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USF falls to Houston in AAC baseball tournament

 
Published May 22, 2015

CLEARWATER — On a breezy afternoon in which it could afford nary an error, USF committed them in triplicate Thursday.

In the same inning.

Leading by a run after six, top-seeded Houston (41-17) scored four in the seventh on three hits and three errors en route to a 7-3 victory against the Bulls (33-23-1) in the American Athletic Conference tournament.

A victory, for all practical intents, would've secured USF's first postseason berth in 13 years. Instead, the Bulls must return to Bright House Field this morning for an 11 a.m. elimination game against Memphis. A loss there, and they could be fidgeting mightily during Monday's NCAA Selection Show.

"I think we're gonna respond well," said assistant Mike Current, who co-managed the team Thursday while coach Mark Kingston served the last of a five-game suspension. "Obviously we didn't play very well. Anybody that's in the ballpark could see that."

The seventh-inning implosion ruined junior right-hander Ryan Valdes' best start as a Bull. For five innings, Valdes (5-3) essentially handcuffed the nation's 14th-ranked team, allowing two hits and striking out seven in that span.

He walked a batter, threw a wild pitch and hit another in a sixth-inning succession, setting up Corey Julks' two-out, two-run double to give Houston a 2-0 lead. Newsome High alumnus Michael Farley relieved Valdes to open the seventh, and watched third baseman Dre Leal and leftfielder Zac Gilcrease misplay the same ground ball to open the inning.

Moments later, Houston had a 6-1 lead.

"I thought Ryan Valdes pitched well," Current said. "We just didn't do a whole lot else well, and that happens."

UF WINS IN SEC: Josh Tobias went 4-for-5 with two RBIs and Florida knocked Auburn out of the SEC tournament with an 11-2 victory in Hoover, Ala. The Gators (41-16) scored eight runs on seven hits in the third inning. Florida was in an elimination game because it lost 7-6 to Arkansas late Wednesday. UF led 6-4 going into the ninth but gave up a solo home run and a two-run homer in the loss. The Gators play LSU or Arkansas at 7:30 tonight (SEC Network).

ACC tournament: Zack Erwin had a season-best 11 strikeouts and Clemson beat Louisville 7-2 in Durham, N.C. FSU played North Carolina in a late game. Erwin allowed six hits and one earned run in eight innings as the fifth-seeded Tigers (32-26) improved to 1-1 in pool play. Reed Rohlman had a two-run single in the first and Weston Wilson added a two-run double in the fifth for Clemson, which never trailed and led 5-1 after two innings. Ryan Summers had an RBI double in the second for the top-seeded Cardinals (43-15), who are 1-1 in tournament pool play.

Other sports

Football: Syracuse, which appeared to say it would unretire the No. 44 made famous by Jim Brown, Ernie Davis and Floyd Little, said the number will remain retired.

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Softball: Tennessee defeated FSU 3-2 in the opening game of the NCAA Knoxville Super Region. The Seminoles (48-13) have to beat the Vols (46-14) twice today, with games at 4 (ESPNU) and, if necessary, 7 (ESPN). … Tampa pitcher Julia Morrow made the Division II All-America third team and Saint Leo DP Angela Kafalas out of Chamberlain High was named honorable mention. Morrow was 25-9 with a 1.35 ERA and three no-hitters this season.

Information from Times wires was used in this report.