Garcia, Cougars Walk Off Memphis

CLEARWATER, Fla. – University of Houston graduate Santiago Garcia sent a walk-off RBI-single down the left field line in the ninth inning to walk off Memphis with an 8-7 win in the second round of the TicketSmarter American Baseball Championship on Thursday evening from BayCare Ballpark.

Garcia, who contributed four hits in Tuesday's opener, played hero for a second consecutive game lifting the Cougars to Saturday's semifinals. Freshman Brandon Burckel led off the ninth with a single and stole second before taking third on a flyout.

Houston's 19 hits were the most in an American Championship game since collecting 24 on May 23, 2015, against Memphis. The win moves Houston to 36-22 on the season while Memphis fell to 26-28.

After Memphis struck for a combined seven runs in the middle frames, juniors Cameron Prayer and José Torrealba (2-0) combined to toss three consecutive scoreless innings, allowing the Cougars to even things up on a junior Brandon Uhse run-scoring single that skipped into the dugout in the seventh.

Torrealba earned his second victory in as many championship games. The southpaw tossed 2.0 scoreless innings, holding the Tigers, who finished with 12 hits on the contest, to one hit.

Memphis tied the game with a four-run fifth inning as four of the first five batters recorded a hit highlighted by RBI-doubles from sophomore Jacob Compton and sophomore Logan Kohler. One inning later, Compton crushed a one-out solo home run for a 7-6 Tigers' advantage.

The Cougars got off to a loud start, using five hits, including a pair of home runs to take a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Uhse deposited his first pitch onto the left field berm. Following a double by junior Alex Lopez, Anthony Tulimero sent a two-run homer out of the ballpark.

Houston junior starter Jaycob Deese stranded the bases loaded in the second inning after facing the minimum through seven batters. The right-hander ran into trouble again in the fourth, however, as the Tigers plated a pair. Deese allowed two runs on four hits in 3.0-plus innings.

UP NEXT
The Cougars will look to lock up a spot in American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship when it faces the winner of Memphis and No. 2 seed UCF in semifinals action Saturday afternoon. The contest will begin 47 minutes following the day's 8 a.m. CT opener and can be seen on ESPN+ and heard on The Varsity Network app.

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Brandon Uhse

Alex Lopez

Ryan Hernandez

Anthony Tulimero

Players Mentioned

Brandon Burckel

Jaycob Deese

Santiago Garcia

Alex Lopez

Cameron Prayer

Anthony Tulimero

Brandon Uhse

Players Mentioned

Brandon Burckel

Jaycob Deese

Santiago Garcia

Alex Lopez

Cameron Prayer

Anthony Tulimero

Brandon Uhse

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