Championship Central

The First, A National Banking Association, 2017 Conference USA Championship begins Wednesday with four games on the schedule.  All of today's games are on ESPN3 and live stats through StatBroadcast are available on the C-USA Baseball Championship Central page..
 
RICE 5, FLORIDA ATLANTIC 3
Despite starting from an unfamiliar position in the Conference USA postseason baseball bracket, Rice University played Wednesday morning pretty much as it had in past years.

Freshman right-hander Matt Canterino allowed four hits and struck out a career-high 11 batters in a personal-best 7 2/3 innings and as Rice topped Florida Atlantic, 5-3 in the opener of The First, A National Banking Association, Conference USA Championship at MGM Park.

“Their pitcher threw great,” FAU coach John McCormack said “He was way better than when we faced him at the end of March, beginning of April. He was fantastic.

“His fastball was 88 (miles per hour) to 91 (mph), sometimes 92, and his 12-6 (o’clock) breaking ball, which Rice is known for, was really good. This time around, his changeup to left-handers was really good.”

Sixth-seeded Rice (28-29) will face at 4 p.m. Thursday the winner of Wednesday’s second game between second-seeded Old Dominion and seventh-seeded FIU.

Third seeded FAU (33-20-1) fell into elimination play, and will face the ODU-FIU loser at 9 a.m. Thursday.
Catcher Dominic DiCaprio, who hit a double and 14th home run of the season, drove in three runs as Rice collected 10 hits, half for extra bases.

“DiCaprio’s just a good hitter,” Rice coach Wayne Graham said. “He can make adjustments. He went one-way for the double, the other way for the home run. Pretty good hitter.”

FAU managed just five hits against Canterino (5-4) and reliever Glenn Otto, who picked up his eighth save after working the final 1 1/3 innings.

But three went for solo home runs, with first baseman Esteban Puerta hitting his 10th in the second inning, shortstop Tyler Frank his 11th in the sixth inning and second baseman Stephen Kerr his fourth in the eighth inning.

But it was not enough to overcome an early Rice lead that was bolstered by single runs in the seventh and eighth innings.

Rice went up 2-0 in the first inning, when Ford Proctor scored in DiCaprio’s groundball and second baseman Tristan Gray launched his fifth homer of the season against FAU starter Kyle Marman (2-1).

After FAU got a run back in the second, DiCaprio followed with a solo shot to left field.

FAU pulled within a run again in the sixth, but Rice answered with a run in seventh on DiCaprio’s two-out double and another in the eighth on Charlie Warren’s two-out single.

Kerr’s home run barely cleared the wall in the left as Canterino tried to close out the eighth. Otto came in and gave up a single, but then struck out David Miranda to end the inning.

FAU made it interesting in the ninth, putting two men on with two outs before Otto got a flyout for the final out.

“It was a big game for us,” Canterino said. “We want to keep playing beyond this tournament, so we know have to win that first one. We were fortunate to play well enough to get a win against a good club.”
 
 
OLD DOMINION 3, FIU 2
After watching a two-run home run and his team’s lead sail over the fence in left field Wednesday afternoon at MGM Park, Old Dominion coach Chris Finwood gathered the Monarchs together for a quick pep talk.

“I told them, ‘Well, we’ve got that right where we want them,’” Finwood said shortly after watching his team rally for a 3-2 victory over FIU in the opening round of The First, A National Banking Association, Conference USA Championship.

“We’ve just had so many of those like that, it doesn’t surprise me. This team is kind of built that way. They just don’t ever quit.”

Second-seeded Old Dominion (37-19) will face sixth-seeded Rice (28-29) at 4 p.m. Thursday.

Third seeded FAU (33-20-1) will face seventh-seeded FIU (31-26) in an elimination game at 9 a.m. Thursday.

“It’s really cruel coming all the way up here to Mississippi to play a team that we could have played back at home 45 minutes away,” FIU coach Mervyl Melendez said. “But our backs are against the wall, and we’re just hoping that our players are going to come with more intensity and more desire (Thursday) and give a better performance.”

Shortstop Zach Rutherford drove in the game-tying run on a full-count single, and Kurt Sinnen’s bases-loaded walk forced in the game-winner as the Monarchs bounced back for two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning.

The rally took back the momentum seized by FIU just a half inning before when freshman right fielder Javier Valdes cracked a two-run homer to give the Panthers its first lead of the game.

But ODU center fielder Kyle Battle led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a double off FIU reliever Dominic LoBrutto (1-5), then reached third safely on a sacrifice chopper back to the mound.
 
A fielder’s choice left runners at first and third before Rutherford lined his second hit of the game to right field. After an intentional walk to left fielder Culver Lamb loaded the bases, Kurt Sinnen was walked unintentionally to force in second baseman Jared Young.

Both teams got top-shelf performances from their starting pitchers.
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ODU’s Sam Sinnen scattered nine hits over 7 1/3 innings, walking three while striking out six. He had nursed a 1-0 lead through the eighth inning, when he walked first baseman JC Escarra with one out before leaving a 1-2 fastball up in the strike zone that Valdes punished for his fourth home run of the season.

FIU starter Tyler Myrick allowed just one run on six hits in 6 2/3 innings. He walked one and struck out seven.

“Hats off to our two freshmen (Myrick and Valdes),” Melendez said. “Both of those guys really stepped up and gave us the lift we wanted.”

Battle and Lamb each had two hits for ODU, while Valdes, catcher Zack Soria and third baseman Zach Files each had a pair of hits for the Panthers.

UTSA 9, SOUTHERN MISS 2
The 11th-ranked Southern Miss baseball team came into Wednesday evening riding a 14-game winning streak and sporting the top seed in The First, A National Banking Association, Conference USA Championship at MGM Park.

About three hours later, the Golden Eagles had their fans shaking their collective heads after a team they had outscored 39-13 over a three-game stretch just five days before handed them their first loss in more than month.

UTSA tied a C-USA tourney record with seven doubles, including a record-tying three by shortstop C.J. Pickering, as the eighth-seeded Roadrunners pounded Southern Miss, 9-2 in the opening round of the tournament.

UTSA (29-26) became just the fifth, eighth seed to win an opening round game in the C-USA postseason, though the event has occurred twice in the past three years.

Southern Miss coach Scott Berry said the Golden Eagles (44-13) will have little time to ponder the stunning turn of events if they expect to keep playing this week on the Gulf Coast.
“It’s baseball,” Berry said. “You’re going to have one of these games. You just hope it’s not going to happen at the wrong time.”

Southern Miss will play at 12:30 p.m. Thursday against the loser of Wednesday’s fourth and final game between fourth-seeded Charlotte and fifth-seeded Louisiana Tech.
UTSA will face the Charlotte-LA Tech winner at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

The Roadrunners (29-26) savaged Southern Miss’ All-Conference pitcher Colt Smith (6-1) and reliever Trent Driver over the first four innings, when UTSA scored eight of its nine runs.
 
Smith was beat up for four runs (three earned) on seven hits in just 2 2/3 innings. Driver fared even worse, allowing four runs on three hits in an inning.

“He didn’t make the pitches like he needed to,” Berry said of Smith, who turned in his first clunker since assuming starting duties. “We rode that horse for a while. He gets a mulligan on that one. He competed.

“But hats off to UTSA. If (Smith) made a mistake, they hit it.”

UTSA scored eight of its nine runs over that stretch in support of UTSA starting left-hander Steven Dressler (4-4), who limited the Golden Eagles to two runs on eight hits over 7 2/3 innings.

Dressler walked five and struck out four, as Southern Miss hit into a pair of double plays to stifle potential rallies, including a two-on, no-out start to the Golden Eagles’ fifth inning that was ensnared in an unassisted force at third base before throwing to first to get the second out.

“You just crack that door an inch, and a lot of times, they’ll run right through it, and make you pay for it,” UTSA coach Jason Marshall said. “Luckily, (Wednesday), we got a couple double plays in there to kill some rallies.

“That five-unassisted over to first base that was a huge, huge play in the game.”

UTSA center fielder Kevin Markham doubled to right-center field on the first pitch of the game, and the Roadrunners never looked back.

Right fielder Jesse Baker drove in three runs with a solo home run (15th), a double and sacrifice fly. Markham and Pickering each finished with three hits, while Pickering and left fielder Trent Bowles each drove in two runs for the Roadrunners.

All-Conference utility player Taylor Braley launched his 15th home run of the season in the third inning for the Golden Eagles, a smash to left-center field that cleared the outfield netting and two-hopped a pharmacy across the street.

Freshman of the Year Matt Wallner, shortstop LeeMarcus Boyd and catcher Cole Donaldson combined for six of the Golden Eagles’ eight hits with two hits apiece.
 
CHARLOTTE 7, LOUISIANA TECH 2
BILOXI, Miss. - As far as Charlotte was concerned, freshman right-hander Matt Brooks picked just a fine time during The First, A National Banking Association, Conference USA Championship, to turn in the baseball game of his career.

Brooks allowed a run on six hits over eight innings, shutting down a potent Louisiana Tech offense in the process to allow the fourth-seeded 49ers to pick up their first postseason victory since returning to Conference USA four years ago with a 7-2 win over the fifth-seeded Bulldogs.
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“Brooks was good and we were really aggressive early in the game, offensively, and that was good to see,” Charlotte coach Loren Hibbs said. “We beat a really good pitcher (Wednesday night), and we beat a really good team (Wednesday night). Just really proud of the effort.”

Charlotte (33-22) will face eighth-seeded UTSA (29-26) at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in a second-round, winner’s bracket game. Louisiana Tech (36-19) will take on top-seeded University of Southern Mississippi (44-13) at 12:30 p.m. in an elimination game.

UTSA surprised Southern Miss 9-2 earlier Wednesday night.

Charlotte second baseman Brian Netzer banged out three hits, drove in three runs and scored three times to pace an attack that got to Conference USA Pitcher of the Year Nate Harris for seven runs on 10 hits over six innings.

“He’d tell you, but Nate Harris hasn’t been sharp in the past month, and it caught up with him (Wednesday night),” Tech coach Lane Burroughs said. “He’s tired, his arm’s tired, but he gave it all he had and that’s why he’s pitcher of the year.”

Right fielder T.J. Nichting and third baseman Jackson Mims each had run-scoring singles in a 3-0 first innings for the 49ers.

Netzer tripled and scored on Nichting’s sacrifice fly to make it 4-0, Charlotte, in the third inning, before blowing the game open on Netzer’s three-run home run in the fifth inning.
Louisiana Tech broke through against Brooks when center fielder Sean Ullrich hit his second homer of the season.

The Bulldogs added another run in the ninth on left fielder Raphael Gladu’s grounder.