CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL | BOX SCORE

HOUSTON, Texas – Wichita State first baseman Neleigh Herring drove a solo home run over the right-center field wall in the bottom of the sixth inning as No. 4 Wichita State defeated No. 5 UCF 2-1 on Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the 2019 American Softball Championship.

Herring’s solo shot broke a tie game in a pitcher’s duel between Erin McDonald and Alea White. McDonald struck out five batters for Wichita State, allowing five hits and one run. White allowed five hits and two runs with four strikeouts in the loss.



The Shockers got on the board in the second inning when Adi Reese singled and later scored on Sydney McKinney’s base hit down the left field line. Brooke Barlow tied things up in the top of the fourth with her solo homer to left center field and the game remained 1-all until Herring’s shot in the sixth.

UCF’s Denali Schappacher was the only player on either side to record multiple hits.

Wichita State advances to the semifinals of the American Championship for the second consecutive season, and will face top-seeded USF on Friday.

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2019 American Athletic Conference Softball Championship
Cougar Softball Stadium | Houston, Texas
 
Quarterfinals – Thursday, May 9
American Digital Network
Game 1: No. 1 USF 8, No. 8 Memphis 0 (6 innings)
Game 2: No. 4 Wichita State 2, No. 5 UCF 1
Game 3: No. 2 Tulsa vs. No. 7 ECU - 37 minutes following the conclusion of Game 2
Game 4: No. 3 Houston vs. No. 6 UConn - 37 minutes following the conclusion of Game 3
 
Semifinals – Friday, May 10
American Digital Network
Game 5: No. 1 USF vs. No. 4 Wichita State - 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT
Game 6: Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4 - 4:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. CT
 
Championship – Saturday, May 11
ESPN2
Game 7: Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6 - 12 p.m. ET/11 a.m. CT