East Carolina and South Florida earned series wins in American Athletic Conference baseball action on Saturday, March 26.

Saturday, March 26
South Florida 7, Niagara 1 - Box Score
East Carolina 7, VCU 5 - Box Score
Dayton 7, Tulane 3 (11 innings) - Box Score
Creighton 8, Wichita State 3 - Box Score
Samford 7, UCF 6 - Box Score
Western Carolina 6, Houston 3 - Box Score

South Florida 7, Niagara 1 - Box Score
TAMPA (March 26, 2022) – The University of South Florida Bulls (16-7) scored in the first inning and led wire-to-wire for the second straight day of a three-game series against Niagara University (2-17) for a 7-1 victory on Saturday afternoon at USF Baseball Stadium.

Jack Jasiak allowed just one baserunner in his start on the mound and the Bulls' offense supported him with six runs over the first four innings. Roberto Peña staked Jasiak to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first with a two-run homer. Peña has six extra-base hits and 11 RBI over the last 10 games.

The Bulls are collectively slugging .482 with 15 homers and averaging more than nine runs per game over their last 10 outings.

South Florida hung another crooked number on the scoreboard with four runs in the fourth frame. Ben Rozenblum drove in three with a bases-clearing double and Joaquin Monque added an RBI-double. Monque recorded his second RBI of the day with a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning.

On the mound, Jasiak (2-0) surrendered a two-out single in the top of the first inning and proceeded to retired 13 straight Purple Eagles to the conclusion of his outing. The right-hander struck out two over 5.0 IP.

East Carolina 7, VCU 5 - Box Score
GREENVILLE, N.C. – Ryder Giles made his second start of the week tossing a career-high four innings of shutout ball, while the East Carolina offense registered nine hits in a 7-5 series clinching win over VCU Saturday afternoon at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium. With the win the Pirates improved to 14-10 on the season, while the Rams fell to 11-10.
 
ECU raced out to an early 5-0 lead after scoring five runs in the third frame. Ryan McCrystal got things going with a single through the right side and was immediately lifted for a pinch runner (Joey Rezek). Joey Berini reached on a fielder's choice and Bryson Worrell loaded the bases with a bunt single. Lane Hoover plated the first two runs with a slap single to right and Jacob Jenkins-Cowart pushed across another (Worrell) with a sac fly to left. Josh Moylan's two-RBI single through the right side plated Hoover and Alec Makarewicz accounting for the final two runs.
 
Giles (1-0) picked up the win tossing four shutout frames where he allowed two hits, walked one and struck out a pair in a predetermined outing. A quartet of Pirates were used in the win in Nick Logusch (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K), Jake Hunter (2.0 IP, 2 Hs, 1 R, 3 Ks), Skylar Brooks (1.0 IP, 2 Hs, 1 R) and Carter Spivey (1.0 IP, 3 Hs, 3 Rs, 1 K).
 
Mason Delane (0-1) took the loss after allowing five runs (all earned) on four hits with a walk and a strikeout in 2.2 innings before leaving after being hit by a ball off the bat of Zach Agnos. The Rams would use three arms out of the bullpen getting innings from Joey Perkins (0.2 IP, 2 Hs, 2 Rs), Cade Dressler (2.2 IP, 2 Hs, 3 Ks) and Nick Frazier (2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB).

Dayton 7, Tulane 3 (11 innings) - Box Score
NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane University baseball team (15-8-1) dropped a 7-3 game the University of Dayton (9-10) on Saturday afternoon inside Greer Field at Turchin Stadium. 
 
The Green Wave was unable to capitalize on opportunities as it left 13 runners on base in the first loss since March 15th at LSU.
 
Freshman outfielder Jackson Linn hit a heroic home run to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth, one of his four hits in the game. Linn extended his hitting streak to eight games.

Sophomore left-hander Dylan Carmouche was on the bump for Tulane and struck out ten for the second start in a row. Carmouche went 6.2 innings and allowed three earend runs on four hits.

Dayton put up four runs in the top of the 11th highlighted by a three-run double by Marcos Pujols.

Creighton 8, Wichita State 3 - Box Score
WICHITA, Kan. – Creighton scored four times in the top of the sixth to erase a 3-1 deficit, knocking off Wichita State 8-3 on Saturday afternoon at Eck Stadium.

Creighton (11-6) used three singles, two walks, a hit by pitch and a Wichita State error in their sixth inning rally. Jack Grace tied the game with a two-run single, and pinch-hitter Sterling Hayes gave the Bluejays the lead with a run-scoring single of his own off Shockers starter Payton Tolle (2-2). Alan Roden worked a bases-loaded walk later in the inning to bring home the fourth run of the frame for a 5-3 lead.

Creighton added another run in the eighth on a Roden double, and two more in the ninth when Nolan Clifford doubled and Brant Voth worked a bases-loaded walk for the final margin.

Wichita State did all their damage in the bottom of the fourth when Garrett Kocis launched a three-run home run, answering a solo shot in the top of the inning from Jared Wegner.

Samford 7, UCF 6 - Box Score
ORLANDO, Fla. – Alex Freeland homered twice on Saturday evening, as the UCF Knights (13-10) fell to the Samford Bulldogs (12-8) 7-6 at John Euliano Park. Cylis Cox was pegged with the loss, allowing three runs on three hits in the fifth inning.
 
Samford opened the scoring in the first, scoring three runs to jump out to an early lead. UCF responded in the bottom of the first with a solo home run by Alex Freeland to right field. The Knights continued to chip away at the deficit in the second, as Ben Rushing singled to left field to score Michael Brooks from third.
 
In the fourth, the Knights tied the ballgame on a solo home run to right field by Tom Josten. Samford regained the lead in the top of the fifth, 6-3, before UCF scored a pair on a throwing error by the third basemen to score Andrew Sundean and Brooks. The Bulldogs tallied a much-needed insurance run in the top of the ninth to extend the lead to 7-5.

Western Carolina 6, Houston 3 - Box Score
HOUSTON – Houston Baseball was limited to four hits, dropping the middle game of a three-game set, 6-3 to Western Carolina on Saturday night from Sanders Field at Schroeder Park.
 
The loss snapped Houston's four-game win streak. The Cougars (15-8) entered the game with a streak of six consecutive contests with double-digit hits. Houston finished 0-for-9 (.000) with runners aboard and 1-for-10 (.100) with two outs.
 
Western Carolina (11-12) earned the win despite stranding 10 runners while finishing 0-for-12 (.000) with runners in scoring position and 1-for-10 (.100) with two outs. Reliever Jacob Corn (3-1) earned the victory behind 3.0 scoreless innings. Zach Franklin secured his second save. 
 
After managing just two hits between the fourth and seventh inning, Zach Arnold provided the Cougars a spark in the eighth, connecting on a leadoff 404-foot solo home run into left center, trimming Houston's deficit to 6-3.