By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
The American Baseball Championship tournament starts Wednesday in Clearwater, Fla., with top-seeded UTSA, having a double bye, opening play on Friday.
Wednesday
Game 1 – No. 6 FAU vs No. 7 Wichita State, noon.
Game 2 – No. 5 Memphis vs. No. 8 Charlotte, 47 minutes afterward
Thursday
Game 3 – No. 3 Rice vs. Game 1 winner, noon
Game 4 – No. 4 UAB vs. Game 2 winner, 47 minutes afterward
Friday
Game 5 – No. 2 East Carolina vs. Game 3 winner, 8 a.m.
Game 6 – No. 1 UTSA vs. Game 4 winner, 47 minutes afterward
Game 7 – Game 4 loser vs. Game 5 loser, 3:30 p.m.
Game 8 – Game 3 loser vs. Game 6 loser, 47 minutes afterward
Saturday
Game 9 – Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 9 a.m.
Game 10 – Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 47 minutes afterward
Game 11 – Game 10 winner vs. Game 9 loser, 47 minutes afterward
Sunday
Game 12 – Game 9 winner vs. Game 11 winner, 11 a.m.
Regular-season standings
UTSA 17-10, 36-19
East Carolina 17-10, 33-21-1
Rice 16-11, 34-22
UAB 15-12, 31-24
Memphis 13-14, 22-32
FAU 12-15, 28-27
Wichita State 12-15, 28-27
Charlotte 12-15, 28-27
South Florida 11-16, 32-21
Tulane 10-17, 25-31
Notable
Brady Waugh, Wesley Helms and JP Head homered on Saturday in an American Conference baseball regular-season finale as the UAB Blazers rolled to a 23-11 run-rule victory over the UTSA Roadrunners.
Officials called the game after eight innings. It was UTSA’s first loss of the season by run rule.
With a three-run lead, the Blazers sent 13 batters to the plate and broke it open with nine runs in the top of the fifth, as the visitors at Roadrunner Field won two of three in the series.
Records
UAB 31-24, 15-12
UTSA 36-19, 17-10
Coming up
American Conference tournament, Clearwater, Fla., Wednesday May 20 through May 24
Top-seeded UTSA, with a double bye, is set to open play on Friday, May 22, opponent TBA
Notable
The Roadrunners finished the regular season with five losses in their last eight games.
Included were an 11-8 loss at fourth-ranked Texas and a 19-4 run-rule victory over Texas State in non-conference play.
After the Texas game, the Roadrunners dropped two of three on the road in the American at Memphis.
Following the lopsided victory over Texas State, they lost two of three at home to UAB to close conference and regular-season play.
With four games left on the conference schedule, the Roadrunners held a comfortable three-game lead over the East Carolina Pirates in the conference standings.
The Pirates charged at the end to make up the difference, tying for first in the standings with a season-closing, three-game road sweep over the FAU Owls.