CLEARWATER, Fla. – Redshirt senior Mason O'Brien belted a grand slam and a two-run homer, and sophomore right-hander Liam Eddy tied his career-high with seven strikeouts as eighth-seeded Wichita State eliminated top-seeded and No. 8-ranked ECU, 12-5, Friday, May 24, at Spectrum Field in the American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship presented by Air Force Reserve.
 
The victory moves the Shockers (28-30) to the semifinal round of the tournament for the first time in program history. WSU will face fourth-seeded UConn at 9 a.m. CT (10 a.m. ET) Saturday, May 25. Wichita State, which fell to the Huskies (35-22) Thursday, would have to defeat UConn twice to advance to Sunday's winner-take-all championship game.
 
O'Brien went 3-for-5 and drove in a career-best six runs on his two round-trippers, while freshman David VanVooren posted a perfect 2-of-2 performance and belted a double, leading Wichita State at the plate. O'Brien and Paxton Wallace also had doubles in the contest.
 
O'Brien's two homers and six RBI tied an American Championship single-game record.
 
Eddy (5-8) earned the victory on the mound after throwing 6 1/3 innings and allowing three earned runs on eight hits and no walks, going on with his career-high-tying seven Ks.
 
The Shockers turned a scoreless game into a 5-0 advantage after plating five runs – all with two outs – in the bottom of the second. VanVooren, Jacob Katzfey and Jordan Boyer hit three straight singles for the first run in the inning, before O'Brien's grand slam to right field cleared the bases for four more runs.
 
The Pirates (43-15) got a run back in the top of the third, but Wichita State responded in a big way in the bottom-half of the frame, blowing the game open with six runs.
 
Brady Slavens crossed home plate on an error for the first run of the inning, before VanVooren doubled down the left field line to score Jack Sigrist, increasing the Shockers advantage to 7-1. Luke Ritter hit a laser infield single to the pitcher, plating Katzfey, prior to VanVooren scoring on a wild pitch, making it 9-1, WSU. O'Brien put an exclamation mark on the inning, demolishing a 3-1 pitch over the right-center wall for a two-run shot, building the lead to 11-1.
 
The Shockers scored what turned out to be their final run of the game in the bottom of the fourth when Jordan Boyer smacked a single to left field, scoring Sigrist.
 
ECU added three runs in the seventh and a run in the eighth, but that was it.
 
Nick Barber, Jake Washer and Connor Norby all had two hits, while Turner Brown hit a solo home run, leading the Pirates offensively.
 
ECU left-hander Jake Kuchmaner (6-2), who had not allowed more than three earned runs in any start this season, suffered the loss after surrendering seven earned runs and one unearned run on eight hits with a walk and strikeout in two innings.