CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL

TAMPA, Fla. - Riding 13 strikeouts by senior ace Emily Watson, defending champion and No. 6 seed Tulsa held off No. 3 Wichita State, 3-1, in the opening game of the 2018 American Athletic Conference Softball Championship on Thursday morning. The Golden Hurricane (31-23) will meet the winner of No. 2 Houston and No. 7 ECU in Friday's semifinals.

Tulsa junior Julia Hollingsworth produced all three RBIs for her squad, going 2-for-4 with a home run and a triple. Watson spun a gem, with 12 of her 13 Ks on the game forcing the Shockers down swinging and no earned runs in the complete-game effort.

Wichita State (30-21) was led at the plate by Madison Perrigan, the only Shocker to lace multiple hits on the game (2-for-3). Paige Luellen drove in the Shockers' lone run in a 1-for-2 outing.



Hollingsworth put the Golden Hurricane on the board immediately, sending the second pitch of the game over the right-field fence for just her third homer of the season. Watson then held Shockers hitless until Mackenzie Wright laid a single into center field in the top of the third, but another swinging strikeout stranded a pair of Wichita State baserunners.

The Golden Hurricane extended its lead in the top of the fifth, after Rylie Spell advanced to second on a wild pitch before Mikayla Whitten reached base on a walk. Hollingsworth then dropped a two-out triple into right center, plating both runners.

The Shockers broke through in the bottom half, when Bailee Nickerson reached on an error and moved to third on a Perrigan single. The next batter, Luellen, beat out the throw on a chopper to third, enough to score Nickerson. Watson then fanned the next three Wichita State batters to minimize the damage.

Perrigan led off the last chance for Wichita State in the bottom of the seventh with a single to left center, but Watson closed her day with three more swinging Ks to advance the Hurricane to Friday.

In the circle for the Shockers, Bailey Lange took the loss in a complete-game effort, yielding three earned runs on five hits with four walks and a strikeout.

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 vs. No. 7 ECU - 12:30 p.m. ET/11:30 p.m. CT
Game 3: No. 4 UCF vs. No. 5 Memphis - 4 p.m. ET/3 p.m. CT
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. Winner Game 2 - 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT
Game 6: Winner Game 3 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