Championship Central
GREENVILLE, N.C. – The No. 2 seed Houston blanked No. 6 East Carolina, 6-0 in the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference Championship Thursday afternoon at the East Carolina Softball Complex. The Cougars advanced to the conference title game with the win and will face the winner of No. 5 Memphis vs. No. 1 Tulsa Friday at Noon ET/ 11:00 a.m. CT live on ESPN.
Today’s win marks the first trip to the American Championship final for the Cougars as they move to 3-3 all time in conference tournament play.
The Cougars struck first with an RBI-single in the first from Sarah Barker, followed by a two-run homerun from Savannah Heebner in the bottom of the fourth. Houston extended its lead to 4-0 with an RBI single from Heebner in the bottom of the sixth. Brezzy Burton plated the final run of the game for the Cougars with an RBI double in the bottom of the sixth, increasing their advantage to 6-0.
The Cougars (30-24) had three players with multi-hit games in Heebner (3-for-3), Barker (2-for-3), and Maya Thomas (2-for-3). Heebner drove home in a game-high three RBIs.
East Carolina had one player with a multi-hit game in Kacie Oshiro (2-for-3) and had three players with at least one hit.
In the circle, Heebner (15-10) picked up the win for Houston while Lydia Ritchie fell to 17-16 with the loss for the Pirates.
Schedule/Results:
Quarterfinals - Wednesday May 10
(All games on The American Digital Network)
Game 1 – No. 6 East Carolina 4, No. 3 UCF 2
Game 2 – No. 2 Houston 7, No. 7 UConn 0
Thursday May 11
(All games on The American Digital Network)
Quarterfinals-
Game 3 – No. 5 Memphis 7, No. 4 USF 0
Semifinals-
Game 4 –No. 2 Houston 6, No. 6 East Carolina 0
Semifinals - Friday, May 12
(All games on The American Digital Network)
Game 5 – No. 1 Tulsa vs. No. 5 Memphis, 1 p.m. ET/2 p.m.
Championship - Saturday, May 13
(ESPN)
Game 6 – No. 2 Houston vs. winner of Game 5, Noon ET/11 a.m. CT