DAY 1
Preview
It’s an unexpected early morning start to this year's American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship in Clearwater, Florida. With impending weather in the forecast, we’ve moved things up in order to stay ahead.
So, it’s baseball for breakfast as Memphis and Houston start things off at 9:00 a.m. ET. The two teams have only met once in The American Championship, with the Cougars knocking the Tigers out of the tournament in the semifinals in 2015. Houston took two of three from Memphis in early April this season.
It probably goes without saying, but the team that can find some energy in a morning game, usually has the edge.
Memphis
-Senior outfielder Chris Carrier, who was named first-team all conference, is riding an 18 game hitting streak into this week, the longest of his career.
-Freshman Alec Trela has started all 56 games for the Tigers, the first freshman to start every game since Jacob Wilson in 2009.
-Sophomore catcher Jason Santana has thrown out 24 runners this season, that’s the most for a Memphis catcher in the last 20 seasons.
Houston
-The Cougars 49 homers are the most by a team since their 2008 team hit 51.
-Trey Cumbie has thrown three straight complete games and leads the starters with a 2.02 ERA.
-Houston is dangerous on the bases, stealing 72 bases in 89 attempts.
Review
Game one is in the books in Clearwater, with Houston rallying in the eighth to avoid a first-round upset to Memphis.
Houston
-Grayson Padgett hit a gigantic three-run pinch-hit homer with one out in the bottom of the eighth for the difference maker after Memphis had gone up 5-2 in the top of the inning.
-Co-Player of the year, Jake Scheiner blasted his 16th homer of the year, a solo shot in the first.
Memphis
-Chris Carrier extended his hitting streak to 19 with a two-out two-run homer in the fifth inning to give Memphis at 3-2 lead.
-Another Memphis senior, Zach Schritenthal, had an RBI single that produced two runs after an error that opened up the game to a 5-2 Tiger advantage in the eighth.
Preview
Game two features Cincinnati against UConn. Jim Penders has done an outstanding job with his Huskies, despite losing a bulk of his offense from last year's championship team.He has them in position for an at-large bid. The Bearcats enter the tournament as the six-seed, as David Orndorff gets the start.
UConn
-Under Jim Penders, the Huskies have won four tournament titles including last year’s American Athletic Conference Championship.
-UConn had six players on the All-Conference team this season.
Cincinnati
-David Orndorff has been “Mr. Versatility” this season; 20 appearances, seven starts, and seven saves.
-Connor McVey carries a 22-game on-base streak coming into tournament play.
Review
Both high seeds have advanced out of the early bracket in Clearwater after UConn ran away from Cincinnati late, 12-3. The Huskies improved to 32-23 with the win and will face Houston on Thursday, while Cincinnati dropped to 28-29 and takes on Memphis tomorrow morning. Although Willy Yahn’s grand-slam was the biggest play of the game, consecutive one-out errors by Cincinnati set the table for the big inning in the seventh.
UConn
-Yahn’s grand-slam was the second of his career and the Huskies first this season when he broke open the game with two outs in seventh.
-Sam Nepiarsky was perfect in relief for UConn, going four innings sitting down twelve straight while striking out six.
Cincinnati
-A.J. Bumpass gave the Bearcats an early lead with an RBI single in the second. He would end the day with two hits.
-Jace Mercer was also productive at the plate, going 2-3 with an RBI.
Review
USF took game three of the day to advance into the winners bracket, knocking off Tulane in a see-saw contest.
Despite multiple home-runs in game three this afternoon, it was USF's Duke Stunkel Jr. that stole the show. Tulane's Hunter hope crushed a ball to center that looked like a sure double, but Stunkel Jr. took a big leap to grab the ball before slamming into the wall and falling to the warning track. Without a doubt, the defensive play of the day through three games.
Tulane
-Hunter Hope hit his 13th homer of the year in top of the fourth.
-Jarret DeHart homered in the fifth, his 13th of the year.
USF
-Chris Chatfield had a pair of hits including a homer in the fourth, his sixth of the season
-David Villar also homered in the fifth, his seventh.
-Andrew Perez picked up the win in relief to improve to 6-2. He threw two scoreless innings while striking out three.
Review
I said on-air yesterday afternoon that ECU is the best eight-seed we've ever had in The American and it proved to be true. The Pirates have been riddled with injuries all season long, but have enough experience from last year's Super-Regional team to make a difference. After a four-run third, ECU never let up and cruised to a 14-3 win over the top seed UCF.
ECU
-Charlie Yorgen had a pair of hits including a three-run homer to open the game up in the third.
-All nine starters got a hit for ECU who banged out 15 total hits.
UCF
-Kyle Marsh had a pair of hits, scored a run and had an RBI.
-Rylan Thomas also had two hits and an RBI.
Plays of the day from day one.
-Houston's Grayson Padgett's three-run pinch-hit homer to cap off a four-run eight to give Houston a win over Memphis.
-USF's Duke Stunkel Jr's incredible leaping catch to take away a double from Tulane.
-Willy Yahn's second career grand-slam puts the game away against Cincinnati, his second career grand-slam.
-ECU's Charlie Yorgen hitting a monster three-run homer to put the Pirates ahead in the third.
DAY 2
Preview
The sun is rising behind right field as we begin day two of the American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship, and hopefully we'll stay ahead of the rain coming in this afternoon. Just like yesterday, the wind continues to howl out to left field, after ten homers in the first four games, I'd expect several more today.
In game one, Cincinnati and Memphis face each other for the seventh time this season with each team winning the road series and splitting the first six games. The last time these teams met in a conference tournament was in 2015 when Memphis eliminated the Bearcats 14-9. These two schools go way back, being members of the Missouri Valley through the early 70's, then sharing affiliation in the Metro, Great Midwest, Conference USA, and now The American.
Review
Well, that was wild. In a game that looked over twice, with Memphis up 6-1 and Cincinnati leading 14-8, it was the Tigers edging the Bearcats 15-14 in ten innings. The lone game of the day had it all, big hits, multiple homers, a lot of relievers and a walk-off win. Colton Neal was the hero for Memphis, getting the win in relief and getting the game winning hit.
Tuesday's wind carried over into this morning, just getting stronger as the game progressed, and with three homers, there have been a total of 13 through the first four games.
Memphis
-The Tigers win game them their 30th of the season, the sixth 30 win year in the last seven seasons for Daron Schoenrock.
-Colton Neal who started in left, threw the last three innings. Retiring all nine Bearcats he face before driving in Carlos Williams for the game winning run.
Cincinnati
-A.J. Bumpass hit a big three-run homer in the fifth, that capped off a five run inning and tied the game at 8-8 after Cincinnati trailed 6-1 and 8-3 early.
-Jace Mercer had three hit and six RBI including a bases clearing double in the seventh that put Cincinnati up 14-8 at that point.
Rain started up shortly after the conclusion of the game and we'll start back up tomorrow morning with Tulane and UCF in the second elimination game before two winners bracket contest between Houston and UConn as well as USF vs ECU.
DAY 3
Preview
We start day three of the American Conference Championships with a shift in the wind. After two days of gusting winds out to left, it’s shifted to right field, so maybe a chance for the left-handers to show off their power today.
Three games on tap starting with an elimination game this morning as Tulane face UCF at 11:00. This mornings matchup features the fastest team in the league, with the Knights stealing 102 bases led by Mathew Mika’s 25 against Tulane’s league leading 68 homers paced by Jarret DeHart and Hunter Hope’s 13. Power vs Speed in game one.
Review
UCF knocked Tulane out of the Championships with an 8-3 win over the Green Wave. Two four-run innings for the Knights were all they would need behind Robby Howell, who went eight innings. Meanwhile, Tulane left-fielder Lex Kaplan took away a double late in the game slamming into the wall, a catch to rival USF’s Duke Stunkel Jr on day one.
Preview
Later today we move back into the winners bracket with a rematch of last season’s championship when UConn and Houston face off at 1:00. Both teams were winners on Tuesday by getting big hits late. I expect this game to be won late.
Review
In the second game of the day, Tyler Bielamowicz hit his first career home-run in the third and added a RBI double in the eighth as Houston outlasted UConn, 7-6.
Preview
And our night game features USF and ECU. The Bulls outlasted Tulane while ECU knocked off the top seed UCF to be the only lower seed to win an opening round game.
Review
What a thriller last night. A slow paced game that went three hours and 41 minutes suddenly ended with the second walk-off of this week’s American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship.
With ECU trailing 5-3 going into the bottom of the ninth, the first three Pirates reached base and tied the game at 5-5. Then with a runner at third, pinch-hitter Charlie Morgan laid down a bunt to bring the winning run in. Morgan was smart, taking the first pitch and not showing bunt which kept the infield back, allowing the run to score with no throw.
DAY 4
Preview
Two elimination games for today and the weather is great, sunny and 88 with a breeze blowing out to right.
In game one, UConn faces Memphis. The Huskies won the regular-season series in Storrs 2-1. Drew Crosby starts for Memphis, he went 3.2 innings at UConn, allowing five runs on nine hits in early April. Will Montgomerie threw in that same game, allowing five runs in two innings. Montgomerie was the winning pitcher in last year’s 2-0 Huskies win that eliminated Memphis in the semi-finals, going seven scoreless innings.
Preview
Game two features the I-4 rivalry between USF and UCF. The Bulls will try to rebound after last night’s loss, while UCF is coming off an elimination win over Tulane. USF won the season series 4-2, but a UCF win on the final day of the regular season clinched the top-seed for the Knights, while dropping USF to the fourth-seed.
Finally, the home-run count is now 21 through the first eight games.
Review
Yesterday we saw the pitching performance of the week…..so far. UCF’s Chris Williams took a no-hitter late into the game and ended up throwing eight shutout innings, allowing just two hits and at one time retiring 19 straight Bulls. It’s the second time a Knights pitcher has gone late into a game with a no-hitter this week with Robby Howell going eight innings against Tulane.
DAY 5
Preview:
We start the day with a rematch of UConn and Houston. They met in last year’s Championship and earlier this week. Houston edged the Huskies Thursday 7-6.
A lot is on the line today. Houston and UCF are playing for potential hosting opportunities in next week’s NCAA while UConn is playing for NCAA seeding. ECU will have to win the tournament to advance to next week’s regionals.
Review
One game down with Houston advancing to their fourth straight championship game with a 13-3 win over UConn. Trey Cumbie set the tone and went seven shut-out innings, allowing two hits and seven strikeouts.
Preview
Our second game matches up ECU and UCF. The eight-seeded Pirates beat the number-one seeded Knights 14-3 Tuesday. On tap for today, I’ll have my “All-Name” team and tonight, my top plays/performances of the tournament.
Review
If offense dominated the first few days of the American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship, then it was the pitching and defense that stepped forward today.
In game two of the semifinals, freshman Jake Agnos went seven shutout innings and got several great defensive plays behind him to help ECU shutout UCF 4-0 to beat the top-seeded Knights for a second time this week.
So it’s ECU against Houston tomorrow for the championship. I’ll have more on that matchup tommorrow.
All-Name Team
Houston- Cooper Coldiron and Tyler Bielamowicz
USF- Duke Stunkel Jr.
Memphis- Tekoda Metoxin
ECU- Dwanye Williams-Sutton
UCF- Cre Finfrock
Tulane- The brothers Gozzo, Sal and Paul
Cincinnati- A.J. Olasz
UConn- Zac Susi
Now the plays/performances of the week:
Grayson Padgett provided the first dramatic moment of the week with his three-run pinch-hit homer off the foul pole in right field in the eighth to give Houston a 6-5 win over Memphis to start the week.
UConn’s Willy Yahn blasted his second career grand-slam to put the game away on Tuesday against Cincinnati.
Cincinnati got a opposite-field three-run homer from A.J. Bumpass to rally from 8-3 down, to tie the game at 8 against Memphis.
In that same wild game between Memphis and Cincinnati, Colton Neal threw three perfect innings in relief to get the win, and provided the game winning walk-off hit to give the Tigers a 15-14 win.
USF’s Duke Stunkel went crashing into the wall Tuesday night, falling to the ground and holding on to take a double away from Tulane’s Hunter Hope.
Lex Kaplan of Tulane had a great catch of his own, crashing into the left-field wall to take a hit away from UCF in Thursday’s loss to the Knights.
UCF flirted with two no-hitters. Pitcher of the year Robby Howell went eight innings against Tulane on Thursday while Chris Williams threw eight shutout innings in an elimination game against USF Friday.
ECU gave us several great plays, but I’ll limit it to two. Drew Henrickson to a homer away from UCF late in the game and later in the inning snagged a would-be double and ended up getting a double-play at third to end the inning.
And the play of the tournament had to be ECU with the ninth inning rally against USF Thursday night when pinch-hitter Charlie Morgan laid down the bunt for the win.
DAY 6
Championship Sunday
It’s Championship Sunday in Clearwater at the American Conference Championships. It’s Houston taking on ECU.
Houston came through the bracket 3-0, edging Memphis 6-5 on Tuesday, and beating UConn twice, 7-6 Thursday and 13-3 yesterday. The Cougars have the top two hitters in the tournament for the week. Lael Lockhart is hitting .667 with a pair of doubles and Tyler Bielamowicz is batting .625 with a homer and three RBI. Overall Houston leads all teams this week with a .347 average and five home runs.
The Pirates who have been banged up all season and are as close to full strength as they could hope this week and it’s show. ECU knocked off top-see UCF Tuesday 14-3, rallied to beat USF Thursday 6-5 and eliminated the Knights yesterday 4-0. Charlie Yorgan is ninth in the tournament this week, hitting .455 with a homer and four RBI. The Pirates are also leading the league in ERA in the Championships with a 2.00 ERA, walking just eight and striking out 25.
Today’s pitching matchup with feature ECU’s Evan Kruczynski who is 4-2 with a 4.47 ERA. After suffering an injury in week three of conference play, he’s come back to throw five straight conference games, most recently going seven innings against Memphis on May 12. For the season, he’s walked just seven in 46.1 innings while striking out 40. Kruczynski did not pitch against Houston this season.
Houston will go with John King who is 6-1 with a 3.28 ERA in 11 outings including 10 starts. King threw against ECU on April 9th, going 4.1 innings, allowing six runs and striking out two for a no-decision. King is the only senior on the team and was named the American Pitcher of the Week for March 13 after throwing his first complete game in a shutout at tenth ranked Baylor.
Getting their work in
While training at the gym next to the stadium this morning, I caught Jake Agnos, ECU’s freshman pitcher from yesterday, getting his rehab in before the UConn Huskies came in about 30 minutes later to train before returning to Storrs. Work never stops.
Judgment Call
You have to give a lot of credit to the American officials and coaches for making the call Monday to move two games up to Tuesday so we wouldn’t have to potentially play extra games on Sunday. When the inclement weather that was forecast did arrive Wednesday, five games had already been played and tournament was able to get back on schedule by moving just one game to Thursday morning - certainly a better alternative than waiting out Wednesday on a day that would have featured multiple starts and stops.
Review
In a battle of the league’s best hitting team and best pitching team this week, it was hitting that won out as the Houston Cougars have taken home the American Conference Baseball Championship with a 6-0 win over ECU!
The Cougars banged out 14 hits, led by the Co-Player of the Year Jake Schooner with four hits including a homer. Todd Whitting’s Cougars will be scary for years to come, they had one senior and 16 freshmen on the team.
ECU made a great run, despite a lot of adversity in an injury riddled season, the Pirates ran through their bracket to advance to this season's championship game as an eight-seed. Great run by Cliff Godwin’s club, I’d expect them to rebound in a big way next year.
We now wait for NCAA bids to come out tomorrow. With the win today, Houston could be in play to host a regional. I also think USF, UCF, and UConn should all be 2-seeds. We’ll all find out tomorrow. It was a very strong year for The American with half the teams likely going to regionals next weekend.
I want to thank everyone from The American for having me back this season, not only as a play-by-play announcer for the American Digital Network, but all the expanded coverage as well.
Clearwater and Spectrum Field were great host as always and I’m looking forward to a great 2018!