2016 American Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament

The 2016 American Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament was held at Bright House Field in Clearwater, Florida from May 24 through May 29. The event, held at the end of the conference regular season, determined the champion of the American Athletic Conference for the 2016 season. The University of Connecticut won and received the conference's automatic bid to the 2016 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.[2]

2016 American Athletic Conference
Baseball Tournament

Tournament Logo
Teams	8
Format	Double-elimination tournament
Finals site	Bright House Field Clearwater, FL
Champions	Connecticut (1st title)
Winning coach	Jim Penders (1st title)
MVP	Anthony Kay, Connecticut
Television	CBS Sports Network, ESPNews

2016 American Athletic Conference baseball standings
	Conf									Overall
Team	W		L		T		PCT			W		L		T		PCT
No. 25 Tulane  ‍†‍‍^y	15	–	7	–	0		.682			39	–	19	–	0		.672
No. 15 East Carolina  ‍‍‍^y	15	–	8	–	1		.646			34	–	21	–	1		.616
Connecticut  ‍‍‡‍^y	14	–	9	–	0		.609			37	–	23	–	0		.617
Cincinnati  ‍‍‍	13	–	10	–	1		.563			26	–	30	–	1		.465
Houston  ‍‍‍	11	–	12	–	0		.478			36	–	23	–	0		.610
Memphis  ‍‍‍	9	–	15	–	0		.375			22	–	39	–	0		.361
South Florida  ‍‍‍	8	–	16	–	0		.333			24	–	33	–	0		.421
UCF  ‍‍‍	8	–	16	–	0		.333			26	–	33	–	0		.441
† – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of June 2, 2016[1]; Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

Format and seeding

All eight baseball teams in The American were seeded based on their records in conference play. The tournament used a two bracket double-elimination format, leading to a single championship game between the winners of each bracket. South Florida claimed the seventh seed over UCF by virtue of owning the third tie-breaker (season series tied 3-3; both teams 0-3 versus Tulane; USF 2-1 versus East Carolina, UCF 0-3 versus East Carolina).[3]

Team	W	L	T	Pct	GB	Seed
Tulane	15	7	0	.682	—	1
East Carolina	15	8	1	.646	.5	2
Connecticut	14	9	0	.609	1.5	3
Cincinnati	13	10	1	.563	2.5	4
Houston	11	12	0	.478	4.5	5
Memphis	9	15	0	.375	7	6
South Florida	8	16	0	.333	8	7
UCF	8	16	0	.333	8	8

Bracket

	First round					Second round					Semifinals						Finals
	1	Tulane	4
	8	UCF	3
						1	Tulane	3
						5	Houston	5
	5	Houston	9
	4	Cincinnati	1
											5	Houston	6	—
										1	Tulane	2	—
	8	UCF	7
	4	Cincinnati	6
						8	UCF	0
						1	Tulane	5
																5	Houston	2
																3	Connecticut	7
	2	East Carolina	2
	7	South Florida	4
						7	South Florida	1
						3	Connecticut	9
	6	Memphis	2
	3	Connecticut	6
											3	Connecticut	5	5
										6	Memphis	9	0
	2	East Carolina	4
	6	Memphis	5
						6	Memphis	7
						7	South Florida	5

All-Tournament Team

The following players were named to the All-Tournament Team.[4]

Pos	Name	School
P	Anthony Kay	Connecticut
P	Nick Hernandez	Houston
IF	Bryan Daniello	Connecticut
IF	Aaron Hill	Connecticut
IF	Bobby Melley	Connecticut
IF	Brandon Grudzielanek	Memphis
OF	John Toppa	Connecticut
OF	Zac Taylor	Houston
OF	Connor Wong	Houston
C	Jake Rogers	Tulane
UTY	Joe Davis	Houston

References

1. "American Athletic Conference - 2016 Standings". d1Baseball.com. Retrieved June 2, 2016.
2. "2015–16 Championship Schedule". The American. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
3. Patrick Quinn (May 22, 2016). "ECU Earns No. 2 Seed At The American Championships". WNCT-TV. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
4. "UConn Wins American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship". American Athletic Conference. May 29, 2018. Retrieved July 4, 2018.