Houston kept pace with East Carolina as American Athletic Conference baseball action heads into the final day of the regular season. The Cougars are 16-6 in league play, a half game behind the Pirates (17-6).

Friday, May 19
UCF 16, Wichita State 15 (Game 1) - Box Score
Wichita State 12, UCF 7 (Game 2) - Box Score
East Carolina 6, South Florida 5 - Box Score
Tulane 11, Memphis 5 - Box Score
Houston 8, Cincinnati 7 (10 innings) - Box Score

UCF 16, Wichita State 15 (Game 1) - Box Score
Wichita State 12, UCF 7 (Game 2) - Box Score
ORLANDO -- Wichita State scored six runs in the top of the ninth inning to erase a one-run deficit, earning a split of Saturday's doubleheader with a 12-7 win after a wild 16-15 defeat in game one. The victory clinches third place in the American Athletic Conference standings, matching Wichita State's best finish since joining the conference in 2018. 

Game 1
Wichita State mounted a stunning comeback in the top of the ninth inning, scoring seven runs after entering the frame trailing 15-8. A pair of walks opened the inning, followed by a Garrett Pennington RBI single that made it 15-9. A wild pitch plated another run, cutting the UCF lead to 15-10 and prompting a UCF pitching change. Two batters later, David Herring rifled an RBI single to pull the Shockers within 15-11.

The Knights summoned closer Kyle Kramer, who hit Kyte McDonald to load the bases with one out. A strikeout followed, leaving the Shockers down to their final out. Jack Little took ball one and then crushed a game-tying grand slam to left, capping a seven-run inning that tied the game at 15-15.

In the bottom of the ninth, Robert Cranz allowed two baserunners sandwiched around a pair of outs. UCF's Matt Cedarburg followed by bouncing a grounder up the first base line that skipped off the glove of Garrett Pennington and into foul territory, bringing home the winning run.

The Shockers banged out a season-high 18 hits in the game, including home runs from Pennington and Chuck Ingram as part of a five-run seventh that helped the Shockers cut into what was a 10-3 UCF lead.

Pennington finished with four hits to lead the Shockers offensively, while Brock Rodden added three and Ingram, Herring and McDonald each recorded two.

Wichita State's Payton Tolle was knocked for nine runs in just 4.0 innings of work, though he struck out seven and walked only one in a no-decision. Tolle technically entered the game as a reliever, as Clark Candiotti was the original starter for the Shockers last night when the game was suspended in the top of the first inning.

Matt Wilkinson, Nate Adler, and Patrick Dunn also worked in relief for the Shockers, highlighted by a season-long 2.2 innings out of the bullpen for Wilkinson.

Cranz (1-3) took the loss for WSU, while Kramer (5-2) picked up the win for UCF.

Game 2
Wichita State erased an early 5-0 deficit thanks in large part to five runs in the top of the sixth. A solo home run in the fifth from Brock Rodden got the Shockers on the board, then in the sixth the Shockers put together a string of clutch hits against UCF reliever Dom Stagliano. Seth Stroh yanked a two-run double into the right field corner that cut the Knights lead to 5-3, followed one batter later by an Ingram RBI single that pulled the Shockers within a run at 5-4.

With two on and two out, Pennington smacked a hard ground ball up the middle that was knocked down by a diving second baseman Cole Russo, but his throw to first base was errant. The error allowed both runs to score, giving Wichita State a 6-5 lead.

That's where the game stayed into the bottom of the seventh thanks to an excellent relief appearance from Jace Miner, who struck out a career high seven hitters over 4.0 innings. Miner allowed two hits and one run, which was charged to him when UCF took the lead back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh. Ben McCabe sliced a game-tying RBI double and Nick Romano plated the go-ahead run with a ground out to third against reliever Nate Snead (1-2).

UCF carried that 7-6 advantage into the ninth, setting the stage for another dramatic Shockers rally. A one-out error by shortstop Drew Faurot allowed Pennington to reach, followed by a single by Tolle that put two on for Mauricio Millan. The WSU catcher yanked a run-scoring single into left, tying the game at 7-7. Herring was hit by a pitch to load the bases, followed by a walk to Stroh that put the Shockers in front, 8-7.

Little and Ingram blew the game open with a two-run single and two-run double, respectively, giving Wichita State a 12-7 lead into the bottom of the ninth.

Snead struck out the side to close out the victory for the Shockers (30-22, 13-9). 

Julian Balzer (1-1) took the loss for UCF, allowing two unearned runs over 2.2 innings out of the UCF bullpen.

East Carolina 6, South Florida 5 - Box Score
TAMPA, Fla. – No. 15 East Carolina moved one step closer to securing its fourth-straight American Athletic Conference regular season title Friday night, posting a stirring 6-5 comeback victory over South Florida at the USF Baseball Stadium.
 
The Pirates (40-15, 17-6 American) now need just a win Saturday morning or a Houston loss to Cincinnati later in the day to secure the crown. The Bulls (19-36, 7-16) saw their losing streak extended to four games with the setback.
 
Jacob Starling went 3-for-4 with three RBI to lift the ECU offense while Alec Makarewicz added two hits, two runs scored and drove in a pair of runs. Joaquin Monque paced the home side with four hits in four at bats.
 
Landon Ginn (4-0) picked up the win in relief, throwing a scoreless inning with a strikeout. Jake Hunter notched his first save of the season, retiring the final USF batter to seal the win.

Tulane 11, Memphis 5 - Box Score
MEMPHIS, TN – Tulane center fielder Teo Banks homered twice and first baseman Brayden Morrow added a grand slam to power the visiting Green Wave to an 11-5 win over host Memphis Friday evening at FedExPark.
 
Tulane improved to 15-38 and 8-15 in the American Athletic Conference with Friday's victory. The Tigers dropped to 27-26 and 9-14 in the league.
 
Both of Banks' homers went over the wall in left center. His first-inning blast was a solo shot, while his second came in the fifth and was of the two-run variety. Morrow's home run came in the top of the seventh and gave the team a six-run cushion at 10-4.
 
The Tigers' designated hitter Logan Kohler went 3-for-3, which included a double and a first-inning homer of his own. Catcher Jonah Sutton tacked on a solo shot in the fifth.
 
Tulane third baseman Simon Baumgardt, who went 2-for-4 on the evening, broke a 1-all tie in the top of the third when he drew a bases-loaded walk. Right fielder Jake LaPrairie followed with a sacrifice fly to center to give the Olive and Blue a 3-1 advantage. 
 
The Tigers tied it again with two runs in the fourth, but Tulane went ahead for good in the fifth on the big hit by Banks and a run-scoring single by LaPrairie. 
 
Green Wave second baseman James Agabedis provided the contest's final margin when he drove in Baumgardt with a single in the top of the ninth.
 
Tulane reliever Chandler Welch (3-5) got the win, allowing two runs on four hits with one strikeout and two walks in three and one-third innings. 
 
Memphis starter Dalton Fowler (5-6) suffered the defeat, giving up three runs (two earned) on just one hit with four strikeouts and four walks in three innings.

Houston 8, Cincinnati 7 (10 innings) - Box Score
HOUSTON – Six come-from-behind runs propelled the Houston baseball team to an 8-7 walk-off win against Cincinnati on Friday night at Schroeder Park.
 
Junior catcher Dylan Post played the hero for the team, hitting a one-out home run in the bottom of the 10th inning to complete the 8-7 comeback win.
 
The Cougars (32-21, 16-6 American) rallied for five-straight runs in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game at 7-7. A single from freshman second baseman Thomas Lyssy brought the first run home before senior shortstop Ian McMillan flew out to center field allowing junior utility player Alex Lopez to cross the plate making the score 7-4. Graduate transfer Drew Bianco drew a walk before go-ahead hitter Brandon Uhse singled past the Cincinnati (24-30, 10-13) pitcher into center field to score Lyssy. Houston made it a one-run game as junior third baseman Zach Arnold posted the second-straight single to left field as Bianco crossed the plate making the score 7-6. The tying run came off a Justin Murray single up the middle to score Uhse, however, the winning run was waved home but was ultimately caught sending the game into extra innings.
 
After Murray retired the side in the top of the 10th, Post took the 10th pitch of his at bat and sailed the ball over the right field fence to walk off the Bearcats 8-7.
 
With the win, the Cougars are still in the hunt for the American Athletic Conference regular season championship title. Houston is currently 0.5 games behind East Carolina.
 
Murray moved his undefeated season on the mound to 5-0 throwing 4.0 shutout innings with a season-high six strikeouts to close the game. Cincinnati's Nick McClanahan (0-2) earned the loss pitching 0.1 innings and surrendering Post's walk-off home run.