USF Baseball Loses 16-6 Tulane in AAC Tournament Semifinals, Will Play Green Wave in Elimination Game Later Tonight

With a chance to make their first AAC Tournament final, the No. 6 seed South Florida Bulls lost 16-6 to the No. 2 seed Tulane Green Wave on Saturday afternoon at Bay Care Ballpark in Clearwater. The Bulls will face the Green Wave again later tonight in an elimination game for a spot in the AAC title game.

The Bulls took an early 2-0 lead after left fielder Jarrett Eaton singled home two runs in top of the second inning. Tulane answered back in the bottom of the third with a run of their own to make it 2-1 USF through three. The Bulls extended their lead to 5-1 in the 4th inning thanks to an RBI- groundout by Eaton, and a two-run home run by 3B Carmine Lane.

Unfortunately, the lead was short lived as the Green Wave loaded the bases against USF starting pitcher Dylan Burns, and Tulane’s Colin Burns hit a two-out grand slam to tie it at five. After another walk by Burns, Chase Engelhard hit a two-run homer off reliever Logan Lyle to give Tulane a 7-5 lead.

Burns pitched 3.2 innings, gave up six runs, walked five, and struck out five in 97 pitches. Tulane reliever Donovan Benoît shut the Bulls down after Green Wave starter Tyler Hoffman, and reliever Zach Devito surrendered five runs early.

USF or Tulane will face the winner of ECU and C. Florida in the AAC tournament championship game tomorrow at noon. The Pirates and Golden Knights will battle it out in an elimination game of their own later today.