East Carolina and Houston both completed sweeps in American Athletic Conference baseball action on Sunday, May 14. Houston will take a half-game lead in The American's standings heading into the final regular season weekend.
Sunday, May 14
UCF 9, Cincinnati 7 -
Box Score
East Carolina 11, Memphis 7 -
Box Score
Houston 17, Tulane 11 - Box Score
UCF 9, Cincinnati 7 -
Box Score
CINCINNATI - UCF scored three runs in the top of the ninth to come from behind and defeat Cincinnati, 9-7, to claim a series win on the road on Sunday.
Lex Boedicker gave the Knights (29-23, 10-11 American) the lead in the ninth on a 2-run single and John Rhys Plumlee hit an RBI double to give UCF an insurance run.
Kyle Kramer (4-2) earned the win for the Knights, pitching a scoreless eighth and ninth.
Alex Shea (2-3) took the loss for the Bearcats, who fell to 22-19 on the season and 9-12 in conference play.
East Carolina 11, Memphis 7 -
Box Score
GREENVILLE, N.C. – An explosion of early offense was more than enough for No. 14 East Carolina Sunday afternoon as it rolled to an 11-7 victory over Memphis to finish off an American Athletic Conference series sweep at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium.
The Pirates (38-14, 15-6 American) have won seven-straight games overall and in league play, finishing the home AAC season with an 11-1 record. ECU has swept eight weekend opponents this year and has won 11 series in 13 attempts. Meanwhile, the Tigers (26-25, 8-13) were broomed in a conference series for the first time this campaign.
It was Alec Makarewicz' turn to break out offensively as the junior went 3-for-5 with three runs scored and four RBI thanks in large part to a two-home run performance. Jacob Jenkins-Cowart also chipped in with two hits and a pair of RBI while Joey Berini drew two walks and scored three runs. Anthony Hansen and Cameron Benson both notched two hits and drove in two runs for the visitors.
Danny Beal (5-1) was effective in relief, earning the win after tossing 2.1 scoreless innings and striking out five while yielding just one hit. Luke Ellis (2-3) only lasted 1.1 frames, surrendering five runs (four earned) on five hits with a walk and a strikeout.
Houston 17, Tulane 11 - Box Score
NEW ORLEANS -- Houston won a shootout on Sunday, defeating Tulane, 17-11.
Both Justin Murray and Cameron Nickens drove in four runs for the Cougars (31-20, 15-5 American), while four different batters scored three times each.
Eight different Green Wave batters (14-37, 7-14) recorded a hit and seven scored at least one run.
Braden Forsyth (2-0) earned the win for the Cougars, while Murray came in and pitched a 7-out save, his ninth of the season.
Cristian Sanchez (0-6) took the loss for the Green Wave.