CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
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SEMIFINALS RECAP VIDEO
ORLANDO - No. 2 seed Tulsa scored three runs in the fifth inning to pull away from No. 6 seed Houston in the first semifinals match of the day Friday afternoon at UCF Softball Complex. The Hurricane topped the Cougars, 5-2, and advanced to the American Softball Championship game with the win. Tulsa will face the winner of the UCF/USF semifinal in the Championship final Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. Eastern (ESPN2).
Houston got on the scoreboard first in the third inning. Shelby Miller’s right field single plated Selena Hernandez and Kaylin Crumpton, and the Cougars held the lead until Tulsa added two runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth to tie things up. Julie Kernen crossed the plate on Jocelyn Sheffield’s double and Sheffield added a run of her own after capitalizing on a Houston passed ball and a throwing error.
The Hurricane had five hits in the fifth inning and increased its lead to 5-2 with Jodi Edmiston, Maggie Withee and Erica Sampson each crossing the plate in the bottom of the stanza.
Tulsa improved to 36-17 with the win while Houston fell to 28-27 with the loss.
Five different players had a hit for the Cougars while Sampson and Withee paced the Hurricane with two hits apiece.