Wichita State's Payton Tolle threw a two-hit shutout in American Athletic Conference baseball action on Saturday, April 23.

Saturday, April 23
Wichita State 7, East Carolina 0 (Game 1) - Box Score
Wichita State 8, East Carolina 3 (Game 2) - Box Score
South Florida 14, UCF 8 - Box Score
Tulane 10, Cincinnati 3 - Box Score
Memphis 9, Houston 3 - Box Score

Wichita State 7, East Carolina 0 (Game 1) - Box Score
Wichita State 8, East Carolina 3 (Game 2) - Box Score
WICHITA, Kan. -- Payton Tolle fired a complete game shutout and the Wichita State offense combined for 29 hits as the Shockers swept a doubleheader against #7-ranked East Carolina, 7-0 and 8-3 on Saturday afternoon at Eck Stadium.

The two wins secure Wichita State's first series victory against a top-10 team since the 2014 season, when WSU claimed two of three games against Cal State Fullerton.

The Shockers (23-15, 7-4 American) move into a three-way tie for first atop the American Athletic Conference standings with East Carolina (29-10, 7-4) and Houston (22-17, 7-4).

GAME 1
Tolle was masterful in picking up his team-best seventh victory of the season, holding the Pirates to just two hits while striking out 10. The southpaw carried a no-hitter through 5.1 innings, surrendering just one baserunner via an error. East Carolina got both hits against Tolle in the sixth inning, but he pitched out of the jam with a strikeout and then retired the final nine Pirates over innings 7-8-9. 

It's the third start of the season for Tolle with double-digit strikeouts, and his second without a walk.

The Wichita State offense chased East Carolina starter Trey Yesavage after just 1.2 innings, banging out six hits against the Pirates ace to grab the early lead. Jaden Gustafson opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the second, and later in the inning Brock Rodden rifled an RBI single for a 2-0 lead.

Gustafson drove home his second run in the third inning by beating out an infield single, extending the Shocker edge to 3-0.

Mauricio Millan came through with perhaps the game's biggest hit in the fourth, ripping a two-run single through the middle for a 5-0 cushion.

Solo home runs from Chuck Ingram and Garrett Pennington in the sixth put the Shockers up 7-0, giving Tolle plenty of run support into the late innings.

GAME 2
East Carolina took their only lead of the day in the top of the first on a two-out RBI single from Luke Nowak, but it proved to be short-lived. Ingram cranked a leadoff home run to start the home half of the inning, immediately leveling the score at 1-1.

Wichita State then took control in the second inning with a trio of runs. David Herring launched another leadoff solo shot onto the berm in right field to put WSU in front 2-1, a lead that Ingram and Rodden extended with two-out, run-scoring singles.

The Pirates scratched back into the game with single runs in the fifth and sixth, but after pulling within 4-3 were quickly rebuffed via a four-spot in the bottom of the sixth. Sawyre Thornhill capped a 4-for-4 game with an RBI double, coming in to score one batter later on another RBI single from Ingram that made it 6-3. Tolle punctuated the frame with a two-run single to left, restoring the Wichita State cushion to 8-3.

Jace Miner took it the rest of the way out of the Wichita State bullpen to earn his second save, holding the Pirates scoreless over 3.1 innings while allowing just two hits. He made a winner out of Clark Candiotti (6-2), who won his fifth consecutive start and sixth straight decision. Candiotti struck out six over 5.2 innings, allowing seven hits and three runs.

Carter Spivey (4-2) took the loss for East Carolina, allowing 11 hits and six runs over 5.0 innings of work.

Ingram recorded three hits in both games of the doubleheader to lead the Shocker offense, while Rodden and Kyte McDonald chipped in two hits apiece in both games.

South Florida 14, UCF 8 - Box Score
TAMPA (April 22, 2023) – Five different Bulls launched home runs on Saturday afternoon as the University of South Florida (17-23, 6-5 American) out-slugged the UCF Knights (22-17, 4-7) in a 14-8 victory at USF Baseball Stadium to even the weekend's War On I-4 series at one game apiece.

Daniel Cantu, Joaquin Monque, Bobby Boser, Drew Brutcher and Rafael Betancourt each circled the bases as South Florida connected on a season-high five home runs.

Every Bull in the starting lineup scored at least once on Saturday, eight of the nine recorded a hit and seven tallied at least one RBI.

Cantu opened the slugfest with his 10th longball of the season in the bottom of the first inning and the Bulls never trailed for the duration of the ballgame. Monque blasted a three-run shot in the second inning and two batters later, Boser left the yard with his 10th homer of the year to give USF a 5-0 advantage.

UCF cut its deficit to 5-2 with a pair of runs in the top of the third inning, but the Bulls responded immediately with back-to-back home runs by Brutcher and Betancourt in the bottom of the third.

A two-run homer by the Knights in the top of the fourth was answered with an RBI-double by Eric Snow in the bottom of the frame to extend the USF lead to 9-4.

Tulane 10, Cincinnati 3 - Box Score
CINCINNATI, Ohio – The Tulane baseball team got all of its offense after the fourth inning and struck out 14 Bearcats to even its series with Cincinnati by way of a 10-3 win Saturday afternoon at the UC Baseball Stadium.
 
The Green Wave moved to 12-27 overall and 5-6 in the American Athletic Conference, while the Bearcats dropped to 16-24 and 4-7 in the league.
 
Grant Cleavinger (1-1) got the victory in relief for the visitors, striking out five with two walks in one and two-thirds innings. Starter Ricky Castro had a good outing, allowing three runs on five hits with seven strikeouts and one walk in five and one-third innings.
 
Cincinnati relief pitcher Alex Shea (2-2) got just one out and gave up four runs on two hits with one walk. The Bearcats' group of six hurlers struck out eight on the day but also issued nine walks. 
 
Offensively, every Tulane batter scored a run, while first baseman Brady Marget, third baseman Simon Baumgardt and designated hitter Brennan Lambert drove in two apiece. Shortstop Gavin Schulz went 3-for-5 and left fielder Brady Hebert singled twice.
 
With Cincinnati leading 3-0 in the top of the fifth, Tulane trimmed the margin to one on a sacrifice fly by Marget and Baumgardt's run-scoring single to left. 
 
The big inning came in the seventh when the Green Wave plated five runs. Lambert opened the scoring with an RBI single to left and Baumgart gave Tulane a 6-5 lead when he scored on right fielder Jacob LaPrairie's sacrifice bunt. Second baseman James Agabedis then drew a bases-loaded walk before Schulz and Hebert followed with an RBI single and a sacrifice fly, respectively.
 
The Green Wave tacked on three more runs in the top of the ninth for the final margin with the help of the Bearcats' pitching struggles. Marget drew another bases-loaded walk and Baumgardt and Lambert were both plunked with the bases still full of Tulane baserunners. 

Memphis 9, Houston 3 - Box Score
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis baseball team got back in the win column Saturday afternoon, beating Houston, 9-3, in game two of a three-game American Athletic Conference series at FedExPark Avron Fogelman Field
 
With the win, Memphis improves to 20-19 (4-7) this season. The Cougars dropped to 22-17 (7-4) on the year with the loss.
 
Jake Curtis put the Tigers on the board in the bottom of the third inning with his third home run of the year – a solo shot to left field that put Memphis up 1-0. Logan Kohler added on with his sixth home run of the season, driving in Anthony Hansen to extend Memphis' lead to 3-0.

Houston's Anthony Tulimero jacked a two-run home run to left field in the top of the fourth to cut Memphis' lead to one.

The Tigers struck back for two runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth, scoring on a Brayland Skinner double and a Curtis ground out to make the score 5-2.

A four-run sixth inning gave the Tigers some insurance. Back-to-back triples by Skinner and Curtis resulted in the first run of the inning. Hansen then laced a two-run double to right-center field and RJ Jimerson doubled in Hansen to make the Memphis lead 9-2.