strikeouts over five innings of work. Trey Yesavage notched his first save coming in with the bases loaded and one out in the eighth retiring Will Carlone via strikeout. Four additional Pirates had scoreless outings in relief Friday including Garrett Saylor (2.0 IP, 1 BB, 2 Ks), Skylar Brooks (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 Ks), Danny Beal (0.2 IP) and Merritt Beeker (0.0 IP, 2 BBs).

Tulane 12, Dayton 1 - Box Score
NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane University baseball team (15-7-1) defeated Dayton University (8-10) by a score of 12-1 on Friday night inside Greer Field at Turchin Stadium.
 
The Green Wave went up 7-0 in the second inning and didn't look back in the dominant win.
 
Freshman Grant Siegel took the hill for the Green Wave and allowed just one run over six solid innings while striking out five. The right-hander came into the game with a 0.39 ERA, sixth lowest in the nation.
 
The Flyers threatened early when it put runners on first and second with one out. Dayton then tried a double steal, but Bennett Lee popped out of the squat and fired a strike to Brayden Morrow, snagging the runner at third for the second out of the inning. Grant Siegel got the next hitter to fly out to right to get out of the inning. 
 
Sophomore Chase Engelhard got the Wave going in the bottom of the first when he launched a 105-mph missile over the wall in left for a two-run home run, his second of the year. 

Houston 13, Western Carolina 3 - Box Score
HOUSTON – Houston Baseball combined to score 10 runs between the sixth and seventh innings, unlocking a three-all tie en route to a 13-3 win against Western Carolina in the series opener Friday night from Sanders Field at Schroeder Park.
 
The Cougars (15-7) registered double-digit hits for a sixth consecutive game and pushed their win streak to four straight. Houston pounded out 15 hits including a season-high six doubles while eight different players logged at least one RBI.
 
The Cougars batted around in the seventh inning, taking advantage of two Western Carolina (10-12) errors while receiving four hits including a two-run double from Ian McMillan as part of the six-run frame. An inning earlier, Houston scored four runs via two wild pitches, a Brandon Burckel squeeze bunt and Zach Arnold home run. 
 
Houston's Brandon Uhse extended his hit streak to 18 games as part of a three-hit night. Anthony Tulimero registered a career high four hits. Malachi Lott (2-for-3) and Ian McMillan (1-for-4) bolstered the bottom of the order, adding two RBIs each.

Indiana State 12, Memphis 0 - Box Score
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – In their first ever trip to Terre Haute, the Memphis Tigers (12-7) were deadlocked 0-0 with the Indiana State Sycamores (12-7) through 4.5 innings before the hometown team ran off 12 straight runs to shut out the Tigers 12-0.

Xavier 8, Cincinnati 7 - Box Score
CINCINNATI -- The Bearcats dropped game one of the weekend series with Xavier by a final score of 8-7 on Friday night at UC Baseball Stadium. 

Graduate pitcher Tristan Weaver (2-3) took the loss for Cincinnati (9-11) as he gave up five earned runs in his sixth start of the season. Sophomore pitcher Max Bergmann had a strong performance out of the bullpen, scattering just three hits over four scoreless innings of relief work.

Redshirt junior outfielder Griffin Merritt led the way at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a double and home run; his ninth of the season. Sophomore outfielder Cole Harting also had a multi-hit performance, including a double and two runs scored. Redshirt sophomore catcher Joe Powell hit a two-run home run during the ninth-inning rally, his third of the year, but it wasn't enough as the Bearcats fell to the Musketeers.

Samford 4, UCF 3 - Box Score
ORLANDO, Fla. – Samford (11-8) baseball scored one run in the extra frame on Friday evening to defeat UCF Baseball (13-9), 4-3. Kyle Kramer was pegged with the loss, allowing one run on two hits in his two innings of work.
 
UCF opened the scoring in the bottom of the second, when Ben Rushing laid down a squeeze bunt to score Tom Josten from third. Samford answered with a run of their own in the top of the third, before the Knights once again bunted to extend the lead to 2-1. Ben McCabe laid down a sacrifice bunt and reached second on an error, as Noah Orlando came around to score. 
 
Andrew Sundean kept the inning alive, slicing a two-strike single to right field to score Ben McCabe from third, pushing the lead to 3-1. Samford answered once again in the eighth, leveling the score on a two-run home run at three apiece. UCF and Samford would head to extras and in the 10th, the Bulldogs pushed across the eventual game winning run.

Creighton 6, Wichita State 1 - Box Score
WICHITA, Kan. – Wichita State was held to just four hits by two Creighton pitchers, as the Bluejays claimed game one of the series 6-1 on Friday night at Eck Stadium.

Creighton (10-6) struck in the top of the first on a sacrifice fly from Chris Esposito. Seth Stroh tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the third with his first home run of the season, but that would prove to be the only run that the Shockers could muster against Creighton starter Dylan Tebrake (3-1). Tebrake went six strong innings, allowing four hits and one run with six strikeouts and one walk.