CLEARWATER, Florida – UCF hit a tournament-record seven home runs in a 17-1 seven inning victory over Memphis in the seventh game of the 2021 American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship Thursday, May 27 at BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, Fla.
With the win, the Knights (30-28) advance to the semifinals on Saturday, May 29 at 9 a.m. ET/8 a.m. CT against the winner of Memphis and East Carolina. The Tigers and Pirates play on Friday, May 28 at 1 p.m. ET/noon CT.
UCF’s seven home runs broke The American’s single-game tournament record. The previous record was four, which had been achieved three times and most recently by Memphis against East Carolina on Tuesday, May 25. UCF also broke the tournament record for home runs with nine, the previous record was seven, set by Cincinnati in 2019.
Josh Crouch hit two home runs and drove in three runs, while Jordan Rathbone hit a grand slam and Nick Romano had three hits and three runs driven in.
Jack Sinclair (5-5) earned the win for the Knights, tossing six innings with one run allowed and four strikeouts. Chris Durham (3-7) took the loss after allowing five earned runs in three innings.
Crouch opened the scoring, belting a 2-run home run to left to give UCF a 2-0 lead in the first. In the second, Alex Freeland and Romano hit back-to-back home runs to push the lead to 4-0.
Memphis picked up a run in the top of the third on an RBI groundout by Ian Bibiloni that scored Zach Wilson, but UCF responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI single by Andrew Brait that drove in Pablo Ruiz and a passed ball that scored Freeland.
In the bottom of the fifth, Crouch hit his second home run of the day before Tom Josten hit an inside the park home run. The Knights would go on to score four more, highlighted by a 2-run home run to center by Gephry Pena.
UCF capped the big day with five in the bottom of the sixth, as Rathbone hit his 16th home run of the season, a grand slam to left.
Championship Schedule
Tuesday, May 25 | ESPN+
Game 1: No. 5 UCF 14, No. 4 Cincinnati 10
Game 2: No. 8 Memphis 11, No. 1 East Carolina 1 (7 innings)
Game 3: No. 2 Tulane 4, No. 7 Houston 1
Game 4: No. 6 South Florida 7, No. 3 Wichita State 2
Wednesday, May 26 | ESPN+
Game 5: East Carolina 13, Cincinnati 9 (Cincinnati eliminated)
Game 6: Wichita State 5, Houston 3 (Houston eliminated)
Thursday, May 27 | ESPN+
Game 7: UCF 17, Memphis 1 (7 innings)
Game 8: South Florida vs. Tulane | 7:03 p.m.
Friday, May 28 | ESPN+
Game 9: Memphis vs. East Carolina | 1 p.m.
Game 10: Wichita State vs. Loser of Game 8 | 47 minutes following Game 9
Saturday, May 29 | ESPN+
Game 11: UCF vs. Winner of Game 9 | 9 a.m.
Game 12: Winner of Game 8 vs. Winner of Game 10 | 47 minutes following Game 11
Game 13 (if necessary): Loser of Game 11 vs. Winner of Game 11 | TBD
Game 14 (if necessary): Loser of Game 12 vs. Winner of Game 12 | TBD
Sunday, May 30 | ESPNews
Game 15: Semifinal winners | Noon
