CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL

TAMPA, Fla. – Following a hotly-contested regular season that came down to the wire, the 2018 American Athletic Conference Softball Championship is up for grabs this weekend at the USF Softball Stadium. Beginning on Thursday, the single-elimination tournament will crown the fifth conference champion in league history and seal an automatic bid for the winner to the 2018 NCAA Division I Softball Championship.
 
Currently the fourth-ranked RPI conference in Division I, The American boasts three teams in the top 50 of the RPI rankings and nine wins over top-25 ranked opponents during the regular season. Heading into the final weekend of league play, four teams – USF, Wichita State, Houston and Memphis – were within reach of the No. 1 seed. Collectively, tight competition across The American during the course of the season leaves this weekend’s Championship open for the taking.
 
Host squad USF (36-20, 14-7) enters as the top seed, seeking its first-ever American tournament title. The Bulls emerged as the lone regular-season champions from the four-team race, taking the final two contests in its series with Wichita State. 2018 marks the second time in the past three seasons the Bulls have claimed the top seed, thanks to one of the deeper hitting lineups in the conference. Three USF players, including Lindsey Devitt, Astin Donovan and Amber Atkinson, sit in the league’s top 10 in batting average.
 
The Bulls open tournament play in Thursday’s evening game against No. 8 seed UConn (20-34, 5-16), which is seeking its first-ever American tournament victory. The Huskies are in the hunt for the upset after being swept by USF in the opening conference series of the season.
 
For the second-consecutive year, Houston (35-19, 13-8) will be the tournament’s No. 2 seed. The Cougars rose to the lone second-place spot in the standings with a commanding sweep of Memphis last weekend. Led by The American’s top pitching staff in ERA and ace Savannah Heebner, Houston hopes to make a return trip to the championship game after falling to defending champion Tulsa in 2017’s final.
 
Meeting Houston on Thursday is No. 7 seed ECU (23-31, 8-13), a team looking to duplicate and build upon last year’s tournament when the Pirates pulled the first-round upset over UCF as the No. 6 seed. The Cougars earned a 2-1 series win over ECU in the regular season.
 
In its first season as a member of The American, No. 3 seed Wichita State (30-20, 12-9) made an immediate impact on the conference landscape during the regular season. The Shockers were in contention for the top seed until the last minute, and clinched the third seed thanks to a series sweep of UCF during the season. Wichita State has batted its way to a conference-best .285 team average in league games, led by Mackenzie Wright’s .455 individual average. On the docket for the Shockers right away is two-time defending champion Tulsa (30-23, 10-11), which enters as the No. 6 seed and will look to 2017 NFCA All-American pitcher Emily Watson to anchor its efforts.
 
UCF (34-21, 12-9) battled to the No. 4 seed with three-straight wins over ECU to close the regular season last weekend. The Knights are pursuing their second American championship title after earning the crown in 2015, and are set to meet No. 5 seed Memphis (36-20, 10-11) Thursday. The Tigers hope to continue one of the best campaigns in program history, and need just one more win to set the Memphis record for single-season victories.
 
All quarterfinal and semifinal contests of the American Softball Championship will be broadcast live on the American Digital Network via Facebook (facebook.com/americanconf), with the championship airing at 12 p.m. ET on ESPN2 on Saturday, May 12. For all live updates and ticket information, 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. 3 Wichita State vs. No. 6 Tulsa – 10 a.m. ET/9 a.m. CT
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: Winner Game 1 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