CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
 
TAMPA, Fla. – Tulsa senior Emily Watson set the American Athletic Conference Softball Championship single-game strikeout record with 15 Ks on Friday, propelling the No. 6 seed Golden Hurricane to a 7-3 win over No. 2 Houston. With the victory, Tulsa is making its fourth-straight title game appearance and will vie for its third-consecutive title on Saturday against either No. 1 USF or No. 5 Memphis.


 
Watson surpassed the single-game record of 13 strikeouts that she shared with UCF’s Shelby Turnier, permitting just one earned run on five hits, walking four. In her American Softball Championship career, the senior has now registered 60 strikeouts in 35 innings of work over three seasons, with just one earned run.
 
Morgan Neal and Tori Stafford both went 2-for-4 for Tulsa (32-23), with Neal tallying a pair of RBIs.
 
Arielle James led Houston (36-20) with a 2-for-3 performance including a home run. Tierrah Williams went 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
 
Julia Hollingsworth’s hot tournament continued early as she led off with her second triple in as many days. She was driven in on the next at-bat by Neal, who singled to left field. Neal advanced on a Houston error on the next play and scored on a Haley Meinen groundout.
 
Watson then took to the circle in the bottom half, stranding two Houston runners to keep the lead intact.
 
In the top of the fourth, back-to-back Golden Hurricane singles and an error on a steal attempt upped the advantage to 4-0, chasing starter Savannah Heebner from the circle. Another Neal RBI single against newly-entered Presley Bell bumped Tulsa’s lead to 5-0.
 
Houston plated the next three runs to string together a rally. The Cougars put their first tally on the board with an error in the fifth, and continued in the fifth with James’ solo shot over the left field fence. After a loaded-bases walk narrowed the score to 5-3 in the bottom of the sixth, Watson earned the tournament record with a looking strikeout and minimize the damage.
 
Tulsa’s bats then returned in the seventh to seal the deal, with the game’s fifth error plating one and Rylie Spell’s RBI rounding the seventh run.
 
Houston’s Heebner took the loss with four earned runs in 3.2 innings, with Bell tossing 3.1 innings with both runs earned.
 
For full coverage of the American Athletic Conference Softball Championship, visit TheAmerican.org/Softball and follow @American_SBall 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 2, No. 8 UConn 1 (12 inn.)
 
Semifinals – Friday, May 11
American Digital Network
Game 5: No. 6 Tulsa 7, No. 2 Houston 3
Game 6: No. 5 Memphis vs. No. 1 USF – 4:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. CT
 
Championship – Saturday, May 12
ESPN2
Game 7: No. 6 Tulsa vs. Winner Game 6 – Noon ET/11 a.m. CT