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Champ Central
CLEARWATER, Fla. – Grayson Padgett’s pinch-hit three-run home run put Houston on top for good as the No. 2-seeded Cougars rallied past No. 7-seeded Memphis 6-5 in the opening game of the American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship Tuesday morning at Spectrum Field.
Houston (37-19) advances in the winners’ bracket and will face either No. 6-seeded Cincinnati or No. 3-seeded UConn Thursday at 3 p.m. ET. Memphis (29-28) will meet either Cincinnati or UConn in an elimination game Wednesday at 9 a.m. ET.
Memphis had built a 3-2 lead after five innings and added what appeared to be two key insurance runs in the top of the eighth to make it 5-2, but the Cougars rallied with a four-run bottom half, capped by Padgett’s second home run of the season, a long fly that dinged off the rightfield foul pole.