Florida Atlantic Baseball will participate in their first AAC Championship on Tuesday night at 7:30 PM when taking the field against Tulane in game four of the day's action in Clearwater, Florida.
FAU arrives in Clearwater with a 12-15 record in AAC Championship play (26-27 overall) and will be seeded 6th.
The Owls lost two out of three against the Green Wave in April, losing the last two games despite leading for most of those outings. Tulane wound up winning the scoring battle 17-13 for the entire series.
Starting for FAU on Tuesday will be CJ Williams (5-4, 3.39 ERA), who earned Second Team honors from The American this past Monday. Williams (pictured below) pitched his first complete game for FAU against Tulane, striking out five and allowing no earned runs in a 5-0 shutout victory, the program's first complete game shutout since 2016.
Tulane will counter with Chandler Welch (6-3, 4.58 ERA), who allowed three runs over six innings in the team's win over FAU on April 20.
This game marks the first tournament meeting between Florida Atlantic and Tulane. It’s also the first year the two teams have played each other in baseball, adding a unique element to the matchup.
FAU's tournament path includes potential matchups against teams that defeated them in their season series. If both FAU and UTSA win or lose their respective games, they could face each other in the next round; UTSA won two out of three games against FAU in the last series of conference play.
A showdown with regular season champions East Carolina, who also beat FAU 2-1 in their series, is possible in the championship game. Avenging these series losses against teams who finished in the top two of the standings would serve as additional motivation for the Owls.
Key players for FAU include seniors Christian Adams and Jalen DeBose, and junior John Schroeder. Adams boasts a .333 batting average, a .456 on-base percentage, a .518 slugging percentage, 65 hits, 49 runs, 39 walks, and eight home runs. DeBose contributed to the Owls' offense with 41 hits and 28 RBIs, while Schroeder led the team with 46 RBIs and nine home runs.
Freshman infielder Emilio Gonzalez, junior outfielder Carter Brady, and senior outfielder Spencer Rich are other potential contributors. Gonzalez, an All-Freshman honoree, had the second-most RBIs on the team with 38. Brady added 30 RBIs and eight home runs, and Rich excelled in base stealing, successfully completing 17 out of 20 attempts.
FAU's bullpen will be crucial for a deep tournament run. Closer Danny Trehey leads with seven saves, a 1.91 ERA, and 64 strikeouts in 42.1 innings. Other key pitchers include Trey Beard, Tyler Murphy, Sam Drumheller, and Steven Andrews, who will play significant roles as starters or relievers to help contain opposing offenses.
This year's AAC Championship tournament features the top eight teams in regular-season league play. The format is two double-elimination brackets, with four teams each, and the winners of each bracket will meet in a single-elimination championship game. Tulane is the defending champion, and East Carolina enters this tournament as the top seed after winning the regular season title.
The tournament is set to begin at 9:00 AM EST on Tuesday with No. 5 seed UAB facing No. 4 seed Wichita State. The Blazers secured the fifth seed by winning four of their last six games. The Shockers, having won seven of their last eight games—including a seven-game winning streak—aim to continue their momentum after going 2-1 against UAB in their series matchup.
In the second game, No. 1 seed East Carolina will take on No. 8 seed Rice. The Pirates, winners of the AAC regular season title for the fifth straight year, dominated the Owls with a 29-11 scoring advantage in a three-game sweep to conclude conference play. Despite losing four of their last six AAC games, Rice clinched the final tournament spot after USF fell short by losing two out of three to UAB.
The 4:00 PM game features No. 3 seed UTSA against No. 7 seed Charlotte. The Roadrunners had a strong first season in the AAC with a 32-22 record (17-10 AAC) and won their April series against the 49ers 2-1. Meanwhile, Charlotte secured the second-to-last tournament spot, managing one win in their final series against Tulane.
The 2024 AAC Championship Game will be played on Sunday, May 26th at noon and will be nationally-televised by ESPNEWS, while all other games will be available on ESPN+.
Below is the currently available slate for the full five days of action in Houston.
Game Schedule - Eastern Standard Times
Tuesday, May 21
Game 1: No. 5 UAB 2 vs. No. 4 Wichita State 8
Game 2: No. 8 Rice 4 vs. No. 1 East Carolina 12
Game 3: No. 7 Charlotte 9 vs. No. 2 UTSA 5
Game 4: No. 6 Florida Atlantic 2 vs. No. 3 Tulane 14
Wednesday, May 22
Game 5: No. 5 UAB 0 vs. No. 8 Rice 9
Game 6: No. 2 UTSA 5 vs. No. 6 Florida Atlantic 12
Thursday, May 23
Game 7: No. 4 Wichita State 14 vs. No. 1 East Carolina 4
Game 8: No. 7 Charlotte 5 vs. No. 3 Tulane 7
Friday, May 24
Game 9: No. 1 East Carolina 8 vs. No. 8 Rice 7
Game 10: No. 7 Charlotte 8 vs. No. 6 Florida Atlantic 10
Saturday, May 25
Game 11: No. 4 Wichita State 4 vs. No. 1 East Carolina 5
Game 12: No. 3 Tulane 13 vs. No. 6 Florida Atlantic 1
Game 13: No. 4 Wichita State 12 vs. No. 1 East Carolina 2
Sunday, May 26
Game 14: No. 3 Tulane 11 vs. No. 4 Wichita State 10
Comments
UPDATED SCHEDULE
Both teams have made unfortuitous pen changes which have resulted in scores.
Top seed Pirates go home if they can't rally.
They've add a solo homer in the top of the 9th to lead 4-2.
Ensuing play sac fly.
4-3.
Runners on the corners, one out.
SMH
Owls will be playing at 9 PM in all likelihood now if they win.
They force a rematch with WSU.
Owls due up ~ 1:05 PM.
What: (6) Florida Atlantic vs. (3) Tulane
When: Sat, May 24th at 1:05 PM
Where: Clearwater, FL | BayCare Ballpark
Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats: Here
Projected Pitchers:
FAU - LHP Trey Beard (4-3, 4.82 ERA)
Tulane - LHP Billy Price (2-2, 3.00 ERA)
LF Jalen DeBose
3B Daulton Frank
RF John Schroeder
2B Christian Adams
1B Jake Millan
DH Patrick Ward
C Andrew McKenna
SS Brando Leroux
CF Spencer Rich
P Trey Beard
TIME TO GET REVENGE AGAINST TULANE!
Top 2nd: FAU 1, Tulane 5
Poor guy has been banged up, banged up some more, then banged up again.
That knee took a major flex on the catch attempt at the wall. And his facial expressions when being helped off were not good.
Top 3rd: FAU 1, Tulane 8
Top 6th: FAU 1, Tulane 10
UPDATED SCHEDULE
Wichita State 12, East Carolina 2 (8 innings)
No. 4 seed Wichita State advanced to the final of the 2024 American Baseball Championship with a 12-2 eight-inning victory Saturday evening, May 25, at Bay Care Ballpark in Clearwater, Fla.
With the win, Wichita State (32-28) plays Tulane in the final on Sunday, May 26 at noon Eastern on ESPNEWS and ESPN+. It will be the Shockers’ first appearance in the Championship final.
The Shockers struck for five runs in the third and four more in the fifth inning to break open the game. In the third, Wichita State drew a pair of bases loaded walks, scored a couple more on a Pirate error and Kam Durnin hit an RBI single. In the fifth, Camden Johnson drove home Mauricio Millan on a sacrifice fly and Lane Haworth hit a 3-run home run.
Wichita State added three more in the eighth innings on 2-out RBI hits by Durnin, Seth Stroh and Johnson.
Brady Hamilton (2-3) allowed two runs in five innings with six strikeouts for the Shockers.
Corey Costello (0-1) allowed five runs (two earned) in 2.2 innings of work for East Carolina (43-15). Jacob Jenkins-Cowart was 3-for-4 with two runs scored.
Tulane 11, Wichita State 10
Jackson Linn’s walk-off home run gave No. 3 seed Tulane an 11-10 victory over No. 4 Wichita State in the final of the 2024 American Baseball Championship. The Green Wave become the first team to win the American Baseball Championship in back-to-back years.
With the win, the Green Wave (35-24) earns The American’s automatic spot in the 2024 NCAA Baseball Tournament. NCAA Regional host sites will be announced Sunday night at 8:30 p.m. Eastern, while the field 64-team field, seedings and pairings will be announced on Monday, May 27 at noon Eastern on ESPN2.
The Shockers conclude the season at 32-29 after advancing to its first American Baseball Championship final.
The game was only the third contest in Championship history to have both teams score double-digit runs. It was also the first Championship final to be decided by a walk-off hit.
After Wichita State took a 7-3 lead with five runs in the top of the fifth, Tulane came back with three runs in the bottom of the fifth and took the lead with four in the sixth. The Shockers tied the game in the seventh on home runs by Josh Livingston and Seth Stroh before Linn stepped up with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.
Linn, the Championship’s Most Outstanding Player, hit two home runs in the final and finished the tournament with four home runs, tying the Championship record with Livingston, who had three entering the final, and Josh Crouch from UCF in 2021.
Brady Marget was 3-for-5 with four RBI while Gavin Schulz added three runs driven in.
Livingston finished with three RBI, while Lane Haworth was 3-for-5 with two RBI.
Luc Fladda (4-3) earned the win for Tulane with 1.2 scoreless innings of relief, while Hunter Holmes (1-4) took the loss for the Shockers, allowing the one hit in two innings.
Rocked us obviously…