The motto of the 2004 Conference USA Baseball Tournament could very well be "expect the unexpected." In a wild tournament that has been filled with lots of offense, many unusual plays and several upset victories, the top two seeds have failed to reach the semifinals for the first time ever. Upstart UAB will battle defending tournament champion Southern Miss in the first semifinal at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, while TCU will battle Houston in a Texas-sized showdown of teams that have combined to eliminate fourth-ranked East Carolina in the second semifinal at 12:30 p.m.

TCU punched its ticket to Saturday with a solid combination of htting and pitching, piling up 15 hits, while Chad Underwood (5) Robbie Findlay (7)combined to strike out 12 Pirate batters. Chad Huffman was 4-for-5 with a pair of runs scored and Chris Neuman and J.J. Estrada hit home runs to lead the Horned Frogs.

Southern Miss advanced to Saturday's semifinals with an impressive 13-0 win over Memphis. Mike Cashion tossed a complete-game, three-hitter while Carlos Velasquez hit a garnd slam and Jarrett Hoffapuir had a homer and four RBI to lead the Golden Eagles.


Conference USA Baseball Tournament
(Houston, Texas)

Wed., May 26
Game One
(6) Memphis 10, (3) Southern Miss 5
Game Two
(7) UAB 10, (2) Tulane 4
Game Three
(1) East Carolina 13, (8) Louisville 2 4:00p
Game Four
(5) Houston 9, (4) TCU 5 7:30p

Thu., May 27
Game Five
Southern Miss 16, Tulane 4
Game Six
TCU 4, Louisville 3
Game Seven
UAB 6, Memphis 4
Game Eight
Houston 6, East Carolina 5

Fri., May 28
Game Nine
Southern Miss 13, Memphis 0
Game Ten
TCU 10, East Carolina 4

Sat., May 29
Game Eleven
Southern Miss vs. UAB 9:00a
Game Twelve
TCU vs. Houston 12:30p
Game Thirteen
Same teams as Game Eleven (if necessary) 4:00p
Game Twelve
Same Teams as Game Twelve (if necessary) 7:30p

Sun., May 30
Championship Game 1:00p