Tulsa 3, USF 1
Tulsa scored three runs over the final five innings to rally for a 3-1 victory on Sunday at USF to take the American Athletic Conference opening-series, two games to one. Morgan Neal went 2-for-3 with a double and RBI for the Golden Hurricane, while Julia Hollingsworth and Haley Meinen also drove in runs to back another great outing by the Tulsa pitching staff.
Chenise Delce allowed just one run over 5.2 innings and struck out five to improve to 8-3 on the season. She gave way to Kassidy Scott, who tossed a scoreless inning before Samantha Pochop earned her second save by recording the final out. For USF, Lindsey Devitt went 2-for-2 in her ninth multi-hit game this season and is now a three-game hitting streak.
Memphis 9, ECU 1 (5 innings)
For the fourth consecutive season, Memphis won its conference opening series with a 9-1 victory over ECU Sunday afternoon. The Tigers improve to 17-14 on the year and 2-1 in American Athletic Conference play with the win. Alyssa Dean helped lead Memphis with two RBI and two hits, while Delaney Smith also added two hits for the Tigers, both for extra bases. Gracie Morton had a hit and two RBI for the Tigers as well as she and Baylee Smith extended their hitting streaks to a team-leading four games. Karli Perque improved to 4-5 on the year after throwing her third complete game of the season. She struck out five in the victory.
Kendra Ziemba recorded ECU's lone hit in the second inning, coming around to score later in the frame. Erin Poepping took the loss, allowing 10 hits and nine runs (seven earned) with a pair of walks and three strikeouts.
UCF 2, UConn 1
UCF swept the UConn Huskies to open American Athletic Conference play with a 2-1 come-from-behind victory Sunday afternoon when Tera Testa delivered the game-winning single to bring home two runs with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning. Jazmine Esparza collected two doubles in the win and went 2-for-3 on the day, while Alea White allowed five hits and two walks with seven strikeouts to pick up her second win of the weekend.
UCF's come-from-behind victory is the fifth time this season the Knights have trailed after the fifth inning and came back to win. Testa's at-bat in the seventh inning was her first at-bat of the weekend and she recorded her first RBI of the season. Five different UConn batters recorded one hit each, with Carli Cutler driving in the lone run for the Huskies.
Houston 8, Wichita State 0 (5 innings)
Houston won its conference-opening series on Sunday afternoon with an 8-0 victory over Wichita State. With the series win over the Shockers, the Cougars have won their past three conference-opening series. The shutout victory also marks the 13th time this season that Houston has blanked its opponent.
Houston's offense was led by Sarah Barker, who went 2-for-3 in the contest with three runs scored, three RBI and a home run. In the circle, pitcher Trystan Melancon tossed her fourth complete-game shutout of the season, finishing the contest with four strikeouts, while surrendering just two hits in the process. In her past 23 innings of work, Melancon has allowed only one earned run and has posted an ERA of 0.30 during that stretch. Ryleigh Buck and Neleigh Herring collected Wichita State's long hits on Sunday afternoon.