CLEARWATER, Florida – UCF advanced to the championship game of the 2021 American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship with a 2-1 win over East Carolina Saturday, May 29 at BayCare Ballpark.
UCF (31-29) will face the winner of South Florida and Tulane in the title game on Sunday, May 30 at noon ET/11 a.m. CT on ESPNews.
Andrew Freeland delivered the two runs for the Knights, hitting a solo home run in the second and an RBI single in the ninth inning that scored Pablo Ruiz.
The Pirates cut the lead to one when Alec Makarewicz drove home Lane Hoover on a single up the middle with one out, but UCF closer David Litchfield then induced a game-ending double play.
Hunter Patteson (3-2) pitched six shutout innings for the win with five strikeouts. He only allowed one Pirate baserunner to reach second base. Litchfield earned his eighth save with three innings and one run allowed to conclude the game. Jake Kuchmaner (2-4) took the loss, allowing a run in two innings.
East Carolina defeated UCF, 5-2, earlier in the day to force the second matchup.
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 5, Tulane 0
Friday, May 28 | ESPN+
Game 9: East Carolina 12, Memphis 0 (7 innings) (Memphis eliminated)
Game 10: Tulane 12, Wichita State 2 (7 innings) (Wichita State eliminated)
Saturday, May 29 | ESPN+
Game 11: East Carolina 5, UCF 2
Game 12: Tulane 16, South Florida 6 (8 innings)
Game 13: UCF 2, East Carolina 1 (East Carolina eliminated)
Game 14: South Florida vs. Tulane | 9:17 p.m.
Sunday, May 30 | ESPNews
Game 15: UCF vs. Game 14 Winner | Noon
