East Carolina comes from behind to defeat Wichita State, 5-4, forcing deciding game

CLEARWATER, Fla. – No. 1 seed East Carolina rallied in the ninth inning with three runs to come back and defeat No. 4 Wichita State, 5-4, on Saturday morning at the 2024 American Baseball Championship presented by Regions at Bay Care Ballpark in Clearwater, Fla.

With the win, the two teams will play again later on Saturday, after the Tulane/Florida Atlantic matchup at 1 p.m. Eastern on ESPN+. The winner will advance to Sunday’s Championship final.

Wichita State’s Lane Haworth scored in the first on an RBI grounder by Mauricio Millan and the Shockers doubled their lead in the fourth when Camden Johnson singled home Derek Williams.

The Pirates tied the game in the seventh when Justin Wilcoxen drove home Jacob Jenkins-Cowart before pinch hitter Walker Barron hit a solo home run to left field.

The Shockers responded with an RBI single in the eighth by Jaden Gustafson that scored Millan and a solo home run by Seth Stroh to lead off the top of the ninth inning.

In the bottom of the ninth, Jenkins-Cowart and Luke Nowak scored on sacrifice flies before Dixon Williams advanced to third on a wild pitch. Williams then stole home to earn the Pirates the victory.

Danny Beal (7-2) earned the win for East Carolina, pitching the last two outs of the top of the ninth. Nate Adler (1-2) took the loss for the Shockers.

Wichita State starter Caden Favors went 7.0 innings with two runs and five strikeouts. His 13.1 total innings for the tournament rank second in Championship history and his 12 total strikeouts are tied for third.

2024 American Baseball Championship presented by Regions
BayCare Ballpark | Clearwater, Fla.
Championship Central

Schedule
Tuesday, May 21
Game 1: No. 4 Wichita State 8, No. 5 UAB 2 | Box Score | Highlights
Game 2: No. 1 East Carolina 12, No. 8 Rice 4 | Box Score | Highlights
Game 3: No. 7 Charlotte 9, No. 2 UTSA 5 (12 innings) | Box Score | Highlights
Game 4: No. 3 Tulane 14, No. 6 Florida Atlantic (7 innings) | Box Score | Highlights

Wednesday, May 22
Game 5: Rice 9, UAB 0 (UAB Eliminated) | Box Score | Highlights
Game 6: Florida Atlantic 12, UTSA 5 (UTSA eliminated) | Box Score | Highlights

Thursday, May 23
Game 7: Wichita State 14, East Carolina 4 | Box Score | Highlights
Game 8: Tulane 7, Charlotte 5 | Box Score | Highlights

Friday, May 24
Game 9: East Carolina 8, Rice 7 (Rice Eliminated) | Box Score | Highlights
Game 10: Florida Atlantic 10, Charlotte 8 (Charlotte Eliminated) | Box Score | Highlights

Saturday, May 25
Game 11: East Carolina 5, Wichita State 4 | Box Score | Highlights
Game 12: Florida Atlantic vs. Tulane | 1 p.m. | ESPN+
Game 13: Wichita State vs. East Carolina | 47 minutes after Game 12 | ESPN+
Game 14: Florida Atlantic vs. Tulane (if necessary) | TBD | ESPN+

Sunday, May 26
Game 15: Semifinal Winners | Noon | ESPNEWS/ESPN+

All times listed are Eastern.

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