CLEARWATER, Fla. – No. 7 Wichita State battled deep into the night to keep its 2026 American Baseball Championship hopes alive, downing No. 5 Memphis 6-4 on Friday night that blended into Saturday morning at BayCare Ballpark.
 
Wichita State (30-28) advanced to face No. 4 UAB on Saturday approximately 47 minutes following game nine in another elimination game. Memphis (24-34) saw its season end following a 2-2 run at the 2026 American tournament.
 
Jayson Jones wasted little time putting Wichita State in front 1-0, blasting his 15th home run of the season out of the ballpark in the top of the first inning. Teammate Ethan Gonzalez followed with his third home run of the season in the top of the second, extending the lead for the Shockers to 2-0.
 
A two-run single in the top of the third inning by Kaleb Duncan and an RBI single in the top of the fifth by Jacob Gutierrez extended the Wichita State lead to 5-1.
 
Memphis struck back with two runs of its own in the bottom of the seventh inning. An RBI single to right field for Trae Cassidy scored Brady McAbee, and a wild pitch against the next batter brought Michael Gupton home to cut into the Wichita State edge at 5-3.
 
Marcus Smith cancelled out a Wichita State top of the eighth inning run (6-3) with a solo home run to straightaway center in the bottom of the ninth, cutting the Memphis deficit to 6-4. Reliever Dax Sharp closed the door on the Tigers from there, earning his first save of the season for Wichita State.

Caleb Reed spun 6.2 innings as the starter for Wichita State, allowing three earned runs on five hits to go along with two walks and eight strikeouts to improve to 6-1.