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Photo by: Ben Solomon
Softball Season In Review
6/15/2018 10:25:00 AM | Softball
Final Release
The University of Tulsa softball team closed its 26th season of play with a 34-25 record, a third consecutive American Athletic Conference Tournament Championship and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season. The 2018 season marked the 17th straight year that the Golden Hurricane has recorded at least 30 wins, including all 13 campaigns under head coach John Bargfeldt.
TU won three games in as many days (May 10-12) at the USF Softball Stadium in Tampa, Fla., to earn its third straight American Championship. The squad defeated the top three seeds in the tournament field (No. 3 Wichita State, No. 2 Houston, No. 1 USF) claim the program's seventh all-time conference tournament title.
Second-team all-conference pick Emily Watson was named the event's Most Outstanding Player after she went 3-0 in the circle with a 0.33 ERA and a tournament-record 36 strikeouts. She became the first league player to earn MOP honors twice and she was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Julia Hollingsworth, Morgan Neal and Haley Meinen.
Tulsa started the NCAA Norman Regional with a bang as the Golden Hurricane slammed Missouri, 9-1, in five innings behind Rylie Spell's career-high-tying five RBIs. The junior helped end the contest early with her first career grand slam and TU scored all nine of its runs with two outs. However, TU fell to No. 4 national seed Oklahoma and the season came to an end following a 6-5 setback against the Tigers.
Several TU student-athletes were honored for their outstanding performances during the regular-season. Hollingsworth was named first-team all-conference and second-team NFCA All-Central Region, while Spell picked up the conference's Defensive Player of the Year award. The Golden Hurricane saw five players named second-team all-conference, including Spell, Watson, Meinen, Shelby Estocado and Mikayla Whitten.
Hollingsworth led The American in runs scored for the second straight year and set a TU single-season record for triples with seven. She finished her junior season with a team-leading .380 batting average to go along with a .484 on-base percentage and .547 slugging percentage.
Watson, who also earned second-team NFCA All-Central Region laurels, wrapped up her career by going 24-12 with a 1.60 ERA and 306 strikeouts. She is the first player in program history to record two seasons of at least 300 strikeouts. After being selected with the eighth overall pick in the National Pro Fastpitch Draft, Watson signed with the Beijing-Shougang Eagles and made her professional debut on May 23, taking a win over the Aussie Spirit with 10 strikeouts in a complete-game effort.
The University of Tulsa softball team closed its 26th season of play with a 34-25 record, a third consecutive American Athletic Conference Tournament Championship and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season. The 2018 season marked the 17th straight year that the Golden Hurricane has recorded at least 30 wins, including all 13 campaigns under head coach John Bargfeldt.
TU won three games in as many days (May 10-12) at the USF Softball Stadium in Tampa, Fla., to earn its third straight American Championship. The squad defeated the top three seeds in the tournament field (No. 3 Wichita State, No. 2 Houston, No. 1 USF) claim the program's seventh all-time conference tournament title.
Second-team all-conference pick Emily Watson was named the event's Most Outstanding Player after she went 3-0 in the circle with a 0.33 ERA and a tournament-record 36 strikeouts. She became the first league player to earn MOP honors twice and she was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Julia Hollingsworth, Morgan Neal and Haley Meinen.
Tulsa started the NCAA Norman Regional with a bang as the Golden Hurricane slammed Missouri, 9-1, in five innings behind Rylie Spell's career-high-tying five RBIs. The junior helped end the contest early with her first career grand slam and TU scored all nine of its runs with two outs. However, TU fell to No. 4 national seed Oklahoma and the season came to an end following a 6-5 setback against the Tigers.
Several TU student-athletes were honored for their outstanding performances during the regular-season. Hollingsworth was named first-team all-conference and second-team NFCA All-Central Region, while Spell picked up the conference's Defensive Player of the Year award. The Golden Hurricane saw five players named second-team all-conference, including Spell, Watson, Meinen, Shelby Estocado and Mikayla Whitten.
Hollingsworth led The American in runs scored for the second straight year and set a TU single-season record for triples with seven. She finished her junior season with a team-leading .380 batting average to go along with a .484 on-base percentage and .547 slugging percentage.
Watson, who also earned second-team NFCA All-Central Region laurels, wrapped up her career by going 24-12 with a 1.60 ERA and 306 strikeouts. She is the first player in program history to record two seasons of at least 300 strikeouts. After being selected with the eighth overall pick in the National Pro Fastpitch Draft, Watson signed with the Beijing-Shougang Eagles and made her professional debut on May 23, taking a win over the Aussie Spirit with 10 strikeouts in a complete-game effort.
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