Back-to-Back-to-Back! TU Claims Third Straight Conference Title with 4-1 Win Over USF

Saturday, May 12

Tampa, Fla.

11 AM

Tulsa

33-23

USF

38-21

Tulsa

USF

Photo by: Ben Solomon

Back-to-Back-to-Back! TU Claims Third Straight Conference Title with 4-1 Win Over USF

5/12/2018 2:08:00 PM | Softball

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TAMPA, Fla. — Emily Watson allowed just an unearned run on three hits with eight strikeouts as Tulsa defeated top-seeded USF, 4-1, to claim its third straight American Athletic Conference Championship on Saturday afternoon at the USF Softball Stadium.

Tulsa, who defeated each of the top three seeds in the tournament, will learn its NCAA Regional destination at 9 p.m. on Sunday, May 13 when the NCAA Tournament Selection Show will be broadcast on ESPN2. Overall, it's the seventh conference tournament title (2006, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018) for TU, with all seven coming under head coach John Bargfeldt.

For the second straight season, Watson was named the championship's Most Outstanding Player. The senior pitched all 21 innings for the Golden Hurricane (33-23) and went 3-0, out-dueling all three pitchers who were named to the all-conference first team, with a 0.33 ERA and a tournament-record 36 strikeouts.

She was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Julia Hollingsworth, Morgan Neal and Haley Meinen.

Neal went 3-for-4 in the contest, while Meinen went 1-for-3 with two RBIs to help fuel the offense. Shelby Estocado also had an RBI double, while fellow senior Shannon Hughes drove in a run as well.

Meanwhile, Astin Donovan had two of the three hits against Watson for the Bulls (38-21).

For the third consecutive tournament game, the Hurricane struck first and once again, it was Hollingsworth getting the rally started. This time, the junior battled back from an 0-2 count to draw a walk before Neal lined a single up the middle. A sacrifice bunt from Estocado moved the runners over and an intentional walk to Meinen loaded the bases.

After a strikeout, Hughes delivered with a hard single down the third base line. USF third baseman Brooke Hartman got a piece of the ball and recovered in time to throw out Neal at home after Hollingsworth scored to end the inning.

The Hurricane extended the lead to 3-0 with a pair of runs in the third inning. With one out, Estocado plugged the gap in right-center with a double to bring home Neal, who singled earlier in the frame. Meinen then dropped an RBI-single to left and Estocado beat the throw home for the 3-0 advantage.

The inning chased USF starter and conference Co-Pitcher of the Year Georgina Corrick from the contest.

USF broke up the shutout with an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth, but Tulsa got that run right back in the top of the fifth. Hollingsworth started the frame with a walk and she stole second before moving to third on Estocado's deep fly ball to right. She then touched home when Meinen produced an RBI groundout for a 4-1 lead.

From there, Watson allowed just one hit, a two-out single to Donovan in the bottom of the sixth, and the Edmond, Okla., native struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh to close out the 4-1 victory.

Watson closed her career in the American Championship with a perfect 6-0 record, a 0.17 ERA and 68 strikeouts in 42 innings of work.

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