Tulsa
Houston
Tulsa Opens AAC Championship Against Houston
5/12/2021 3:20:00 PM | Softball
AAC Championship - Houston Cougars
GAME NOTES
Tulsa Golden Hurricane (24-15, 15-8) vs. Houston Cougars (17-32, 8-16)
Date: Thursday | May 13
Time:Â 5:00 PMÂ Â
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Site: Collins Family Softball Complex - Tulsa, Okla.
TV LINK: ESPN+Â Â
TULSA IN THE AAC TOURNAMENT
• This is the 5th American Athletic Conference Softball Championship that the Hurricane has played in ... Tulsa is 10-2 in tournament games, winning 3 AAC Championship titles.
• Overall, the Hurricane has a 25-9 record in conference tournament play.
• The last time the Hurricane hosted the championship at the Collins Family Softball Complex was in 2016, winning the championship by defeating ECU 2-0, No. 25-ranked UCF Knights 4-0 and the No. 24-ranked USF Bulls 4-0.Â
• Tulsa is the only AAC school to hold their opponents scoreless in an AAC Championship, doing so in 2016 outscoring opponents 10-0 and 2017 taking out its opponents 7-0.Â
• Tulsa is the 3-time reigning champions, winning in 2016, 2017 and 2018, as the 2019 tournament was not completed due to rain and 2020 canceled due to Covid-19.
A LOOK AT TULSA-HOUSTON THIS YEAR
• The Hurricane will begin the 2021 AAC Championship facing Houston at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 13 after playing the Cougars in the season finale May 7-9. .
• Tulsa and Houston split the season series 2-2.
• Houston enters the game after finishing the season with a 17-32 record overall and a 8-16 clip in conference play.
• UH is led in the circle by Rachel Hertenberger with a 6-10 record in 21 starts ... from the plate, Sarah Queen leads the Cougars with a .347 average, 50 hits, 13 HRs and 34 RBIs.Â
THE SERIES AGAINST THE COUGARS
• This is the 50th meeting between Tulsa and Houston ... the Hurricane holds a 27-22 series advantage.
• Each team has defended their home diamond ... Tulsa has a 14-8 record at home and Houston has a 14-7 record on their home field.Â
• The last time the Hurricane faced the Cougars at the Collins Family Softball Complex was 2019 as the Hurricane took the series 2-1, losing the finale 4-3.Â
• The two teams have met 5 times in a conference tournament as Tulsa leads 4-1… Tulsa holds a 3-0 record in the AAC Tournament and the teams were 1-1 in the C-USA Tournament.
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THE 9 TO 1 CONNECTION
• During the last 5 games, against Wichita State and Houston, Celyna Shaw and Kylie Norwood have hit in the 9 and 1 slots in the batting order.
 • The duo has combined for an .393 (11-28) batting average, using their bats to produce for the Hurricane ... during the streak the 2 have also combined for 5 walks.
• In the 5 game stretch, Shaw recorded a hit or reached a base on a walk or hit by pitch 9 times, following those 9 instances, Norwood followed Shaw by recording a hit or reaching base.Â
• In the last game of the Wichita State series and the first game of the Houston series the two recorded back-to-back solo home runs.
GOLDEN HURRICANE AGAINST THE TOP 75 RPI
• The Hurricane has taken on 16 teams that currently rank in the top 75 RPI ... of the 16 teams, 11 have been American Athletic Conference opponents in Wichita State, USF and UCF ... the 5 non-conference opponents include Texas A&M, Oklahoma State and Kansas.
 • Against the 16 teams the Hurricane holds a record of 5-11 ... in AAC top 75 RPI matchups, Tulsa holds a 5-6 record, including a 3-1 series edge against then-No. 22 UCF Knights.
• From the plate, Kylie Norwood has dominated in the big games for Tulsa ... she has started all 16 games, going 21-56 (.375) from the plate with 7 extra base hits and 9 RBIs. .
• Chenise Delce has led from the circle with a 3.80 earned run average in 8 starts over 42.1 innings pitched ... she has 39 strikeouts, but just a 2-6 record.
FRESHMAN FRENZY
• The Hurricane has used 3 true freshmen and 4 Covid-19 freshmen to propel its offense, defense and pitching this season..
 • Second-year freshman Haley Morgan has started every game for the Hurricane in center field this season, while also hitting in the two hole of the batting order ... she has a .327 batting average with 33 hits and 17 RBIs.
• True freshman Imani Edwards has been a mainstay in the Hurricane lineup ... she is hitting .283 with 30 hits in 106 at bats .. she has a .340 slugging percentage and leads the team with 10 stolen bases.
 • True freshman Kennedy Cramer and RS-freshman Gracie Jarvis have both been used as pinch runners this season ... the duo has combined for 20 runs and 10 stolen bases on the season.
• From the circle, true freshman Kylee Nash and RS-freshman Sara Llamas-Howell have combined for a 3-7 record, striking out a combined 42 batters.
