Clearwater, Fla. — Former Wheeler High School star Troy Stefanski delivered UConn into the American Athletic Conference baseball tournament championship game on Friday.

Stefanski, batting with the bases-loaded and one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, hit a ground ball that bounced over a drawn-in infield and into left field to score John Toppa and give the third-seeded Huskies a 3-2 semifinal victory over No. 2 South Florida.

The Huskies (35-19-1), a virtual lock to make the NCAA tournament, can secure an automatic bid by defeating No. 4 East Carolina in Saturday's final at 10 a.m., East Carolina eliminated top-seeded Houston 12-1.

UConn closer P.J. Poulin (6-2) was credited with the win after pitching a scoreless ninth.

College track & field

• Connecticut College's Koko Mensah, competing in her first national meet, placed 18th in the shot put during Day 2 of the NCAA Division III Championship meet in La Crosse, Wisc. The sophomore's best throw of 42 feet, 11 inches came on her final attempt. Brockport's Victoire Kother won with a throw of 52-1.25.

College men's lacrosse

• Conn College senior Ben Parens was an honorable mention selection as a faceoff specialist on the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association All-America team. It was third straight season Parens earned All-American honors.

H.S. track and field

• The Eastern Connecticut Conference announced its Best in Track and Best in Field awards from Wednesday's champioinship meet at East Lyme. The boys' Best in Track Award was Windham's Alex Korczynski, who placed first in the 800, 1,600 and and 3,200-meter races, while the boys' Best in Field Award went to Norwich Free Academy's Jahiem Spruill, won won the long jumpl placed second in the triple jump and tied for second in the high jump.

The girls' winners were Stonington's Kate Hall (Best in Track) and East Lyme's Jamie Foster (Best in Field). Hall won won the 200-meter race, tied for first in the 100 and was on the 4x100 relay team that finished third. Foster won the javelin, placed second in the shot put and third in the discus.  Criteria used to determine award winners was total points individuals earned for their team (track event points were separate from field points and not combined), while track athletes in relay events were credited with 25 percent of the points earned by their relay team.

H.S. softball

• Audrey Gavin had three hits, two runs scored and four stolen bases, but fourth-seeded Old Lyme lost in the Shoreline quarterfinals to No. 5 Valley Regional 11-6. Sarah Hayward added three hits and a run scored for the Wildcats (13-8), and Kassidy Standish contributed two hits and a run scored.

H.S. boys' golf

• East Lyme completed a perfect ECC Division I season with a 7-0 win over New London at Great Neck CC. Matt Orefice was the medalist for the Vikings (16-1, 5-0), shooting a 4-over-par 39, while Evan Kluge and Ben Bohmbach head shot 42. New London is 1-15, 0-6.

• Montville and Wheeler finished in a 3.5-3.5 tie at Lake of Isles. Sam Gaboury shot a 2-over-par 38 to earn medalist honors for the Indians (1-14-1) while Karl Siimets halve his match with Wheeler's Brian Reck (each shot 51) and Montville won the medal point by two strokes. Samson Hauptmann, Sam Taylor and Seth Kosztala won matches for the Lions (2-10-1).