CLEARWATER, Fla. – Jace Kaminska struck out six over 8 1/3 innings to help Wichita State defeat Houston, 5-3, in an elimination game at the American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship Wednesday in Clearwater, Florida.
The No. 3 seed Shockers (31-22) advance and will face the loser of No. 2 Tulane and No. 6 South Florida game on Friday, May 28, at approximately 5:30 p.m. CT.
A freshman right-hander from Caney, Kan., Kaminska improved to 8-1 on the mound this season after allowing just one earned run on only three hits with six strikeouts and one walk on 92 total pitches.
Paxton Wallace went 2-for-3 with two RBI, a homer and triple, while Hunter Gibson homered and drove in two runs, and Seth Stroh added a pair of hits, pacing WSU at the plate.
Wichita State jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth after Ross Cadena hit a leadoff single, before scoring on Wallace's two-run home run to left field. It was his 11th homer of the season.
The Shockers added three runs in the bottom of the eighth, expanding their lead to 5-0. Wallace led-off the inning with a walk, prior to crossing home plate when Gibson smashed the first pitch, he saw over the left field wall. It was Gibson's seventh round-tripper of 2021. Couper Cornblum provided the third run of the frame, scoring Corrigan Bartlett on an RBI single to left field.
Houston (19-34) scored three in the top of the ninth to cut the lead to 5-3 but couldn't get any closer.
Kyle Lovelace homered and tallied an RBI, leading Houston offensively.
Cougar starter Jaycob Deese (2-7) suffered the loss after allowing two earned runs on six hits with eight strikeouts and two walks in 6 1/3 innings.
The Shockers next play Friday. Their opponent will be the loser of Tulane and South Florida, those teams play on Thursday.