ECU Earns No. 2 Seed At The American Championship
May 21, 2016 | Baseball
Championship Central l Championship Bracket 
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Following its road sweep at UCF on Saturday, East Carolina will look to defend its American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship title when it squares off against No. 7 seed USF on Wednesday, May 25 at 11 a.m. (ET). The tournament begins Tuesday, May 24 at Bright House Field in Clearwater, Florida.
ECU (34-19-1), who earned the No. 2 seed for the second-straight year, dropped the regular season series to USF (23-31) just two weeks ago in Greenville, N.C. The two teams have played just twice in postseason conference play with the Pirates winning both games in 2002 as members of Conference USA. ECU holds a 15-7 all-time lead in the series and have won just two of the last seven meetings dating back to 2005.
The 2016 tournament will be played in a double-elimination format through the semifinal round. The championship final is a winner-take-all matchup Sunday, May 29, which will determine The American's automatic entrant to the NCAA Championship.
Tuesday's tournament-opening doubleheader will be televised by CBS Sports Network. Games from Wednesday, May 25, through Saturday, May 28, will be on The American Digital Network. The May 29 final will be televised at 12 noon (ET) on ESPNews.
Tulane (37-17) claimed its first regular-season conference title since 2005, and its first American Athletic Conference crown in any sport, as the Green Wave defeated Houston 4-3 Saturday to finish at 15-7 in The American. Tulane finished percentage points ahead of second-place East Carolina, which finished 15-8-1 in conference play. The Green Wave will play its tournament opener Tuesday at 7 p.m. (ET) against No. 8-seeded UCF (25-31).
UConn (33-22) enters the tournament as the hottest team in The American as the Huskies closed the regular season with nine straight wins to claim the No. 3 seed. The Huskies will begin tournament play Wednesday against Memphis (19-37), the No. 6 seed, at 3 p.m. (ET).
The championship opener will feature Cincinnati (26-28-1), the No. 4 seed, against No. 5-seeded Houston (33-22) at 3 p.m. (ET) Tuesday. The Bearcats, who were picked eighth in The American's preseason coaches' poll, won five of their eight conference series to finish four places higher than their projection.
Tickets for the championship will be available at Bright House Field each day of the tournament or may be purchased in advance by calling the box office at 727-467-4457. The latest information on the American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship is available on the conference's Championship Central page.
2016 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
bright house field · clearwater, fla.
Tuesday, May 24 (CBS Sports Network)
Game 1 -- No. 4 Cincinnati (26-28-1) vs. No. 5 Houston (33-22) -- 3 p.m.
Game 2 -- No. 8 UCF (25-31) vs. No. 1 Tulane (37-17) -- 7 p.m.
Wednesday, May 25 (American Digital Network)
Game 3 -- No. 7 USF (23-31) vs. No. 2 East Carolina (34-19-1) -- 11 a.m.
Game 4 -- No. 6 Memphis (19-37) vs. No. 3 UConn (33-22) -- 3 p.m.
Game 5 -- Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 -- 7 p.m.
Thursday, May 26 (American Digital Network)
Game 6 -- Loser of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4 -- 11 a.m.
Game 7 -- Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 -- 3 p.m.
Game 8 -- Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4 -- 7 p.m.
Friday, May 27 (American Digital Network)
Game 9 -- Loser of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 5 -- 11 a.m.
Game 10 -- Loser of Game 8 vs. Winner of Game 6 -- 3 p.m.
Saturday, May 28 (American Digital Network)
Game 11 -- Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 9 -- 10 a.m.
Game 12 -- Winner of Game 8 vs. Winner of Game 10 -- 1 p.m.
Game 13 -- Loser of Game 11 vs. Winner of Game 11 (if necessary) -- 4:30 p.m.
Game 14 -- Loser of Game 12 vs. Winner of Game 12 (if necessary) -- 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 24 (ESPNews)
Game 15 -- Semifinal winners -- Noon
All times Eastern
