NCAA BRACKET
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The American Athletic Conference tied a league record with four teams selected to the 2018 NCAA Division I Softball Championship on Sunday night, as Tulsa, Houston, USF and Wichita State were among the 64 teams to make the field.
Tulsa received The American's automatic bid after capturing the 2018 American Softball Championship title on Saturday, the third-straight for the Golden Hurricane. Houston, USF and Wichita State received three of 32 available at-large nods. Regional play, consisting of 64 teams squaring off in double-elimination format at four-team sites, will kick off to open the NCAA Championship this coming weekend.
The Golden Hurricane (33-23) will stay in-state, making the short trip to Norman, Okla. to meet Missouri on Friday at 4:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. CT. Tulsa and Missouri will be joined at host Oklahoma by Boston University to round out the four-team Region. Entering this past weekend's American Championship as the No. 6 seed, Tulsa rode the Most Outstanding Player performance of senior pitcher Emily Watson to knock off all three of the conference's other NCAA-bound squads en route to the title. Friday will mark the Golden Hurricane's third-straight appearance in the Norman Regional and 10
th NCAA Championship appearance in program history.
Houston (36-20) will open its NCAA Championship play on Friday at 4 p.m. ET/3 p.m. CT, traveling to meet Louisiana in Baton Rouge, La. The Cougars and Ragin Cajuns will share the field with host LSU and Fordham to complete the Region. After earning the No. 2 seed for the American Championship, Houston will appear in the NCAA Championship for the first time since 2014 and eighth time overall. The Cougars continue the season after falling to Tulsa 7-3 in the American semifinals, and will look to conference Pitcher of the Year Savannah Heebner in the circle. Heebner currently ranks 12
th in the nation with her 1.07 ERA.
The 2018 American regular-season champion, USF (38-21) will face Ohio State in Gainesville, Fla. at 6 p.m. ET/5 p.m. CT on Friday. The Bulls reached the American Championship game this past Saturday following back-to-back walk-off victories on Thursday and Friday before eventually falling to Tulsa 4-1. Making its conference-best 13
th NCAA Championship appearance, USF will meet either Florida or Bethune-Cookman as the remaining Regional squads. As one of the league's most prolific offensive teams, USF put a league-best four on the All-Conference First Team while also boasting American Pitcher and Rookie of the Year Georgina Corrick in the circle.
Wrapping up the conference's bids is Wichita State (30-21), which will travel to Fayetteville, Ark. for Friday's 2:30 p.m. ET/1:30 p.m. CT matchup with Oklahoma State. The Shockers have already claimed two wins on the season against the Cowgirls. Rounding out the Region is host Arkansas, which Wichita State defeated 1-0 on March 6, and DePaul. In their first season in The American, the Shockers earned the No. 3 seed for the conference championship before falling to Tulsa in Thursday's first round. The American's Player of the Year, Mackenzie Wright, is joined by First Team honorees Laurie Derrico and Bailey Lange as Wichita State makes the fourth NCAA Championship appearance in program history and first since winning the 2016 Missouri Valley title.
The American earned four bids for the first time since its first year of softball competition in 2014, when UCF, Houston, Louisville and USF competed in the field. 2018 marked a turnaround season for the conference after receiving just one bid last season in Tulsa.
NCAA Division I Softball Championship
American Athletic Conference Selections
Norman, Okla.
Friday, May 18 - 4:30 p.m. ET
Tulsa vs. Missouri
Baton Rouge, La.
Friday, May 18 - 4 p.m. ET
Houston vs. Louisiana
Gainesville, Fla.
Friday, May 18 - 6 p.m. ET
USF vs. Ohio State
Fayetteville, Ark.
Friday, May 18 - 2:30 p.m. ET
Wichita State vs. Oklahoma State