The Tigerpen

Tag: American Athletic Conference

  • AAC Baseball Weekend Recap

    AAC Baseball Weekend Recap

    Memphis Baseball Faces Rice in Game Three at Reckling Park (Eli Parker / Memphis Athletics)

    By Aaliyah Brown and Chandler Black

    East Carolina University Pirates (23-7) (6-3 AAC)

    Following their road victory against NC State, No.9 ranked East Carolina traveled to Florida to face FAU in a three-game conference series. The Pirates secured a 4-1 victory in the first game of the series against the Owls. FAU halted East Carolina’s six-game winning streak by edging out a 6-5 win in the second game. In the final game of the series on Sunday, East Carolina University emerged victorious with an 8-6 win to secure the series victory. The 9th-ranked Pirates are scheduled to play a single-game match against Elon at home on Tuesday, followed by a two-game series against Old Dominion on Wednesday. They will transition into conference play, hosting a three-game weekend series against AAC opponent Charlotte at home.

    University of Memphis Tigers ( 17-17) (5-4 AAC)

    The Tigers have reached a .500 record for the season and are currently on a four-game winning streak following their victory over Ole Miss. The team defeated the Rebels with a score of 9-4 at FedEx Fogelman Field before heading to Houston for a three-game series against Rice in the conference. This road sweep against conference opponents marks Memphis’ first since 2012 when they were part of C-USA and defeated Houston. Notably, there were no home runs hit by either team during the series. The Tigers clinched a hard-fought 4-3 victory on Friday night in a 15-inning game.  Next, they will travel to Conway, Arkansas, to take on Central Arkansas in a one-game matchup before returning home for a three-game weekend series against UTSA, who are currently ranked No.1 in the AAC with a (7-2) record and (19-13) overall. 

    Florida Atlantic University Owls (18-11) (5-4 AAC) 

    After securing a three-game series win on the road against Memphis, the Owls returned home on Tuesday to face the University of Miami, emerging victorious with a 3-0 score. They took on the formidable No. 9-ranked ECU in a challenging series. Despite ECU claiming victory in games one and three, the Owls managed to defeat them 6-5 on Saturday, ending ECU’s six-game winning streak. This weekend, the Owls achieved a 2-2 record and will now hit the road once more to rematch against Miami in a single-game showdown on Tuesday night. As conference play kicks off, FAU will travel to Wichita, Kan., for a three-game series against Wichita State.

    University of North Carolina at Charlotte 49ers (14-18) (4-5 AAC) 

    The 49ers ended the week with a 1-3 record. They played against Campbell, who has a .710 record (22-9), and lost 13-9 at home. In a three-game conference series on the road against UTSA, the 49ers won game one 10-5 on Friday night but then lost the next two games 4-14 and 1-13, bringing their AAC record to 4-5. Next, the 49ers will face North Carolina A&T at home on Tuesday. Following that, they will head to Greenville, N.C., for a three-game series against ECU later in the week.

    University of South Florida Bulls (19-13) (6-3 AAC)

    After a three-game losing streak following a 9-19 defeat to Stetson on Tuesday night, the Bulls turned the tide and swept Wichita State in a three-game conference series at home. They emerged victorious in game one with a score of 7-3 and clinched game two with a close 8-7 win. The final game of the series extended into 10 innings, resulting in a tight 3-2 victory for the Bulls as they sealed the sweep. This week, the Bulls have a single home game against Bethune-Cookman before heading to New Orleans, La., for a three-game series against Tulane, who currently hold a 17-15 overall record and a 3-6 AAC record.

    Wichita State Shockers (19-13) (1-4 AAC)

    The Shockers had a chance to make some big moves this week. They had two great home opponents and a conference road series over the weekend. The started off the week by dropping a game to the University of Oklahoma by a score of 2-11. They did bounce back however by beating the Kansas Jayhawks 7-6 the very next night. They did not have a good weekend, however. They were swept by the South Florida Bulls. They went just 1-4 for the week.

    Rice Owls (9-23) (1-8 AAC)

    Rice has had a disappointing season, and this week was no different. They visited a familiar foe on Tuesday when they battled the Houston Cougars. The Owls lost this matchup by a score of 3-4. They then hosted the Memphis Tigers over the weekend at Reckling Park. This series saw Memphis defeat Rice three straight times including a marathon 15 inning loss on Saturday night. Rice went 0-4 for the week and fell to 9-23 for the season.

    Tulane Green Wave (17-15) (3-6 AAC)

    Tulane went 2-2 this week. They did however manage to score a whooping 41 runs this week. They kicked off this week’s campaign by defeating Texas Southern 19-1 in just seven innings. They then traveled to Tulane where they lost a weekend series two games to one. The Green Wave now sit at 17-15.

    UAB Blazers (14-17) (3-6 AAC)

    UAB split their four games this week. On Wednesday, they traveled to face an in-state rival, the Auburn Tigers. The Blazers dropped this game by a margin of 10-4. They then hosted the Tulane Green Wave over the weekend. They won this series two games to one. Their loss came on Saturday where they did manage to cross the plate 13 times. They move to 14-17 for the season.

    UTSA Roadrunners (19-13) (7-2 AAC)

    The Roadrunners had a good week. They started off by traveling to an inner-city rival, the UIW Cardinals. They picked up a road win 7-4. UTSA then hosted the Charlotte 49ers. They won this series 2 games to win, tallying a total of 22 runs over the three games. They took care of Charlotte in just seven innings on Saturday and at Sunday’s rubber match. UTSA now finds themselves at 19-13 for the year.

  • The Second and Fourth Seed Gone, a Conference Champion added – All you need to know about the new-look AAC

    The Second and Fourth Seed Gone, a Conference Champion added – All you need to know about the new-look AAC

    The new season does not only bring a new head coach in Matt Riser and new players for the Memphis Tigers. The 2024 season features a completely overhauled American Athletic Conference. Three teams have left the conference and a whopping five new teams have joined. What does that mean for the new season for the Memphis Tigers?

    Which teams left the AAC?

    In total, three teams have left the AAC for the new season: Central Florida, Houston and Cincinnati. All of them found their new home in the Big 12 conference.

    The Houston Cougars had the most success of those three teams, as they finished the last season second in the conference. They won 17 conference games, only one less than the conference champions, East Carolina. In the AAC tournament they went on to eliminate the Memphis Tigers and fell short to the later conference champion, Tulane.

    The University of Central Florida finished the regular season as the four seed with a balanced 12-12 record.  After that, the Knights went on to beat Cincinnati in the first round of the AAC tournament, but would ultimately lose to their in-state rivals from South Florida.

    The Cincinnati Bearcats finished the season as the worst of the three leavers. A 10-14 conference record meant the same number of wins as the Memphis Tigers, earning them the fifth seed. Their tournament ended with a first round loss to UCF.

    All of the three leaving teams finished the 2023 season as a higher seed than the Tigers. Houston even ended their AAC tournament hopes, as they beat them in a close 6-5 contest in the second round.

    Where are the new teams in the AAC from? A map of the five teams and their location.

    Which new teams have joined the AAC?

    Austin Baskin, going into his fourth year with the Tigers, commented before the season about the the changes: “They are bringing in a lot of new teams into the conference this year, but, I think, we have got a really good chance to be competitive this year.”

    A lot of new teams indeed, as five new teams feature in the new AAC season. All of them are coming from the same conference—Conference USA. Namely, the UAB Blazers from Alabama, the Owls from Florida Atlantic University, the Charlotte 49ers, the Rice University Owls and the UTSA Roadrunners from San Antonio in Texas.

    Charlotte was last year’s Conference USA champion, and they will be a featured team in the new AAC season. The 49ers beat Dallas Baptist in the C-USA tournament final to secure their spot in the NCAA tournament.

    However, they lost their regional against the University of Tennessee, eliminating them in the first round. Still, the Charlotte 49ers will be poised to repeat their success in the new conference.

    Not as successful in the tournament, but better than the 49ers in the regular season last year, were the Roadrunners from San Antonio. UTSA finished the season with a 38-19 record, second only to the conference-winning Dallas Baptist. Their season, however, came to an abrupt end as Charlotte blew them out 11-2 in the first round of the C-USA tournament.

    Florida Atlantic finished the season with a positive record of 34-24, good enough for the five seed in the conference. They then went on to beat Rice in the first round, but fell short in the second round to Western Kentucky.

    Last, but not least, there are the two teams from Rice University and the University of Alabama, Birmingham. Both had an underwhelming season, finishing as the eighth seed in the case of Rice and tenth and dead last in the case of UAB. Rice went on to exit in the first round of the C-USA tournament, and UAB did not even make a tournament appearance. Both teams will be poised to improve their performance in this season.

    Memphis Tigers’ Brennan DuBose said in his press conference before the season that he is looking forward to the new challenges: “The road games are great experiences – getting to see some of the coolest places in college baseball playing at the highest level. We want to play the top teams and we have the ability to compete with everybody”.

    What can we expect from the new teams?

    With the first games of the new season already in the books, some early trends for the new teams are showing. Florida Atlantic (6-5) and Charlotte (7-6) are keeping their record positive after the first few games.

    UTSA’s record hangs in the balance with 6-6 and the two bottom teams from last season are off to bad start once again as they sit at the bottom of the conference: UAB with 5-6 and the Rice Owls with 4-8.

    In the coaches poll before the season three of the five new teams were picked to be in the top four of the conference this season. With East Carolina picked to getting their fifth straight regular season title, Charlotte, UTSA and Florida Atlantic were selected as the second, third and fourth seed. Not surprisingly, Rice was picked for the eighth seed, and UAB was once again projected to finish last.

    Memphis head coach Matt Riser predicts a rise in the quality of the AAC this season.

    “FAU has been in the regional for six of the last nine years, UTSA was in the top 25 for a few weeks last season and Charlotte was in a regional final last year,” he said. “It is a three or a four-bid league when it is all said and done.”

    When do the Tigers play their new opponents?

    The first series against a new conference opponent for the Memphis Tigers will not be played until the end of March. Beginning on March, 28th the Tigers will host Florida Atlantic University in their first conference matchup in a three-game-series. One week after that, coach Riser’s team will travel to Houston to face the Rice Owls for another three games starting April 5. The next two weekends will also feature new opponents for the Tigers as they host UTSA starting April 12 and travel to Charlotte for the start of the series on April 19.

    The projected worst team of the five will also be the last new team Memphis faces: The Tigers will travel to Birmingham, Alabama on May, 10th to start their three-game-series against UAB.

    The team, however, does not seem to be phased by the new opponents: Junior Aaron Smigelski said that they are not thinking ahead right now: “For us it is just taking each game at a time. We always try to get the job done in the next game.”

    The new AAC season promises to be an interesting one for the Memphis Tigers, with three teams that all finished above them leaving. However, from the five teams joining, three are projected to finish above the Tigers in the new season. The end of March and the month of April will show how well coach Riser’s team will stack up against their new opponents.