The 2017 Conference USA Baseball Tournament is heating up with several teams on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament.
As of right now Southern Miss is the only lock for the NCAA Tournament. La Tech, FAU, Charlotte, Rice and Old Dominion are all trying to earn an at-large bid.
Here is a quick recap of each game and how they affect the NCAA Tournament picture.
FAU – 8 FIU – 4
The two Florida teams went head-to-head on Thursday in an elimination game. The Owls are on the far side of the bubble, but improve to 34-20-1 with the win. Jared Shouppe went 1-3 with a home run and 3 RBI. Austin Langham and Esteban Puerta each had two hits for the Owls. Alex House was brilliant in relief for FAU giving up 1 run on 3 hits and 2 walks over 7 innings with 8 strikeouts. The Owls have a lot of work left to do in the CUSA Baseball Tournament to earn an at-large bid.
Southern Miss – 5 La Tech – 2
La Tech was in the NCAA Tournament before this week, but after going 0-2 in the CUSA Baseball Tournament they could be out. Unfortunately for them they had to play a Southern Miss team that lost on day one of the tournament as well. Matthew Guidry had a big day at the plate for the Golden Eagles finishing 2-4 with a home run, 2 runs scored and 3 RBI. Kirk McCarty battled through 7 innings for Southern Miss giving up 2 runs on 9 hits with 6 strikeouts. The Golden Eagles stay alive and try to boost their resume as a regional host and national seed on Friday.
Old Dominion – 3 Rice – 4
What a great game between two really good teams. I’ve been telling people for a while that Rice is playing some of the best baseball in the country right now. They continued their hot play with a close win over ODU on Thursday. Darryn Sheppard had a pair of RBI for the Owls. Glenn Otto tossed 3.1 scoreless innings out of the bullpen for Rice to hold onto the 4-3 lead. Jared Young was 3-5 with a run scored for ODU. I think the Monarchs are still a tournament team, but a win on Friday would make them feel much better. In my opinion, Rice is a tournament team right now, but people are still saying they need to win the CUSA Baseball Tournament to get in and keep their postseason streak alive. They are sitting pretty right now.
UTSA – 0 Charlotte – 5
The 49ers continue to build their NCAA Tournament resume with their second straight win in the CUSA Baseball Tournament. With La Tech now on the outside looking in, I think Charlotte could replace them in the NCAA Tournament. Colton Laws set a CUSA Tournament record with 14 strikeouts as the sophomore threw a complete game shutout. Another win for Charlotte seals their NCAA Tournament berth in my opinion.
