Friday, May 11
Tampa, Fla.
1 PM
Tulsa
32-23
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Houston
36-20
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Photo by: Ben Solomon
Watson’s Record 15 Ks Sends Tulsa to Championship Game with 7-3 Win Over Houston
5/11/2018 4:42:00 PM | Softball
Box Score (.pdf) | Season Stats (.pdf) | Game Replay | Photo Gallery
TAMPA, Fla. — Emily Watson set an American Athletic Conference Championship single-game record and tied a season high with 15 strikeouts to lead Tulsa to a 7-3 win over second-seeded Houston on Friday afternoon at USF Softball Stadium.
TU will face top-seeded USF, 8-7 winners over Memphis, at 11 a.m. (CT) on Saturday in the tournament's championship game. That contest can be seen on ESPN2.
Watson also set a conference record for most strikeouts in a single tournament (28), eclipsing her record of 22 in two games during last season's championship run. The senior improved to 22-11 on the season as she allowed one earned run on five hits and four walks to go with her 15 strikeouts.
With the win, the Golden Hurricane (32-23) has advanced to a conference tournament title game for the fifth consecutive season, dating back to its time in Conference USA.
Morgan Neal helped lead the Tulsa offense as she went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, while Haley Meinen, Rylie Spell and Mikayla Whitten each drove in a run.
Meanwhile, Arielle James went 2-for-3 with a homer and two RBIs for the Cougars (36-20).
Like she did in Thursday's quarterfinals, Julia Hollingsworth started the game with a bang, this time taking the second pitch of the afternoon to the gap in left-center for her seventh triple of the campaign, which set a new single-season school record. Neal then ripped a 2-2 pitch to center for an RBI single to give the Hurricane a 1-0 lead just two batters into the contest.
Shelby Estocado bunted to move Neal to second and the throw was mishandled, allowing Neal to race to third. Meinen's groundout to second brought Neal home to extend the lead to 2-0.
The lead then jumped to 5-0 in the fourth when the Hurricane scored three runs with two outs to chase UH starter and the conference's Co-Pitcher of the Year Savannah Heebner from the contest.
Spell got the rally started with a walk before Tori Stafford reached on an infield single. Whitten then brought Spell home with a single to center field. The speedy sophomore stole second and Stafford took home when Heebner deflected the throw to second for a 4-0 advantage. Neal capped the rally with a single down the right-field line for her second RBI of the day.
The Cougars cut into the deficit with an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth and a solo homer off the bat of Arielle James an inning later. An error in the sixth helped Houston load the bases with no outs in the sixth, but Watson limited the damage to just a run as she recorded all three outs in the inning with strikeouts.
The Hurricane got that run back in the seventh with the help of an error following a Meinen hit and then a grounder from Spell brought another run home to make it 7-3.
The runs snatched momentum back for the Hurricane and Watson retired the Cougars in order in the bottom of the seventh, capping the game with her 15th strikeout, to send TU to Saturday's championship game.
TAMPA, Fla. — Emily Watson set an American Athletic Conference Championship single-game record and tied a season high with 15 strikeouts to lead Tulsa to a 7-3 win over second-seeded Houston on Friday afternoon at USF Softball Stadium.
TU will face top-seeded USF, 8-7 winners over Memphis, at 11 a.m. (CT) on Saturday in the tournament's championship game. That contest can be seen on ESPN2.
Watson also set a conference record for most strikeouts in a single tournament (28), eclipsing her record of 22 in two games during last season's championship run. The senior improved to 22-11 on the season as she allowed one earned run on five hits and four walks to go with her 15 strikeouts.
With the win, the Golden Hurricane (32-23) has advanced to a conference tournament title game for the fifth consecutive season, dating back to its time in Conference USA.
Morgan Neal helped lead the Tulsa offense as she went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, while Haley Meinen, Rylie Spell and Mikayla Whitten each drove in a run.
Meanwhile, Arielle James went 2-for-3 with a homer and two RBIs for the Cougars (36-20).
Like she did in Thursday's quarterfinals, Julia Hollingsworth started the game with a bang, this time taking the second pitch of the afternoon to the gap in left-center for her seventh triple of the campaign, which set a new single-season school record. Neal then ripped a 2-2 pitch to center for an RBI single to give the Hurricane a 1-0 lead just two batters into the contest.
Shelby Estocado bunted to move Neal to second and the throw was mishandled, allowing Neal to race to third. Meinen's groundout to second brought Neal home to extend the lead to 2-0.
The lead then jumped to 5-0 in the fourth when the Hurricane scored three runs with two outs to chase UH starter and the conference's Co-Pitcher of the Year Savannah Heebner from the contest.
Spell got the rally started with a walk before Tori Stafford reached on an infield single. Whitten then brought Spell home with a single to center field. The speedy sophomore stole second and Stafford took home when Heebner deflected the throw to second for a 4-0 advantage. Neal capped the rally with a single down the right-field line for her second RBI of the day.
The Cougars cut into the deficit with an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth and a solo homer off the bat of Arielle James an inning later. An error in the sixth helped Houston load the bases with no outs in the sixth, but Watson limited the damage to just a run as she recorded all three outs in the inning with strikeouts.
The Hurricane got that run back in the seventh with the help of an error following a Meinen hit and then a grounder from Spell brought another run home to make it 7-3.
The runs snatched momentum back for the Hurricane and Watson retired the Cougars in order in the bottom of the seventh, capping the game with her 15th strikeout, to send TU to Saturday's championship game.
#ForOurCity
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Watson, Emily (22-11)
L: HEEBNER, Savannah (24-9)
Batting:
3B: Hollingsworth, Julia 1
RBI: Neal, Morgan 2 ; Meinen, Haley 1 ; Spell, Rylie 1 ; Whitten, Mikayla 1
SH: Estocado, Shelby 1 ; Briers, Sarah 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hollingsworth, Julia 1 ; Neal, Morgan 1 ; Estocado, Shelby 1 ; Meinen, Haley 1 ; Spell, Rylie 1 ; Stafford, Tori 1 ; Whitten, Mikayla 1
SB: Hughes, Shannon 1 ; Stafford, Tori 1 ; Whitten, Mikayla 1
HBP: Hollingsworth, Julia 1
Batting:
HR: JAMES, Arielle 1
RBI: JAMES, Arielle 2 ; BARKER, Sarah 1
SH: CRUMPTON, Kaylin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: JAMES, Arielle 1 ; WILLIAMS, Tierrah 2
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
1
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
IF/OF
/ SoftballOF
/ SoftballUT/P
/ SoftballIF
/ Softball
C
/ SoftballIF
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P
/ Softball
IF/OF
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