RUSTON, La. – Conference USA, with four teams ranked in the top 25 poll among the eight-team field, completed Day 2 of the 2021 Air Force Reserve C-USA Baseball Championship at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park on the campus of Louisiana Tech.

The league's eight teams are playing for C-USA's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship in a five-day, double-elimination tournament that will culminate Sunday with the championship game at 1 p.m. CT on CBS Sports Network.

Thursday's Day 2 action included four games - two in the winner's bracket and two elimination games. All contests leading up to the championship game on May 30 will be be broadcast on ESPN+.

Coverage of the C-USA Championship, including live stats and video links are available on the Baseball Championship Central page.

Game 8: (3) Southern Miss 4, (2) Louisiana Tech 1 (Box Score)

No. 3 seed Southern Miss rode the arms of three pitchers in pulling out a 4-1 victory over No. 2 seed Louisiana Tech in the fourth and final game of the second day of the 2021 Air Force Reserve Conference USA Baseball Championship at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park.
 
USM (37-17) advances to Saturday’s winner’s bracket game at 12:30 p.m. CT against the winner of the WKU-Louisiana Tech elimination game Friday at 6:30 p.m. CT.
 
First on the mound for the Golden Eagles was Conference USA Pitcher of the Year Wayne Powell (7-0) who went 4.1 innings. The right-hander worked around four hits and four walks to allow just one run.
 
Ryan Och pitched four innings of relief, striking out seven in the process. Two big strikeouts came immediately after he entered the game as the Bulldogs had the bases loaded and one out in the fifth.
 
Hurston Waldrep took the mound to get the final two outs for his second save of the season. With LA Tech threatening for a rally in the ninth after back-to-back singles, he needed just eight pitches to get a strikeout and a groundout to second to seal the victory.
 
While the USM pitchers were keeping the home Bulldogs off the scoreboard, they were slowly tacking on runs. They first struck in the third with Reed Trimble delivering an RBI single.
 
USM got another RBI single in the fourth from Will McGillis. Two more RBI singles came in the seventh and eighth inning from Charlie Fischer and McGillis, respectively.
 
The only run LA Tech could muster was in the fifth when Hunter Wells drove in Alex Ray on a single through the right side.
 
Jonathan Fincher (7-2) took the loss for the Bulldogs, throwing 102 pitches through seven innings of work and surrendering 11 hits to the Golden Eagles.

Game 7: (6) WKU 10, (7) UTSA 9 - 10 innings (Box Score)

No. 6 seed WKU withstood a furious rally by No. 7 seed UTSA to win 10-9 in 10 innings and stay alive in the 2021 Air Force Reserve Conference USA Baseball Championship at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park.
 
With the victory, the Hilltoppers (27-28) advance to another elimination game Friday at 6:30 p.m. CT against Louisiana Tech, while the Roadrunners (22-26) were the second team eliminated from the C-USA tournament.
 
WKU had a commanding 8-4 lead going into the seventh inning. For a second straight game, UTSA stormed back and took the lead after scoring five times with two out in the top of the inning.
 
WKU tied the game 9-9 in the bottom of the eighth when Ty Crittenberger successfully executed a safety squeeze to score Jackson Gray from third with the bases loaded and one out.
 
In the top of the 10th, the Roadrunners threatened to take the lead with runners at first and second with one out. WKU reliever Mason Vinyard coaxed a double-play grounder to get out of the jam.
 
In the bottom half, Justin Carlin got on base after being hit by a pitch. Carling moved to second on a groundout, and a pair of back-to-back walks by Roadrunners relief pitcher Daniel Garza (1-2) loaded the bases. Crittenberger sent a fly ball into center field. Dylan Rock made the catch and threw to the plate, but Garza, who had tagged up, dashed home and barely beat the throw and the tag. Replay did not overturn the call of safe on the field, and WKU celebrated the victory.
 
WKU got to UTSA starting pitcher Luke Malone early as Gray hit a three-run homer in the first, and Matt Phipps hit a solo homer to left center in the second.  Gray finished with three hits, three RBI, three runs and two walks.
 
The Roadrunners got four of their runs from the bat of Leyton Barry, including a bases-clearing double that was part of the five-run seventh inning.
 
Vinyard (6-3), who held UTSA scoreless over his 3.1-inning stint and struck out five, was the winning pitcher.

Game 6: (4) Old Dominion 10, (8) Middle Tennessee 6 (Box Score)

For a second straight day, No. 4 seed Old Dominion used a big seven-run inning to propel itself to victory, defeating upset-minded No. 8 seed Middle Tennessee 10-6 in a winner’s bracket game of the 2021 Air Force Reserve Conference USA Baseball Championship on Thursday J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park.
 
ODU (40-14) advances to Saturday’s winner’s bracket game Saturday at 9 a.m. CT against the winner of the Middle Tennessee-Florida Atlantic elimination game Friday at 3 p.m. CT.
 
With the game knotted up at 1-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth, ODU’s (40-14) bats came alive, getting three straight RBI singles before Tommy Bell drilled a grand slam homer over the left field wall to cap off the seven-run inning.
 
The Monarchs got another homer in the sixth, a two-run shot from Brock Gagliardi and were on the verge of the 10-run rule with a 10-1. Advantage.
 
Middle Tennessee (24-28-1) made a late run to get back into the contest. The Blue Raiders plated two runs in the top of the eighth on back-to-back RBI doubles by Bryce Symlar and Luke Vinson. 
 
MTSU took advantage of a walk and two hit batters to score three more runs in the ninth before ODU’s Noah Dean came on to get the final out for the Monarchs.
 
Prior to the five runs allowed by the bullpen, Hunter Gregory (8-2) went seven strong innings on the mound for ODU, striking out six while allowing just three hits and one run.
 
Peyton Wigginton (3-5) took the loss for Middle Tennessee. He allowed three runs on seven hits in four innings of work. 
 
The Monarchs have now racked up 30 hits in their two games in the tournament.

Game 5: (5) Florida Atlantic 9, (1) Charlotte 8 (Box Score)

After falling behind 1-0 in the bottom of the first, No. 5 seed Florida Atlantic’s offense roared to life with six runs in the top of the second inning, and the Owls held on late to upset top-seeded Charlotte 9-8 to avoid elimination in the 2021 Air Force Reserve Conference USA Baseball Championship at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park on Thursday morning.
 
With the victory, FAU (31-24) advances to another elimination game Friday at 3 p.m. CT against Middle Tennessee. Charlotte (39-19) became the third C-USA No. 1 seed to be eliminated without a victory in league tournament history.
 
Florida Atlantic outfielder Jackson Wenstrom blasted a towering grand slam over the scoreboard in right field to turn a 1-1 tie into a 5-1 Owls’ advantage in the second inning. FAU never trailed following Wenstrom’s sixth homer of the season. The Owls punctuated the six-run frame behind Steven Loden’s RBI groundout.
 
With a 6-1 lead, Florida Atlantic starting pitcher Javi Rivera (7-0) found his rhythm on the mound, limiting the 49ers to three runs over eight innings. Rivera tallied nine strikeouts while allowing just two walks to keep the Owls alive.
 
Rivera outdueled Charlotte ace Bryce McGowan, a first-team All-Conference USA selection. The Owls chased McGowan (7-4) after the 49ers’ ace allowed six earned runs over 1.1 innings.
 
An RBI double from Carson Johnson trimmed Charlotte’s deficit to 6-2 after the second, but the Owls responded with three runs in the fourth to stretch their lead to 9-2. Florida Atlantic plated only one of its runs in the fourth with a base hit, scoring its first two runs via a throwing error and a balk. Bobby Morgensen delivered an RBI single to center field to register FAU’s ninth and final run.
 
The 49ers, however, would not go quietly after scoring the final six runs of the ballgame. Conference USA All-Freshman honoree LuJames Groover III launched his fourth home run of the season in the bottom of the sixth to trim FAU’s lead to 9-3.
 
Five runs behind five Charlotte hits in the bottom of the ninth then put the game-tying run at second base with two outs. Florida Atlantic closer Dante Visconti nailed down the final two outs to pick up his fourth save of the season. Visconti induced a groundout to third baseman B.J. Murray to strand Charlotte’s Will Butcher in scoring position.