CLEARWATER, Fla. (Interstat) — Ethan Gonzalez collected five hits, including a home run and three RBIs, and the Wichita State Shockers outlasted the UAB Blazers 14-12 on Saturday in the opening game of the American Baseball Championship at BayCare Ballpark.

Gonzalez, a catcher, went 5 for 6 with a double, a solo homer in the seventh inning and three runs scored. He also drove in a run in the second and another in the ninth. His performance highlighted a 21-hit attack for the Shockers, who improved to 28-28. The Blazers, who fell to 32-26, managed 15 hits but left six runners on base.

The game featured seven lead changes or ties, with the decisive moment coming in the top of the seventh. Wichita State, trailing 10-9 after UAB’s three-run fourth inning, broke the game open with a six-run outburst. Gonzalez started the rally by homering to left center off UAB reliever Chase Ingram. After a single and a walk, Jayson Jones singled in a run, and Owen Washburn was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Matt Ganter followed with a bases-loaded walk to force in another run, and a fielder’s choice by Jaden Gutierrez brought home a third. Seth Duncan added a two-run single, and Gonzalez capped the inning with an RBI double to left center, giving the Shockers a 14-10 lead.

UAB answered quickly in the bottom half. John Paul Head, the Blazers’ designated hitter, launched his second homer of the game, a solo shot to left field, cutting the deficit to 14-11. Later in the inning, with two outs and a runner on second, Brant Waugh singled to center to score another run and make it 14-12. But Wichita State reliever Brady Hamilton entered and induced an inning-ending double play from Andrew Hunt.

Hamilton, who had entered the game in the seventh with the bases loaded and two outs, retired all three batters he faced on just 12 pitches. He finished with 2 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing no hits and striking out one, earning the win.

UAB had taken its first lead of the game in the fourth inning. Trailing 8-4, the Blazers strung together four straight hits. After a single and a stolen base, Head walked, and Jackson Beaver singled in a run. With runners on first and second, Alex Dupuy launched a three-run homer to left field, giving UAB a 9-8 advantage. The Blazer rally came after Wichita State had scored three times in the top of the fourth to take an 8-4 lead.

The early innings were equally wild. Wichita State scored a run in the top of the first on a single by Cole Gustafson, but UAB answered immediately when Head homered to left in the bottom half. The Shockers added two runs in the second, keyed by an RBI single from Gonzalez, but UAB countered with four in the bottom of the second, including a two-run homer by Hunt and an RBI triple by Kyle Roberts, to take a 5-3 lead.

Wichita State regained control with three runs in the third on a bases-loaded walk and an RBI groundout, then added two more in the fourth on Gonzalez’s double and a single by Jones.

Gonzalez’s big day followed a quiet stretch in which he had gone 1 for 14 in his previous four games, with the lone hit a home run against Memphis on May 22. He also drove in a run against South Florida on May 16.

Head finished 3 for 5 with two homers and two RBIs, while Hunt went 3 for 5 with a homer and two RBIs. Dupuy, who entered as a pinch hitter in the ninth, went 2 for 6 with a homer and three RBIs. For Wichita State, Jones had three hits and two RBIs, Washburn went 3 for 5 with two RBIs, and Gutierrez doubled twice.

Wichita State starter Kortum lasted only two innings, allowing four runs on three hits. Dax Sharp threw 3 1/3 innings, giving up three runs on three hits while striking out one. Amar Tsengeg recorded one out without a hit or run before being replaced by Hamilton.

UAB used five pitchers. Starter Samuelson went three innings, allowing five runs on seven hits. Ingram allowed four runs on five hits in 2 1/3 innings. The Blazers’ bullpen combined to give up five runs in the seventh and eighth innings.

The game marked the fourth meeting between the teams this season. Wichita State won two of three in a regular-season series in Birmingham, Alabama, in April, taking the first game 10-2 before splitting a pair of one-run decisions.

Wichita State next faces East Carolina on Saturday evening in the double-elimination tournament.