East Carolina and Wichita State earned series wins in American Athletic Conference baseball action on Saturday, May 14. With a win Sunday, East Carolina can clinch at least a share of The American's regular season title.

Saturday, May 14
Memphis 7, Cincinnati 3 - Box Score
Wichita State 18, Tulane 8 (8 innings) - Box Score
East Carolina 11, South Florida 3 - Box Score
UCF 6, Houston 5 - Box Score

Memphis 7, Cincinnati 3 - Box Score
CINCINNATI – With the game tied 3-3 entering the ninth inning Saturday, the Memphis Tigers (22-26, 6-14 American) scored four times in the game's final frame in a 7-3 win over the Cincinnati Bearcats (21-26, 10-10). Memphis scored three of its four runs in the ninth with two outs as the Tigers snapped their five-game losing streak.

Max Bergmann (0-3) started the ninth and gave up singles to two of the first three batters that he faced, which caused Cincinnati to go back to the bullpen and bring in Garrett Harver. Harver walked Ian Bibiloni, which loaded the bases with one out, while Blake Daniels put Memphis in front 4-3 with a sacrifice fly.

Ben Brooks made it 5-3 Memphis with a two-out RBI single, while Jacob Compton followed with a two-run double that made it 7-3 Memphis, the eventual final.

Blake Wimberley (6-3) earned the win, throwing four scoreless innings of relief for Memphis.

Wichita State 18, Tulane 8 (8 innings) - Box Score
WICHITA, Kan. – Wichita State banged out a season-high 16 hits and used a seven-run fourth inning to run-rule Tulane 18-8 in eight innings on Saturday afternoon at Eck Stadium. 

Xavier Casserilla finished with two home runs and a career-high seven RBI, and three other Shockers recorded at least three hits on the day.

It was not a promising start to the day for the Shockers (18-32) who fell into a quick 5-0 hole. Tulane struck for four runs in the first inning against starter Adam Ketelsen, with Teo Banks delivering a two-out, two-run double to cap the scoring. Brady Hebert launched a solo homer in the top of the second to extend the lead to 5-0.

Wichita State erased the deficit in the bottom of the third. Seth Stroh opened the inning with a booming solo homer off the video board in left, and then three straight Shockers doubled with two outs to score four more runs. Payton Tolle plated two with a liner just inside the first base line, Andrew Stewart drove him home with a bloop into shallow left that fell in, and Ross Cadena tied the game with a ground-rule double down the left field line.

Tolle notched a career-best four hits on the day, driving in three.

Tulane (30-21-1) quickly took the lead back in the top of the fourth when Brady Marget singled home a run to make it 6-5.

The decisive bottom of the fourth started with three straight singles from Stroh, Chuck Ingram, and Brock Rodden, but the next two Shockers were retired. Tolle delivered in the clutch with a two-run single through the hole at short, giving Wichita State their first lead at 7-6. After two walks forced home another run, Casserilla hammered the first pitch he saw from reliever Carter Robinson over 21st Street for his first career grand slam. The blast traveled a Trackman-confirmed 446 feet, giving the Shockers a 12-6 lead.

The Green Wave scratched out a run in the fifth on an RBI groundout from Jared Hart, but Casserilla had the response in the bottom of the sixth with a three-run homer over the video board, pushing the lead to 15-7.

Trevor Minder doubled home a run in the top of the seventh for Tulane to cut the deficit back to 15-8. A pair of wild pitches brought home two runs in the seventh, then Ingram walked it off with a double in the eighth to score Stroh from second and trigger the run-rule.

Cameron Bye (5-1) picked up the win for the Shockers, while Keaton Knueppel (1-1) was saddled with the loss. Bye went six innings in relief, allowing seven hits and three runs while striking out four.

East Carolina 11, South Florida 3 - Box Score
GREENVILLE, N.C. – No. 25 East Carolina scored 11 unanswered runs from the third inning on earning an 11-3 American Athletic Conference series clinching win over South Florida Saturday afternoon at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium. With the victory, the Pirates extended their win streak to nine games and improved to 33-18 overall and 16-4 in league play, while the Bulls dropped to 26-24 and 6-14.
 
With the game knotted at three all going to the bottom of the sixth, ECU scored eight runs on eight hits taking a commanding 11-3 lead. Ben Newton reached after being hit by a pitch to get the frame going. Alec Makarewicz followed with a double putting runners on second and third for Jacob Starling, who reached on an infield single to load the bases. After a balk by Hunter Mink that scored Newton, Joey Berini delivered a two-RBI single to left plating Makarewicz and Starling. Zach Agnos kept the hitting going with a dingle through the right side pushing Berini to third before Lane Hoover followed with an RBI base hit to right. Jacob Jenkins-Cowart, who reached base four times in the contest, laced his lone hit through the right side scoring Agnos.
 
Following a Bulls pitching change, Hoover (third) and Jenkins-Cowart (second) both moved up 90 feet on a Jack Cebert wild pitch and Bryson Worrell pushed the two Pirates across on his RBI single through the right side. Newton capped the frame with another RBI single and his third hit of the afternoon, pushing across Worrell with a shot to right field.
 
Carter Spivey (6-0) earned the win in relief working three shutout innings where he allowed a hit, walked one and struck out a pair. Starter Ryder Giles gave up three runs (all earned) on five hits with three punch outs over 2.1 innings. Four other Pirates pitched out of the bullpen in Merritt Beeker (0.0 IP, 1 BB), Trey Yesavage (1.2 IP, 1 BB, 1 K), Josh Grosz (1.0 IP, 1 K) and Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 K).
 
Mink (3-2) suffered the loss after he was tagged for seven runs (all earned) on six hits with a walk and two strikeouts in one inning of relief. Starter Brad Lord gave up three runs (all earned) on five hits with two free passes and five punch outs over four innings. Cebert (2.0 IP, 2 Hs, 1 R, 1K) and Tyler Dietz (1.0 IP, 1 K) also threw out of the bullpen.

UCF 6, Houston 5 - Box Score
HOUSTON, Texas – UCF Baseball (29-21, 12-8) scored two runs in the top of the ninth to even the series against the Houston Cougars (34-17, 13-7), and set up a rubber match tomorrow afternoon, 6-5. The victory was the first win this season when trailing after seven innings (1-14). 
 
UCF opened the scoring in the first inning as Lex Boedicker doubled to left center field to score Noah Orlando from first to lead 1-0. It was the third consecutive game in a row that the Knights have scored in the first inning. Houston responded in the bottom half with a pair of runs to take the lead 2-1.
 
In the top of the fifth, Tom Josten hit his sixth home run of the season, a two-run blast to right center field to give the Knights a 3-2 lead. Houston once again answered in the bottom of the fifth, scoring three runs to take a 5-3 lead. Noah Orlando hit his fifth home run of the season in the top of the sixth to cut the Cougars lead to 5-4.
 
Chase Centala worked 4.1 innings, allowing five runs on six hits. He struck out three batters and did not factor into the decision. David Litchfield entered the game in the fifth, recording the final out of the frame to eliminate the threat on the basepaths and hold Houston to a 5-3 lead. He worked 2.1 innings, allowing one hit and striking out one batter. Kyle Kramer relieved Litchfield in the eighth, working the final two innings to pick up his first win of the season. Kramer allowed one hit and struck out one batter, while stranding an insurance run at third in the eighth. 
 
In the ninth, UCF began the inning with a leadoff walk by Noah Orlando. Lex Boedicker attempted to sacrifice Orlando to second, but the bunt went past the pitcher for a single to put two runners on with no outs. Gephry Pena laid down a two-strike sacrifice bunt to move the runners into scoring position with one out. 
 
Andrew Sundean tied the ballgame in the ninth, grounding out to shortstop to score Orlando. Two pitches later, Tom Josten singled through the right side to score Pablo Ruiz from third and give the Knights a 6-5 lead.