CLEARWATER, FLA. – [Date: May 25, 2025] – The 2025 American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship presented by Regions is set for its winner-take-all final on Sunday, May 25th, following two intense semifinal games played Saturday, May 24th, at BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, Florida. The tournament, which began May 20th, features the conference’s top teams competing for the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship.
Saturday, May 24th, saw two teams earn their spots in the championship game:
- (5) Tulane 6, (1) UTSA 3. In the first semifinal game of the day (Game 11), (5) Tulane defeated regular-season champion (1) UTSA by a score of 6-3 at BayCare Ballpark. Tulane scored first in the opening inning and added a run in the third. UTSA briefly took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the third inning. Tulane tied the game in the fifth and secured the lead in the sixth with two runs, adding an insurance run in the seventh. Carter Benbrook (3-1) earned the win in relief for Tulane, pitching 4.1 scoreless innings. Tayler Montiel picked up his second save (2) with a scoreless ninth. Gunnar Brown (3-2) took the loss for UTSA. With this loss, (1) UTSA was eliminated from the tournament. Tulane’s victory marked their ninth consecutive win at the AAC Baseball Championship since 2003.
- (6) East Carolina 9, (3) South Florida 7. The second semifinal game (Game 12) saw (6) East Carolina defeat (3) South Florida 9-7. East Carolina scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning to break a 6-6 tie and advance to the final. Braden Burress led off the ninth with a solo home run, his fourth of the season, giving East Carolina a 7-6 lead. Ryley Johnson tripled to score Dixon Williams, and Colby Wallace followed with an RBI single to extend the lead to 9-6. East Carolina’s offense earlier included a three-run home run by Austin Irby in the fourth inning and a three-run home run by Dixon Williams in the seventh, giving ECU a 6-4 lead. South Florida tied the game in the bottom of the seventh with back-to-back solo home runs from Bradke Lohry and Carter Murphy. Ethan Norby (7-5) earned the win for East Carolina, while Corey Braun (8-4) took the loss for South Florida. (3) South Florida was eliminated from the tournament. South Florida finished its season with 31 wins, the most since 2018, and 16 conference wins, the most since joining The American.
The results from Saturday, May 24th, have set the matchup for the American Athletic Conference Championship:
- Matchup: (5) Tulane vs (6) East Carolina
- Date: Sunday, May 25th
- Time: Noon ET
- Location: BayCare Ballpark, Clearwater, Florida
- Broadcast: ESPNEWS and ESPN+
(5) Tulane will be looking to win the program’s third consecutive AAC Tournament Title. (6) East Carolina reaches the championship game for the third time in the last four years. Tulane and East Carolina previously met in the 2023 final, with Tulane winning 8-6.
This post was generated with AI Assistance based on the provided source material and conversation history.
Sources Used:
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- Excerpts from “AAC Baseball Championship | Playeasy”. URL: https://www.playeasy.com/events/f578a8f8-6733-41ae-a482-796e5a78a187/aac-baseball-championship
- Excerpts from “AAC Baseball Tournament at BayCare Ballpark | Threshers”. URL: https://www.milb.com/clearwater/ballpark/aac
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- Excerpts from “Tulane Advances to Third Consecutive Final with 6-3 Win over UTSA at 2025 American Baseball Championship presented by Regions”. URL: https://theamerican.org/news/2025/5/24/baseball-tulane-advances-to-third-consecutive-final-with-6-3-win-over-utsa-at-2025-american-baseball-championship-presented-by-regions.aspx
- Excerpts from “USF Baseball Falls to ECU to End AAC Tournament Run – USF Athletics”. URL: https://gousfbulls.com/news/2025/5/24/baseball-usf-baseball-falls-to-ecu-to-end-aac-tournament-run.aspx
- Excerpts from “UTSA falls in the American Athletic Conference Championship”. URL: https://goutsa.com/news/2025/5/24/baseball-utsa-falls-in-the-american-athletic-conference-championship.aspx
