By Ashleigh Cash and Andrew Riedell
As American Athletic Conference play begins this week, East Carolina insider Ashleigh Cash and Tulane insider Andrew Riedell collaborate and preview where each AAC team stands heading into their first conference series of the year!
Charlotte:
Players to watch: RHP Joseph Taylor, INF Cody Gunderson, RHP Blake Gillespie, OF Carson Bayne
Head coach Robert Woodard examined himself in the mirror following a disappointing 2024 campaign, that came only a year after the 49ers made a solid NCAA Tournament run in 2023. What he found was that a shift in philosophy was needed to get the program back on track -- and it started not only with him, but also on the mound.
This year’s Charlotte squad has placed an emphasis on already-developed strike throwers, rather than their philosophies of the past that centered around developing guys with ‘stuff.’ This strategy has proven to be successful so far, with the 49ers ranking second in the conference in walks issued. It is, however, a pitching staff that has been built heavily around newcomers, much like the rest of the squad.
The roster itself looks different than it did last year, with 24 new additions to the squad, including nine juco transfers and four freshmen.
Sophomore righty Blake Gillespie, a transfer from Georgia, has been the 49ers’ ace, holding down the Friday night slot to the tune of a 5.20 ERA, with 34 strikeouts through 27.2 innings. Now, that ERA looks inflated due to his last outing against a strong offensive UNCW team, but his last start before that saw him pitch a complete game against James Madison, in which he struck out 11 and faced the minimum 27 batters through nine innings. That start saw him become just the second Charlotte pitcher in program history to throw a no-hitter.
In relief, sophomore righthander Joseph Taylor has been largely dominant out of the pen, with his lone real blemish coming in an outing against the red-hot Arkansas Razorbacks, where he gave up five runs in four innings. Which seems like a lot, until you consider that Taylor has given up only six earned runs all season, through 22 innings and eight appearances. Taylor is 2-1 with four saves already, pitching to a 2.45 ERA, fourth-lowest in the conference.
Juco transfer Cody Gunderson has only played in 17 games, but he’s been on fire in that time, with 4 home runs, 12 walks, and 15 RBI. Sophomore catcher Logan Poteet has stirred up a bit of buzz lately for his skill in throwing out runners. The Vanderbilt transfer is tied for third in the nation in runners thrown out, having already nabbed 11 baserunners, halfway to the program’s single-season record in only 20 games.
Returners are led by senior outfielder Carson Bayne, who may be batting only .235, but he has hits in all but three games so far in 2025 and is riding a five-game hitting streak. Bayne has hit 5 homers, worked 8 walks, and collected 25 RBI.
Charlotte hass played excellent defense in 2025, leading the conference with a .986 fielding percentage. They own a record of 10-9 but have played a solid non-conference schedule, opening the season against Northeastern and playing weekend series against then - No. 4 Arkansas and a strong UNCW team.
As a team, the 49ers are hitting .259, which slots third to last in the conference. They have the second highest strikeouts behind only Rice, and they have the least stolen bags of any team. As a whole, their offense sometimes struggles to score runs, but their strong defense and ability to pitch out of some jams have saved them more than a few times.
ECU:
Players to Watch: UTIL Dixon Williams, LHP Ethan Norby, OF Braden Burress, RHP Ethan Young, UTIL Colby Wallace
This year’s roster features 31 new faces, with a host of transfer pickups and a bevy of talented young freshmen. The returners are led by senior outfielder Ryley Johnson, who’s coming off a stellar 2024 season that saw him earn the first Golden Glove award in program history. Johnson hasn’t played yet this year due to a hip injury, but he is expected back soon in conference play.
Also returning is junior utilityman Dixon Williams, fresh off a star-studded summer with the Newport Gulls of the New England Collegiate Baseball League. Williams hit .390 in the regular season with a .949 OPS, tallying 33 RBIs and 17 stolen bases: a statline that earned him the conference’s batting title. Additionally, he was also honored with both the 2024 Rick Ligi Most Valuable Player and the Stephen Strasburg Top Pro Prospect awards.
Currently, Williams ranks among the top five players in the conference in many offensive categories, including total bases (4th place with 48), slugging percentage (5th place, .640), OPS (tied for 4th, 1.135), runs scored (tied for 3rd, 24), walks (tied for 5th, 18), and stolen bases (second, 11 for 11).
Sophomore two-way player Colby Wallace was in a bit of a slump to start the year, but he has gotten hot in the month of March. Wallace is batting .452 in his last 9 games, with 16 RBI, 10 runs scored, four homers, and four walks.
Freshman Braden Burress has made himself a name as a speedy on-base machine, batting .367 with three doubles, a grand slam, and 18 runs scored. He’s been issued free passes almost twice as often as he’s struck out, with seven walks, four hit by pitches, and six strikeouts. Burress has also been playing great defense in left field, where his speed comes in handy.
On the mound, the Pirates’ pitching staff is led by senior righthander Jake Hunter, whose return from injury has seen him slowly work his way back on the mound. Hunter missed most of the second half of 2024 and didn’t see much action in the fall, but he’s been solid in his return so far this season, pitching to a 2.55 ERA through 17.2 innings across eight appearances. He’s 1-1 on the year with 20 strikeouts.
Sophomore lefty Ethan Norby, who’s been holding down the Pirates’ Friday night slot, looks poised to build off an already-strong 2024 freshman campaign. Norby is in the Top 10 nationally in strikeouts, with 46 Ks in only 31 innings. This, of course, is helped by his stellar 19-K outing from March 7 against Coastal Carolina, where he set a new AAC record.
As for newcomers, junior righty Ethan Young has made quite an impression on Pirate fans already. The juco transfer from Catawba Valley Community College ranks among the top 25 pitchers in the country in terms of strikeouts per nine, averaging 13.71 through 21 innings and eight appearances. Oklahoma transfer Brad Pruett has also been a strong addition to the squad, with 29 strikeouts through 18.2 innings so far in 2025.
The Pirates’ offense struggled slightly to start the year, with so many new players still meshing and learning to work together, but they’ve exploded down the stretch, culminating in a 5-0 week with four games won by ten or more runs. As a team, the Pirates have hit the most home runs in the conference with 29, and three of the top five home run hitters also belong to ECU. So the power isn’t in question.
The bullpen has more depth than in years past, but with so many new players, there is sometimes a struggle to find and maintain the strike zone, which culminates in more walks than Head Coach Cliff Godwin would like.
Altogether, this Pirates team is young but talented, but they can be explosive offensively and crafty on the mound.
FAU:
The Florida Atlantic University Owls have been one of the surprising teams in college baseball this year so far, coming into conference 17-4 on the year with wins vs Miami and UCF. They open up conference play against David Pierce and the Rice Owls, looking to make a really quick statement to show the AAC they could win this conference.
Head Coach John McCormack is in his 17th year in Boca Raton. The Owls have been raking so far this season, averaging eight runs a game, and they are led offensively by TCU transfer Jake Duer, hitting .448 with 1 HR and 20 RBIs on the season. A transfer from Blinn College, Marshall Lipsey is also contributing to the Owls offense, hitting .382 with 4 HRs and 13 RBIs.
On the pitching side for the Owls, they are led by Trey Beard, who has been phenomenal to start the year, pitching to a 2.00 ERA while striking out 52 in 27 innings of work and holding opponents to a .146 B/AVG. Some key relievers for the Owls include San Jacinto transfer MJ Bollinger, (2.25 ERA 5 saves 16 Ks) and Braden Ostrader (3.75 ERA 12 IP 15 K), who are guys looking to continue their success out of the bullpen for the Owls.
Memphis:
The Memphis Tigers are entering AAC play 11-9 on the season as they head to Greenville to face East Carolina, a tough test after finishing last in the AAC last season. Head Coach Matt Riser is entering his 2nd year with the program, and there are a lot of new names in the program for Memphis.
Their leading hitter is James Smith IV, who transferred in from Northwest Mississippi CC, hitting .286 with 4 home runs and 15 RBIs. Another name to watch out offensively for the Tigers is one of their returners, Shane Cox, hitting .281 with 3 HRs and 12 RBIs.
Their pitching staff is led by Seth Garner, who has a 4.33 ERA in his five starts. Out of their bullpen, look to Davis Oswalt, the former UL-Monroe transfer, and Charlie Smith to come out of the bullpen too lead the way.
Rice:
So let’s get right to it, Rice has not been good this season. They have already parted ways with former head coach José Cruz Jr. and have since hired former Tulane/Texas Head Coach David Pierce. It is a great hire but let’s see what he inherits right now.
We are going to start on the pitching side, because Rice has one of the more underrated pitchers in the AAC in Davion Hickson who has a 3.06 ERA. Tucker Alch has also been one of their top arms too, with a 3.80 ERA in 24 innings. Other than that this bullpen struggles to get guys out and to limit runs.
On the offensive side of things for Rice, look for freshman Blaine Brown to stay hot, as he is hitting .314 with 8 doubles and 11 RBI, as well as Michael Zito, who is slashing .309 with 16 singles and 1 home run. Do not count out this Rice team, they have their guy at the helm now, and they can shock the AAC with a turnaround in conference play.
Tulane:
The Green Wave come into conference play with a 15-6 record, as they host Wichita State in their first weekend of conference. Coach Jay Uhlman has coached this team to back to back AAC Tournament championships, which have earned them trips to back to back NCAA Regionals.
The story for this Green Wave squad has been their starting pitching duo of Luc Fladda and Trey Cehajic, and their offensive leaders Connor Rasmussen and two way star Michael Lombardi. Fladda and Cehajic have both been solid starters for the Green Wave so far and look to continue that into conference play.
When those two are not on the bump, we will see a plethora of Tulane arms that can shut down any lineup in this conference. Some names we would look out for are Tayler Montiel, Jacob Moore, Blaise Wilcenski, Carter Benbrook, Henry Shuffler, and of course, their closer Michael Lombardi with a 0.90 ERA and five saves on the season already.
Rasmussen, the former East Carolina transfer, has led the Green Wave offensively so far, slashing .372 with 21 RBIs and 9 extra base hits. Also helping the charge offensively have been Matthias Haas, freshman Tanner Chun, senior captain Gavin Schulz, and FAU transfer Andrew McKenna, a wall behind the plate as well.
For Tulane to succeed in conference play their bullpen has to be solid in the late innings and on Sunday, as Coach Uhlman loves going with a TBA on Sundays because he believes he can stretch out relievers to give them a great shot to win on Sundays.
UAB:
Players to Watch: INF Todd Clay, OF Logan Braunschweig, RHP Chase Ingram, RHP Colin Daniel
UAB is off to one of their best starts in years, with a record of 14-7 headed into conference play. They’ve played a solid nonconference schedule, opening the year with a matchup against Maryland, sweeping South Alabama and North Alabama in consecutive weekend series, and matching up with Troy. They beat No. 22 Auburn 6-5, going on to play Michigan State a couple times, as well as a ranked Alabama squad.
Their offense is highlighted by junior JuCo transfer Todd Clay, who’s batting a conference-leading .449 with an on base percentage of .559. Clay has 31 hits and 19 walks, with six doubles.
He’s followed by senior outfielder Logan Braunschweig, who’s hitting .364. Braunschweig ranks among the top 50 nationally in stolen bases, with 13 bags in 14 attempts. He’s the AAC leader in stolen bases, and he’s walked over twice as many times as he’s struck out.
On the mound, junior righthander Chase Ingram ranks second in the conference in earned run average, pitching to a tune of a 2.25 ERA through five starts. He’s mainly been their Sunday starter, and in 28 innings, he’s struck out 22 batters, walking only seven, en route to a 2-1 record. Junior righty Colin Daniel leads the team in strikeouts, with 29 through 29.1 innings in five starts. Daniel has yet to be saddled with a loss this year, with a record of 3-0 as the main Saturday starter.
All in all, UAB is a solid squad who’s played right up to some very strong opponents in 2025, and they should not be underestimated.
USF:
Players to Watch: OF Ryan Pruitt, INF Sebastian Greico, LHP Corey Braun
USF is 11-8 under new head coach Mitch Hannahs, who joins the Bulls after 11 seasons at Indiana State.
The Bulls lost a handful of lineup mainstays with the coaching changes in the offseason: experienced veteran slugger Bobby Boser, former freshman phenom Eric Snow, and workload arm Chandler Dorsey each transferred to SEC programs (Florida, Auburn, and LSU, respectively), and fellow pitchers Jack Cebert (now at Texas Tech) and Joey Volini (now at Florida State) departed as well.
Joaquin Monque, who was named to the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Preseason Watchlist in 2024, utilityman Ben Rozenblum, and perhaps most notably, star studded outfielder and former Freshman All-American Drew Brutcher each ran out of eligibility.
It wasn’t the easiest of situations that greeted Hannahs for his inaugural season with the Bulls, but he hit the ground running, and it seems he and his staff have done an excellent job rebuilding from the losses and constructing this year’s roster. They made some solid pickups in the transfer portal, notably juco transfer Ryan Pruitt and Florida A&M transfer Sebastian Greico, who’s tied for the conference lead in home runs.
Greico has batted in 24 runs, and has 16 walks, along with an OPS over 1. Pruitt, who’s quickly become a fan favorite on this year’s Bulls squad, has 22 hits, including six doubles and three homers, with 20 RBI and 10 walks.
So, despite the losses of such significant mainstays, the Bulls find themselves in a perfectly respectable position entering conference play.
The Bulls have played a solid nonconference schedule, with series against Iowa, Georgia Southern, UCF, Villanova, Maryland, and FGCU, as well as some midweek matchups against Florida State and FIU.
Their biggest question mark thus far seems to be that of the Saturday starter - it seems the Bulls are still fiddling with their rotation, trying to find the most consistent fit.
James Hill has been on the bump for most Saturday starts so far, with a couple other guys taking turns in the rotation later on.
Junior lefty Corey Braun has been largely solid as the Friday night guy, with a record of 2-1 and an ERA of 3.34 through 29.2 innings. Braun has struck out 35 batters, with an opposing batting average of .218.
USF always seems to be a thorn in the side for any AAC frontrunner, and this year we would expect no different. In fact, we think they’re strong contenders for that top spot, but only time will tell.
UTSA:
The UTSA Roadrunners come into AAC conference play 17-6 on the season and fresh off a thrilling upset of #8 Texas on Tuesday. The Roadrunners will travel to Charlotte for their first AAC series of the year.
Head Coach Pat Hallmark and his squad are coming off a 32-24 season which saw their season end in the conference tournament. This UTSA is led by the AAC Preseason Player of the Year Mason Lytle who has been mashing so far this year. (.410 AVG 2 HR 31 RBIs 11 2B.) Newcomers Drew Detlefsen, Norris McClure, and Nathan Hodge have all been great additions to a UTSA lineup who is averaging 8.6 runs per game so far.
On the pitching side for the Roadrunners, it has been a struggle for them, as they have a team era of 5.21, but on Friday nights, you can catch Zach Royse on the bump for UTSA. He is solid for them and gives them an opportunity to win every Friday night, especially with the way their bats swing the bat.
Wichita State:
Players to Watch: INF Camden Johnson, C Mauricio Millan, RHP Grant Adler, LHP Jace Miner
Wichita State has struggled a bit this season, starting the season off 7-13 in their first 20 games.
This largely seems to be due to pitching struggles, as the Shockers have the second-worst team ERA of all teams in the American (6.57) behind only Rice. They’ve issued the most free passes of any team, allowing 103 base-on-balls and plunking 24 batters.
Of course, the Shockers had big shoes to fill in 2025 following the loss of their ace Caden Favors, who was drafted by the Guardians in the sixth round last year, as well as the loss of Tommy LaPour, who transferred to TCU.
However, head coach Brian Green and his staff did welcome back Grant Adler, who was with the squad two years ago before transferring to Kansas and sitting out a year due to injury, as well as Oklahoma transfer Jace Miner, who leads the team in ERA.
Although the Shockers’ starting rotation seems to still be a work in progress, Miner has made the bulk of his starts on Sundays, where he’s pitched to an ERA of 3.86, with 17 strikeouts in 21 innings. Adler, who seems to be the team’s Saturday arm, has a team-leading 28 strikeouts through 25.2 innings and five starts.
As much as the team has had to adjust from the loss of last year’s top two arms, the offense is also having to deal with losing two of last season’s biggest power hitters in Seth Stroh, who ran out of eligibility, and Derek Williams, who transferred to Miami.
Sophomore infielder Camden Johnson has been a bright spot for the Shockers so far in 2025, batting .375 with 5 doubles and 18 RBI. He’s walked more than he’s struck out.
Last year, Johnson was the only member of the Shockers to start 60 games, missing only one start back in March. He’s looking to follow that same path in 2025, having started all 20 games for the Shockers so far. In addition to playing almost every game in 2024, Johnson also led the team in batting average, hitting .326 with 13 doubles as a true freshman.
Despite missing the first 11 games recovering from an injury, senior catcher Mauricio Millan has made a near-immediate impact since returning to the lineup. Millan is batting at a .419 clip with an on base percentage of .525. He’s reached base in every game but one since his return, with 13 hits and 5 RBI in 9 games. He’s been plunked three times this season after setting the conference record in hit by pitches with 24 last year.
Millan is also considered to be one of the most reliable backstops in the conference, committing only two errors in 2024 for a fielding percentage of .996 - which ranked third in the conference (including only those with 400+ defensive chances).
All in all, the Shockers are a team working to rebuild from losing many of last year’s top guys, and it’s still a bit of a work in progress. But expect the offense to jump out when you least expect it, with Johnson and Millan at the helm.
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