CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
 
TAMPA, Fla. – With a 3-0 victory over No. 4 seed UCF, No. 5 seed Memphis earned its second-consecutive trip to the American Athletic Conference Softball Championship semifinals on Thursday afternoon. The Tigers set a new single-season program standard for wins in the process, rising to 37-10 on the year. Memphis advances to meet the winner of No. 1 USF and No. 8 UConn on Friday.


 
A pair of web gems by second baseman Brooke Lee helped the Tigers’ outstanding defensive effort, with senior Molly Smith tossing a two-hit shutout. Smith fanned four and walked just one to pick up her 25^th victory in the circle on the season. Addison Maxwell went 2-for-3 with an RBI, with Delaney Smith also generating a multi-hit game, including a double.
 
UCF (34-22) received a complete game from ace Alea White, who yielded seven hits with two earned runs while striking out four.
 
After three scoreless frames, Memphis climbed on the board in the top of the fourth. Following a pair of singles by Kyler Trosclair Klatt and Maxwell with one out left, and a pair of fielding errors during Kendall Lee’s at-bat pushed two runs across to give the Tigers the advantage.
 
After Delaney Smith’s leadoff double in the fifth, a pop-up by Lee to deep center moved Smith to third. Maxwell then dropped a ball into right field, earning the RBI to make the score 3-0.
 
Smith and the Tiger defense permitted just two more baserunners in the final three frames to preserve the shutout.
 
For full coverage of the American Athletic Conference Softball Championship, visit TheAmerican.org/Softball and follow @American_DN on Twitter.
 
 
2018 American Athletic Conference Softball Championship
USF Softball Stadium – Tampa, Fla.
 
Quarterfinals – Thursday, May 10
American Digital Network
Game 1: No. 6 Tulsa 3, No. 3 Wichita State 1
Game 2: No. 2 Houston 3, No. 7 ECU 1
Game 3: No. 5 Memphis 3, No. 4 UCF 0
Game 4: No. 1 USF vs. No. 8 UConn – 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT
 
Semifinals – Friday, May 11
American Digital Network
Game 5: No. 6 Tulsa vs. No. 2 Houston – 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT
Game 6: No. 5 Memphis vs. Winner Game 4 – 4:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. CT
 
Championship – Saturday, May 12
ESPN2
Game 7: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6 – Noon ET/11 a.m. CT