TU to Open Play at the American Athletic Conference Championship on Thursday

Weekly Notes | Tournament Bracket

TULSA, Okla. — The University of Tulsa softball team will open play at the 2018 American Athletic Conference Championship in Tampa, Fla., against Wichita State at 9 a.m. (CT) on Thursday, May 10.

The Golden Hurricane (30-23) will look to secure its third consecutive American Tournament title. Dating back to its time as a member of Conference USA, TU has advanced to the title game of its league tournament each of the last four seasons. To reach the title game again, Tulsa must win Thursday's quarterfinal and then defeat either Houston or ECU in Friday's semifinal, which will take place at 1 p.m. (CT). Saturday's championship game will start at 11 a.m. (CT) and the game can be seen on ESPN2.

Tulsa wrapped up the regular-season last weekend at home by winning two of its three contests against UConn. Emily Watson tossed two shutouts and struck out 25 with just five hits allowed and no walks against the Huskies to earn her fourth American Pitcher of the Week honor this season. Morgan Neal helped fuel the offense by hitting .571 with a pair of RBIs and a stolen base during the series.

Meanwhile, the Shockers (30-20) earned the No. 3 seed in this week's tournament. Wichita State played for a share of the conference title in the regular-season finale, but fell 3-1 at USF. The Shockers had the top offense in The American during conference play, as it led the circuit in batting average, slugging percentage, runs scored, hits, RBIs, doubles and home runs. For the season, WSU was led by Mackenzie Wright's .377 average, while Laurie Derrico hit .296 with a team-leading 11 homers and 35 RBIs.

In the circle, Bailey Lange paced the Shockers' pitchers by going 18-11 with a 2.81 ERA and 177 strikeouts in 181.2 innings.

Tulsa won its series against Wichita State this season by taking 2-of-3 from the Shockers in Wichita, April 7-8. Watson picked up the win in both games for TU with a 2.50 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 14 innings of work.

Schedule
Thursday, May 10
9 a.m. (CT) — No. 6 Tulsa vs. No. 3 Wichita State — Stats/Video

Friday, May 11
1 p.m. (CT) — No. 6 Tulsa/No. 3 Wichita State vs. No. 2 Houston/No. 7 ECU — Stats/Video

Saturday, May 12
11 a.m. (CT) — Championship Game — Stats/Video

Notes
Tulsa Heads to Tampa for 2018 American Athletic Conference Championship
• Tulsa will head to the Sunshine State for the American Athletic Conference Championship this week in Tampa, Fla. TU will play as the No. 6 seed in the tournament and open at 9 a.m. (CT) against third-seeded Wichita State on Thursday, May 10.
• Tulsa took 2-of-3 games against the Shockers in Wichita, April 6-8.
• The winner of Thursday's contest will advance to face either No. 2 Houston or No. 7 ECU at 1 p.m. (CT) on Friday afternoon. Saturday's championship game will start at 11 a.m. (CT) and can be seen on ESPN2.

Trending
• Emily Watson leads The American and ranks seventh in the nation with 264 strikeouts this season. Watson has struck out at least 10 batters in a game 13 times this season.
• Watson recorded 126 strikeouts in 15 appearances during conference play. Over her last three starts (21 innings) she has posted 35 punchouts (10-11-14). No other league pitcher had more than 75 Ks during conference action.
• With a win in the regular-season finale, Tulsa has now won at least 30 games in 17 consecutive seasons, including all 13 campaigns under head coach John Bargfeldt.
• Julia Hollingsworth led TU and ranked eighth in the conference with a .371 batting average during league play. The junior's 26 hits against conference opponents ranked third in the circuit.

TU in the Conference Tournament
• Tulsa will be seeking its third straight conference tournament title after winning it all in 2016 and 2017. The Golden Hurricane has advanced to the title game in three of the last four years, dating back to its time in Conference USA.
• Overall, Tulsa has claimed six conference tournament titles (2006, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017), all under head coach John Bargfledt. TU owns a 7-1 record (three appearances) in The American Championship.

Ahead Early
• Tulsa has gotten off to a quick start with runs in the first inning in 22 of its 53 games.
• The Hurricane has outscored its opponents 39-17 in the first inning and has only allowed its opponent to score in the first inning of 13 games during the campaign.
• TU has capitalized on the early lead this spring, going 17-5 when scoring in the first inning. The Hurricane also is 23-7 when the team scores first.
• The early run support has been a big part of the team's success as TU is 23-3 when leading after four innings, 21-1 when leading after five innings and 18-1 when leading after six innings.

Hurricane Honors in The American
• TU has had several student-athletes honored by the American Athletic Conference and NFCA via its weekly awards this season.
• Emily Watson has been named The American Pitcher of the Week four times this season (13 times in her career), including on April 2 after she went 2-0 with a save and 23 strikeouts in 15 innings during the sweep of ECU. The senior also earned Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Pitcher of the Week honors for her efforts against the Pirates.
• Hurricane hitters also have had success as Tori Stafford was named Player of the Week on March 19. Meanwhile, Shelby Estocado, Morgan Neal and Julia Hollingsworth have been named to the conference's weekly honor roll this season, as well.

Career Numbers Update
• Emily Watson ranks in the program's all-time top 10 in several categories, including ERA (2nd, 1.72), opposing batting average (2nd, .206), strikeouts (2nd, 861), shutouts (2nd, 31), wins (2nd, 70), games started (2nd, 104), complete-games (2nd, 72), innings pitched (3rd, 663.0), appearances (5th, 122) and saves (6th, 5).
• Shelby Estocado ranks third in program history with 30 homers, including seven round-trippers this season. She also is fifth with 127 RBIs and ranks seventh with 320 total bases.
• Julia Hollingsworth ranks second in program history with a .453 on-base percentage, while her career .366 batting average ranks second. She ranks sixth with 40 stolen bases and her eight triples are tied for third. Hollingsworth tied a single-game record with a pair of triples in Tulsa's win over Nicholls State (March 3).

Look Who's Back
• Tulsa returns 13 letterwinners, including six position starters, the designated player and three pitchers, from last year's team which went 41-17 and won its first American Athletic Conference regular-season title with a 15-3 league mark.
• The TU offense will bring back all of its home runs, 79.3-percent of its extra-base hits, 76-percent of its runs scored, 74.3-percent of its RBIs and 71.1-percent of its hits from last year's squad.
• The lineup will see the return of NFCA All-Region picks Julia Hollingsworth (OF) and Haley Meinen (DP), while the pitching staff will see the return of second-team NFCA All-American Emily Watson.

It's Elementary, Watson
• The Golden Hurricane pitching staff is anchored by NFCA All-American Emily Watson. The senior nearly set a program single-season record with 348 strikeouts, while her 14 shutouts set a new program standard and led the nation last season.
• Watson also set single-season records with 30 wins, 36 starts, 29 complete games and 246.2 innings pitched.
• The senior was announced as one of 50 players across the nation on the "Watch List" for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award and she was one of 30 candidates for the Senior CLASS Award.
• In addition, Watson became the second-ever TU player to be selected in the NPF Draft when the Beijing Shougang Eagles took her at No. 8 overall on April 23.
• So far in 2018, she has compiled a 20-11 record with a 1.68 ERA and 264 strikeouts in 204.2 innings pitched.

Tulsa Picked to Repeat as American Athletic Conference Champs
• Tulsa garnered six first-place votes and the squad was picked to repeat as American Athletic Conference champions by the league's coaches.
• TU earned 48 points in the poll, while Houston picked up a pair of first-place nods and 44 points to rank second.
• The duo was followed by USF, UCF, Wichita State, Memphis, UConn and ECU.
• Last season, TU won both the regular-season and tournament titles, sweeping those championships for the first time since 2014 when the Hurricane accomplished the feat in its final season as a member of Conference USA.

The Schedule
• Tulsa's 2018 schedule saw the team play 10 games against teams that participated in the NCAA Tournament a season ago.
• The schedule also had the Hurricane matched-up with teams that started the season either ranked or receiving votes. Texas A&M is 14th in the NFCA Coaches Poll, while TU also faced defending national champion Oklahoma (April 17) and Oklahoma State (March 21, April 4).
• Meanwhile, McNeese State (Feb. 9-10), Texas State (Feb. 24) and St. Francis (Pa.) (March 17) also started the season receiving votes.

TU Success Under Coach Bargfeldt
• Now in his 13th season at Tulsa, head coach John Bargfeldt is the program's longest-tenured head coach and has the most wins and highest winning percentage in school history.
• Prior to Bargfeldt's arrival, the program had just four winning seasons in 13 years and did not win a conference title or appear in an NCAA Regional.
• Since his hiring prior to the 2006 season, the Golden Hurricane has had a winning record in all 13 campaigns with six regular-season and six conference tournament titles. In addition, TU has advanced to nine NCAA Regionals, including a spot in the postseason for six of the last seven years.

Up Next
• A win in Thursday's quarterfinal would advance TU to Friday's semifinal at 1 p.m. (CT) against either second-seeded Houston or the No. 7 seed ECU. Saturday's championship game will start at 11 a.m. (CT) and can be seen on ESPN2.

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TU to Open Play at the American Athletic Conference Championship on Thursday

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