Cincinnati Baseball: Previewing the AAC Tournament matchup against Tulane

The Cincinnati baseball team picked up a pair of road wins over UCF to clinch the 4-seed in the American Conference Tournament that is set to start next week. Now the Bearcats will turn their attention to 5-seed Tulane on Tuesday, May 24 at BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, Florida. The Green Wave went 10-13 in conference play and finished with a 30-24-1 record.

First pitch is scheduled for 9:00 AM on ESPN+.

Cincinnati Baseball: Previewing the AAC Tournament matchup against Tulane

The Bearcats played Tulane three times during the regular season in New Orleans. Despite trailing for most of the series opener on May 6, Cincinnati scored two runs in the eighth inning and went onto win 3-2. Joe Powell singled to plate Jake Hansen and Cole Harting before Griffin Merritt scored the game-winning run on a passed ball in the 11th inning.

Garrett Harker earned the win for the Bearcats.

Tulane bounced back the next day with a 4-3 victory after getting off to a quick start at home. The Bearcats responded with a game-tying run in the third inning but Tulane put up three more runs in the fourth and fifth frame to extend the lead to 4-1. Sophomore left hander Conner Linn took the loss.

Cincinnati Baseball: Previewing the AAC Tournament matchup against Tulane

In the series finale on Sunday afternoon, Cincinnati hit four home runs to secure an 8-7 win. The Bearcats allowed an early run but scored in four consecutive innings to go up 5-1. Kameron Guidry knocked a solo shot to push the lead to 7-4 in the eighth inning, followed by an RBI single from Harting.

Looking back, those two victories were instrumental in the Bearcats clinching fourth place with a 12-12 record against AAC opponents. Following the first round matchup on Tuesday morning, the winner will advance to play 1-seed East Carolina or 8-seed South Florida on Thursday, May 26. The loser will face elimination on Wednesday.

Cincinnati went 1-5 against East Carolina in the regular season.