The Houston Cougars enter the AAC tournament at 33-22 and 11-12 in conference play. | Ajani Stewart/The Cougar
With a grueling four-month regular season schedule ending, the American Athletic Conference baseball teams are focusing on their next, and most important, games in Clearwater, Florida from Tuesday until Sunday.
The winner of the tournament locks up a spot in an NCAA regional tournament, but large bids are still on the table for multiple teams. Here’s what you can expect from the top five seeded teams:
No. 5 — Houston Cougars
The Cougars’ season could be summed up as inconsistent. Todd Whitting’s club started the season 16-6, but went 17-16 the rest of the way. Entering the tournament at 33-22, UH needs to find their missing stability.
Houston enters the tournament hitting .271 as a team with 72 doubles and 32 home runs. Although those are middle-of-the-pack batting statistics, the Cougars heavily rely on their pitching to win games.
UH’s pitching is second in the nation with team ERA at 2.48, and tied for first in WHIP at 1.03. Cougars’ pitchers also find themselves ranked second in the NCAA in strikeout-to-walk ratio at an impressive 4.08.
Houston is led offensively by freshman first baseman Joe Davis, whom they will need to perform well in order to make noise in the tournament. In Davis’ first season, he led all Cougar hitters with 11 home runs and 51 RBI.
No. 4 — Cincinnati Bearcats
After starting the year with 1-11, everybody was ready to write off the Bearcats. Cincinnati then strung together 10 wins in a row. The team didn’t look back and finished their season with a 26-28 record.
The Bearcats are a statistically subpar offensive team, but they more than compensate for their lack of hitting with dominant pitching.
Cincinnati boasts three starting pitchers with a sub-3.00 ERA, which could give them a keen advantage during post-season play. The Bearcats’ Achilles’ heel is in walks surrendered. Their pitchers have allowed 186 batters a free pass this season.
Offensively, Cincinnati has a balanced attack with four players batting in the .250 to .300 range. Connor McVey has been solid all season with a team leading 60 hits and 14 doubles — numbers that he will need to continue for the Bearcats to advance in the tournament.
No. 3 — Connecticut Huskies
The Huskies find themselves as a top team in the AAC tournament after going 14-9 in AAC play. Not highly regarded entering the season, the Huskies struggled to string together wins consistently. That changed when UConn won their final nine games of the season to lock up the three seed in the AAC tournament.
Connecticut is not known for their baseball program, but could be a definite sleeper team in the tournament. The Huskies have one of the most balanced attacks in the nation by having success with both pitching and hitting.
On the pitching front, UConn has 12 different pitchers who have recorded at least one win this season. The pitchers are led by Anthony Kay, who accumulated a 7-2 record with just a 2.47 ERA. Huskies’ pitchers have fooled hitters all year long, accumulating 498 strikeouts as a team.
Senior utility man Joe DeRoche-Duffin is a proven power threat to any team as he led the conference with 17 home runs. As a team, the Huskies got 44 home runs and 95 doubles.
No. 2 — East Carolina University Pirates
ECU is a perennial post-season lock and 2016 has been no different for the Pirates. Enjoying consistent play all year, the Pirates rounded out their season with a 33-19-1 overall record that saw them at 15-8-1 in AAC conference play.
The Pirates are an offensive powerhouse with seven players who have at least 40 hits. Pacing the Pirate hitters is freshman outfielder Dwayna Williams-Sutton, who hit .372 with a .463 on base percentage.
As a team, the Pirates have a 3.36 ERA and are allowing opponents to hit .249 off of their pitchers.
East Carolina’s pitching numbers do not jump off the page, but they have multiple dependable arms on the staff. Leading the charge is Evan Kruczynski, who managed a 6-1 record with a minimal 1.95 ERA.
No. 1 — Tulane Green Wave
The Green Wave of Tulane University are the team to beat in the 2016 AAC tournament. Showing no real struggle in the regular season, Tulane rounded out with a 37-17 record and escaped conference play at a league’s best 15-7.
Tulane’s batting order is full of hitters who hit for high average and power. Tulane has collectively hit 58 home runs and 92 doubles while accumulating a .270 batting average.
Tulane pitching is led by Ross Massey, who led the team with a 9-2 record and is three wins shy of the NCAA lead. Massey is not a strikeout pitcher, but finds success by having great control as shown through his 16 walks surrendered in 2016.
Any team will find it tough to beat Tulane, as they have not lost more than three games in a row all season. The Green Wave enter the tournament on a hot streak by winning 10 of their last 13 games.
