CLEARWATER, Fla. – Mike Nemeth’s solo home run on the second pitch of the sixth inning broke a 1-1 tie as sixth-seeded Connecticut took a 4-2 win against No. 2-seeded USF Friday morning in Game 8 of the BIG EAST Baseball Championship at Bright House Field.

The Huskies (35-23) advance to the semifinal round of the BIG EAST Championship for the second time in the last three years. USF (33-24) heads to an elimination game against West Virginia at 4 p.m. Friday, with the winner facing Connecticut Saturday, most likely at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Nemeth’s home run broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the sixth to put the Huskies on top for good after USF had tied the game in the top of the fifth. Connecticut added two insurance runs in the eighth, which proved valuable as the Bulls scored one run and left the bases loaded in the ninth.

Connecticut struck first when a USF miscue put a runner in scoring position. George Springer led off the bottom of the fourth with a walk, stole second and ended up on third on an errant throw from the USF catcher. Mike Olt brought Springer in from third with a sacrifice fly to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead.

USF got the run back in the top of the fifth on Ryan Lockwood’s RBI single that brought Sam Mende in from second, tying the game at 1-1.

Nemeth took a 1-0 pitch over the rightfield fence to put Connecticut back on top, and the Huskies added two more in the eighth when Nemeth scored on a wild pitch and Peter Fatse knocked an RBI single to centerfield to give Connecticut a 4-1 lead.

Connecticut closer David Erickson retired the first two hitters of the ninth in order and had a full count on Chris Rey as heavy rains began to fall. But Rey took ball four to keep the inning alive and USF followed with a Trey Manz base hit and a Mende walk to load the bases. Ryan Lockwood sent an RBI single to center to bring one run in, but Erickson got Peter Brotons to ground out to first to end the game and leave the bass loaded.

Matt McDonald picked up the win for Connecticut, improving to 5-1 after he worked seven strong innings. McDonald allowed just three hits and one run with five walks and two strikeouts on 87 pitches. Erickson registered his 11th save of the season.

Shawn Sanford took the loss for USF, falling to 5-4 after he allowed five hits and four runs in 7.2 innings.

2009 BIG EAST Baseball Championship

Bright House Field, Clearwater, Fla.

Tuesday, May 19

Game 1 – No. 5 Notre Dame 14, No. 4 St. John’s 5

Game 2 – No. 1 Louisville 12, No. 8 Cincinnati 2 (7 innings)

Game 3 – No. 6 Connecticut 6, No. 3 West Virginia 1

Wednesday, May 20

Game 4 – No. 2 USF 12, No. 7 Pittsburgh 2 (8 innings)

Game 5 – St. John’s 12, Cincinnati 2 (Cincinnati eliminated)

Thursday, May 21

(Live video on www.bigeastbaseball.com, live audio on Sirius XM Radio)

Game 6 – Louisville 12, Notre Dame 2

Game 7 – West Virginia 20, Pittsburgh 8 (7 innings)

Friday, May 22

(Live video on www.bigeastbaseball.com, live audio on Sirius XM Radio)

Game 8 – Connecticut 4, USF 2

Game 9 – Notre Dame vs. St. John’s, 1 p.m.

Game 10 – USF vs. West Virginia, 4 p.m.

Game 11 – Louisville vs. Winner of Game 9, 7 p.m.

Game 12 – Connecticut vs. Winner of Game 10, TBD

Game 13 – Loser of Game 11 vs. Winner of Game 11, TBD (if necessary)

Game 14 – Loser of Game 12 vs. Winner of Game 12, TBD

Game 15 – Winner of Group 1 vs. Winner of Group 2, TBD