Thursday, May 23
Clearwater, Fla.
1:00 p.m.
East Carolina University
41-14
4
vs
14
Wichita State
31-27
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2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Wichita State
1
0
0
0
0
7
4
0
2
14
14
1
East Carolina
2
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
4
9
3
ECU Falls To Wichita State At AAC Tournament
May 23, 2024 | Baseball
CLEARWATER, Fla. – No. 4 seed Wichita State plated 11 runs over the sixth and seventh innings to defeat No. 1 seed East Carolina 14-4 in a winner's bracket contest of the American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship Thursday afternoon at BayCare Ballpark.
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The Pirates (41-14) will face off with No. 8 seed Rice in an elimination game Friday at 1 p.m. The winner advances to the tournament semifinal on Saturday.
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Tommy LaPour (6-3) earned the win after throwing 6.2 innings and allowing three runs on seven hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Chris Kahler (1-1) took the loss, giving up three runs (two earned) on two hits in 1.1 frames of work.
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Josh Livingston drove in seven runs for the Shocker (31-27) offense while Lane Haworth posted three runs scored and three RBI. Ryley Johnson, Jacob Starling and Dixon Williams each registered a pair of base hits to go along with a two-RBI performance from Ryan McCrystal.
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Wichita State got its offense going in the top of the first as Haworth drew a leadoff walk and eventually scored on a Jaden Gustafson two-out RBI single. The Shockers loaded the bases via a Mauricio Millan hit by pitch, but Jacob Jenkins-Cowart made a spectacular grab in right field to terminate the inning and keep the deficit at one.
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East Carolina responded in the home half of the inning. Johnson ripped a leadoff single just inside the line past first base before McCrystal unloaded on the first pitch of his at bat and crushed it 399 feet over the wall in right field to put the Purple and Gold ahead 2-1.
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Williams added to the Pirate advantage in the bottom of the fourth, crushing a solo shot into the palm trees over the right field fence to make it 3-1. Wichita State surged into the lead in the top of the sixth, however, scoring seven runs with six of them occurring on a three-run double and three-run home run. Livingston then extended the Shocker upper hand to 12-3 in the top of the seventh with a grand slam.
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After Wichita State scored two more runs in the top of the ninth, Nathan Chrismon ripped a 2-1 pitch to the wall in center. The fielder was unable to corral the ball and Chrismon came all the way around to score on what was ruled an error to account for the final score.
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2024 American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship
Tuesday, May 21
Game 1: No. 4 Wichita State 8, No. 5 UAB 2
Game 2: No. 1 East Carolina 12, No. 8 Rice 4
Game 3: No. 7 Charlotte 9, No. 2 UTSA 5 (12 innings)
Game 4: No. 3 Tulane 14, No. 6 Florida Atlantic (7 innings)
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Wednesday, May 22
Game 5: Rice 9, UAB 0 (UAB Eliminated)
Game 6: Florida Atlantic 12, UTSA 5 (UTSA eliminated)
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Thursday, May 23
Game 7: Wichita State 14, East Carolina 4
Game 8: Charlotte vs. Tulane | 5:45 p.m. | ESPN+
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Friday, May 24
Game 9: Rice vs. East Carolina | 1 p.m. | ESPN+
Game 10: Loser of Game 8 vs. Florida Atlantic | 47 minutes after Game 9 | ESPN+
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Saturday, May 25
Game 11: Wichita State vs. Winner of Game 9 | 9 a.m. | ESPN+
Game 12: Winner of Game 8 vs. Winner of Game 10 | 47 minutes after Game 11 | ESPN+
Game 13: Wichita State vs. Winner of Game 11 (if necessary) | TBD | ESPN+
Game 14: Loser of Game 12 vs. Winner of Game 12 (if necessary) | TBD | ESPN+
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Sunday, May 26
Game 15: Semifinal Winners | Noon | ESPNEWS/ESPN+
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All times listed are Eastern.
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The Pirates (41-14) will face off with No. 8 seed Rice in an elimination game Friday at 1 p.m. The winner advances to the tournament semifinal on Saturday.
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Tommy LaPour (6-3) earned the win after throwing 6.2 innings and allowing three runs on seven hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Chris Kahler (1-1) took the loss, giving up three runs (two earned) on two hits in 1.1 frames of work.
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Josh Livingston drove in seven runs for the Shocker (31-27) offense while Lane Haworth posted three runs scored and three RBI. Ryley Johnson, Jacob Starling and Dixon Williams each registered a pair of base hits to go along with a two-RBI performance from Ryan McCrystal.
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Wichita State got its offense going in the top of the first as Haworth drew a leadoff walk and eventually scored on a Jaden Gustafson two-out RBI single. The Shockers loaded the bases via a Mauricio Millan hit by pitch, but Jacob Jenkins-Cowart made a spectacular grab in right field to terminate the inning and keep the deficit at one.
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East Carolina responded in the home half of the inning. Johnson ripped a leadoff single just inside the line past first base before McCrystal unloaded on the first pitch of his at bat and crushed it 399 feet over the wall in right field to put the Purple and Gold ahead 2-1.
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Williams added to the Pirate advantage in the bottom of the fourth, crushing a solo shot into the palm trees over the right field fence to make it 3-1. Wichita State surged into the lead in the top of the sixth, however, scoring seven runs with six of them occurring on a three-run double and three-run home run. Livingston then extended the Shocker upper hand to 12-3 in the top of the seventh with a grand slam.
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After Wichita State scored two more runs in the top of the ninth, Nathan Chrismon ripped a 2-1 pitch to the wall in center. The fielder was unable to corral the ball and Chrismon came all the way around to score on what was ruled an error to account for the final score.
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- East Carolina fell to Wichita State for the first time this season after sweeping the Shockers earlier this season in Greenville.
- The Pirates lost a neutral site contest for the first this campaign after knocking off then No. 15 North Carolina during the regular season and Rice to open the AAC Tournament Tuesday.
- The Shockers were 8-for-18 (.444) with two outs and racked up nine two-out RBI.
- The teams combined to leave 22 runners on base.
- With a win over Rice Friday, ECU will reach the tournament semifinals for the fourth-straight time.
2024 American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship
Tuesday, May 21
Game 1: No. 4 Wichita State 8, No. 5 UAB 2
Game 2: No. 1 East Carolina 12, No. 8 Rice 4
Game 3: No. 7 Charlotte 9, No. 2 UTSA 5 (12 innings)
Game 4: No. 3 Tulane 14, No. 6 Florida Atlantic (7 innings)
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Wednesday, May 22
Game 5: Rice 9, UAB 0 (UAB Eliminated)
Game 6: Florida Atlantic 12, UTSA 5 (UTSA eliminated)
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Thursday, May 23
Game 7: Wichita State 14, East Carolina 4
Game 8: Charlotte vs. Tulane | 5:45 p.m. | ESPN+
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Friday, May 24
Game 9: Rice vs. East Carolina | 1 p.m. | ESPN+
Game 10: Loser of Game 8 vs. Florida Atlantic | 47 minutes after Game 9 | ESPN+
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Saturday, May 25
Game 11: Wichita State vs. Winner of Game 9 | 9 a.m. | ESPN+
Game 12: Winner of Game 8 vs. Winner of Game 10 | 47 minutes after Game 11 | ESPN+
Game 13: Wichita State vs. Winner of Game 11 (if necessary) | TBD | ESPN+
Game 14: Loser of Game 12 vs. Winner of Game 12 (if necessary) | TBD | ESPN+
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Sunday, May 26
Game 15: Semifinal Winners | Noon | ESPNEWS/ESPN+
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All times listed are Eastern.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: LaPour, Tommy (6-3)
L: Kahler, Chris (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Haworth, Lane 1 ; Millan, Mauricio 1 ; Durnin, Kam 1
HR: Livingston, Josh 2
RBI: Haworth, Lane 3 ; Livingston, Josh 7 ; Gustafson, Jaden 1 ; Stroh, Seth 1 ; Durnin, Kam 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Haworth, Lane 3 ; Rogers, Jordan 2 ; Livingston, Josh 2 ; Gustafson, Jaden 1 ; Millan, Mauricio 1 ; Stroh, Seth 1 ; Johnson, Camden 2 ; Durnin, Kam 2
HBP: Rogers, Jordan 1 ; Millan, Mauricio 2 ; Johnson, Camden 1
Batting:
HR: McCrystal, Ryan 1 ; Williams, Dixon 1
RBI: McCrystal, Ryan 2 ; Williams, Dixon 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Johnson, Ryley 1 ; McCrystal, Ryan 1 ; Williams, Dixon 1 ; Chrismon, Nathan 1
SB: Johnson, Ryley 1
HBP: Johnson, Ryley 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
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OF
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RHP
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