IRVING, Texas – The field has officially been set for the 2022 American Athletic Conference Softball Championship, scheduled to take place on May 12-14 at the Max R. Joyner Family Stadium in Greenville, North Carolina. All seven teams that compete in The American in softball were seeded in the tournament field based on regular-season winning percentage in conference games during the 2022 season.
The first round and semifinal round games of the 2022 American Softball Championship are scheduled to air live on ESPN+, with the conference championship game set for 11 a.m. (ET) on May 14 nationally broadcast on ESPN2.
No. 1 UCF (44-12, 16-2 American) secured the outright conference regular-season championship and tournament number one seed with a two games to one series comeback at Wichita State to close the 2022 conference campaign. The Knights previously captured the American Softball Championship trophy in 2015 and finished as the tournament runner-up in 2014 and 2021. UCF will meet the winner of No. 4 Houston and No. 5 Tulsa in the semifinal round of the 2022 American Softball Championship, with the Knights previously taking two of three from the Cougars (April 22-24) and sweeping the Golden Hurricane (April 29-May 1) during the regular season.
No. 2 Wichita State (32-15, 14-4 American) finished one game out of the top spot in the standings during the regular season and will attempt its American Softball Championship defense as the two seed in the 2022 tournament. The Shockers earned their first American tournament title last season with a 7-4 win over UCF in the championship final at Tulsa’s Collins Family Softball Complex. Wichita State will take on Memphis in the 2022 opening round, with the Shockers downing the Tigers in three straight games via run-rule on April 22-24.
No. 3 South Florida (42-13, 12-5 American) locked down the third seed in the championship after sweeping Houston and Memphis over the final two conference weekends. The Bulls, the 2016 and 2019 regular-season champions and top tournament seed, are in search of their first American Softball Championship title. South Florida will collide with host East Carolina in the opening game of the tournament, with the Bulls previously sweeping the Pirates in a three-game set in Greenville from April 1-3.
No. 4 Houston (26-26-1, 8-9-1 American) was idle for the final weekend of conference play but earned the fourth seed in the American Softball Championship thanks to two series sweeps during the league slate. The Cougars finished as the 2017 tournament runner-up the last time that the American Softball Championship was held in Greenville. Houston is set to take on the fifth seed Tulsa in the opening round after both teams deadlocked at 1-1-1 during a regular-season series at Collins Family Softball Complex in Tulsa.
No. 5 Tulsa (18-29-1, 7-9-1 American) settled into the tournament’s fifth seed after sweeping East Carolina in the final series of the 2022 regular season. The Golden Hurricane previously captured the 2016, 2017 and 2018 American Softball Championship titles, defeating Houston 1-0 in the 2017 championship game in Greenville. Tulsa and Houston will renew that championship rivalry in the opening round of the 2022 American tournament after splitting a three-game set 1-1-1 on March 25-27.
No. 6 East Carolina (20-35, 2-16 American) secured the sixth seed in the conference tournament and will serve as the American Softball Championship host for second time after previously welcoming the event in 2017. The Pirates are in search of a second all-time appearance in the semifinal round of the American tournament after advancing at the 2019 conference championship before the remainder of the weekend was cancelled due to inclement weather. East Carolina will look to defeat South Florida in the opening tournament round after previously being swept in a three-game series at home by the Bulls in early April.
No. 7 Memphis (16-37, 2-16 American) rounds out the tournament field as the seventh seed following a series sweep at the hands of Tulsa in the final series of the year. The Tigers previously reached the tournament’s semifinal round in both 2017 and 2018, falling to eventual champion Tulsa (2017) and runner-up South Florida (2018) on each occasion. Memphis will take on No. 2 seed Wichita State in the tournament’s first round after being swept in three straight games by the Shockers on April 22-24 in Wichita.
2022 American Athletic Conference Softball Championship
May 12-14, 2022
Max R. Joyner Family Stadium
Greenville, North Carolina
First Round - Thursday, May 12
No. 4 Houston vs. No. 5 Tulsa – 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. CT (ESPN+)
No. 2 Wichita State vs. No. 7 Memphis – 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT (ESPN+)
No. 3 South Florida vs. No. 6 East Carolina – 5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT (ESPN+)
Semifinals - Friday, May 13
Game 1 winner vs. No. 1 UCF – 1 p.m. ET/12 p.m. CT (ESPN+)
Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner – 3:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. CT (ESPN+)
Championship Game - Saturday, May 14
Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner – 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. CT (ESPN2)