TULSA, Okla. – American Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year Georgina Corrick struck out 11 as No. 2-seeded USF took a 10-2 win against No. 7-seeded Memphis Thursday afternoon in a first-round game of the American Athletic Conference Softball Championship at the Collins Family Softball Complex.
Bethaney Keen went 3-for-3 with a home run for USF, which advances to face UCF in the semifinals Friday at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
Corrick went the distance for the Bulls as she scattered seven hits and allowed two runs and walked three while turning in her 16th game with double-digit strikeouts this season. Corrick registered her fourth win against Memphis this season to improve to 22-6 on the year.
USF broke open what had been a 2-1 lead with a five-run fifth inning before the Bulls added three more in the sixth to bring about the eight-run rule.
Corrick struck out eight through the first 3.1 innings, but it was the Tigers who were able to score first as back-to-back singles by Delaney Smith and Baylee Smith to take a 1-0 lead.
The Bulls (29-16) claimed the lead in the bottom of the fourth when Keen led off with a single and USF ended up with runners at second and third after the Tigers misplayed a grounder to shortstop. Pinch runner Brooke Leistl was able to reach around a tag at the plate after a grounder to third to put USF on the board, and the Bulls made it 2-1 when a short grounder in front of the plate tied up the Memphis pitcher and catcher, allowing Brooke Hartman to score from third.
USF added to its lead in the bottom of the fifth as Josie Foreman doubled off the leftfield wall to bring home AnaMarie Bruni, and Keen sent a long fly ball to the warning track off the centerfielder’s glove for a double that delivered Foreman and made it 3-1.
Megan Pierro sent the first pitch she saw to right to bring Lexie Kopko home and give the Bulls a 4—1 cushion, and Keen came in on a wild pitch to make it 5-1. Hartman’s base hit to left scored Pierro to make it a five-run lead through five complete.
Memphis (9-41) had a chance for a big inning in the top of the sixth when the Tigers loaded the bases with no outs and Ryleigh Aungst’s base hit brought Camryn Wineinger in from third to make it 7-2. But Corrick worked out of the jam with a strikeout for the first out before getting the next two hitters to fly out and leave the bases loaded.
USF put the game away in the bottom of the sixth as Keen drilled a two-run home run to left to make it 9-2, and Pierro ended it when she drew a one-out walk and worked her way around the bases on three wild pitches.
Keen was the only USF player with multiple hits as eight Bulls players contributed to the team’s 10 hits on the day.
Memphis was led by Delaney Smith, who went 2-for-3. Pitcher Mariah Nichols took the loss as she allowed seven hits and six runs (four earned) in 4.1 innings. Nichols struck out four and walked three.