Houston swept a pair of games at Tulsa while UConn and East Carolina split a doubleheader in Greenville, N.C. during softball action around The American on Saturday. With Houston’s wins over Tulsa, UCF clinched the American regular season championship outright.

No. 13/15 UCF shut out North Florida 5-0 in Saturday’s non-conference matchup at the UCF Softball Complex. The Knights extended their winning streak to nine games in front of a season-high crowd. UCF first scored in the third, when a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Kahley Novak scored Willow Kalinen. In the fourth inning the Knights loaded the bases again, and sophomore Linnea Goodman drew a four-pitch walk which scored pinch runner Kirsten Foster. Heading into the sixth with a 2-0 lead, Samantha McCloskey and Kalyn Cenal hit back-to-back solo homeruns, giving the Knights a 4-0 advantage. UCF added an additional run in the inning and closed out the game to record the team’s 20^th shutout of the season. Mackenzie Audas earned the win as she and relief pitcher Shelby Turnier struck out eight batters each. The Knights will finish their regular season with a three-game conference series against USF, beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday, May 2 at 2 p.m. ET.

East Carolina (ECU) and UConn split the Saturday doubleheader, as the Huskies took the first game 3-1 and the Pirates won game two 15-3 in five innings. In game one East Carolina took a 1-0 lead in the second after Ali Ramirez hit a solo homerun over the left field wall. UConn tied the game in the third inning when Lexi Gifford scored on Alyssa Gardea’s RBI sacrifice fly. In the top of the sixth junior Jacklyn Dubois gave the Huskies the lead with a solo shot to center. The following inning UConn added an insurance run when Gifford’s RBI single scored pinch runner Ashley LaPenta. The Huskies claimed the first game 3-1 but the Pirates offense got their bats going in the second game. UConn took an early lead, scoring a pair of runs due to Dubois’ RBI single and an RBI double by Dominique Pinto. ECU responded with eight runs in the second inning. With the bases loaded, Andie Johnson drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly to center. Ciara Ervin had an RBI single to right and Kacie Oshiro followed with a two-run single to left, as the Pirates took the lead 4-2. The Pirates had loaded the bases again, and Abby Wynne stepped up to the plate and hit a grand slam, her 15^th career homerun. East Carolina led 8-2 heading into the third, and extended the lead when Karlie Smith went up to bat. Smith hit the second grand slam of the game, and her first career homerun as ECU took a 12-2 advantage. East Carolina (15-36, 6-11 American) and UConn (17-29, 4-9 American) will finish their series on Sunday in Greenville, N.C., with the first pitch set for Noon ET.

Houston swept Tulsa in a doubleheader on Saturday, taking the first game 5-4 and the second 7-3. The first contest was televised live on ESPNU. The Hurricane took the lead in game one, scoring two runs when Maggie Withee and Erica Sampson both crossed the plate on an error. The Cougars got on board when Shelby Miller blasted a solo homerun in the second. Senior Selena Hernandez tied the game for Houston in the top of the fifth with an RBI single up the middle. The Hurricane regained the lead in the bottom of the inning, scoring a pair of runs on an error by the right-fielder. Trailing 4-2 in the sixth, the Cougars added another run. Courtney Klingler doubled to right center, and pinch runner Jaylin Baldridge entered the game at second. Baldridge scored on a wild pitch to put Houston behind only one run. In the seventh the Cougars took the lead after scoring two more runs, and won the game 5-4 after holding Tulsa scoreless in the bottom of the inning. The Hurricane scored first in game two with a double by Julie Kernan, taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third. In the fifth inning the Cougars tied the game 1-1 when Kaylin Crumpton crossed the plate. Tulsa took the lead back when Kate Myers hit a solo homerun, putting the Hurricane up 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth. In the top of the seventh Houston rallied to put up six more runs. Crumpton brought in the tying run with an RBI single followed by a two-run homer by Hernandez to give the Cougars a 4-2 lead. Three base hits, a walk and an error allowed Houston to score three more runs and enter the bottom of the inning with a 7-2 advantage. Tulsa scored one more run when Kernan scored on an RBI sac fly by Maddie Withee, but the Cougars secured the victory 7-3 and completed the doubleheader sweep. Houston (24-23, 9-4 American) and Tulsa (29-17, 8-6 American) resume play on Sunday at the Collins Softball Complex, the series finale set to begin at 1 p.m. ET.

USF topped Memphis, 8-2, in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader in Tampa, Fla. Memphis scored a run in the first inning and took a 1-0 lead before an RBI single by Lee Ann Spivey gave the Bulls a 2-1 lead. Teammate Karla Claudio recorded her fourth homerun of the season, a grand slam, to give USF a 6-1 lead. The Bulls added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI groundout by D’Anna Devine and Spivey’s two-out ground-rule double that scored senior Meagan Leddy. Memphis added an additional run in the top of the seventh with a bases-loaded RBI by Kyler Troisclair, but could not rally for the win. The Tigers came back in the second game to earn a split on the day, 4-3, and scored the first run in the top of the first. The Bulls tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the inning but Memphis regained the lead 3-1 in the third inning, when Lindsay Crowdus connected on a two-run triple. In the bottom of the inning USF added another run with D’Anna Devine’s RBI double, cutting the deficit to one (3-2). The Bulls went on to tie the game 3-3 in the fourth when Spivey tripled to lead off the inning and then scored on a bunt by Monica Santos. Memphis scored the team’s winning run in the fifth as Crowdus drove in her third run of the game. Both teams remained scoreless for the final two innings, as the Tigers claimed the 4-3 victory over USF. Game three of the series will take place on Sunday at USF Softball Stadium at 11 a.m. ET.