Thursday, May 11
Tampa, Fla.
9 AM
Tulsa
vs
Houston
No. 4 Golden Hurricane to Face No. 5 Houston in First Round of American Athletic Conference Championship
5/9/2023 7:09:00 PM | Softball
Tulsa Notes | Tournament Central
TAMPA, Fla. – For the third season in a row, the University of Tulsa softball team will face Houston in the opening round of the American Athletic Conference Softball Championship.
The teams will lead off the tournament with a 10 a.m. (CT) first pitch on Thursday at USF Softball Stadium on the campus of the South Florida Bulls. The game will air on ESPN+ with Ryan Urquhart and Francesca Enea bringing fans the action.
The winner of Thursday's quarterfinal will move on to face No. 1 Wichita State in Friday's semifinal at 11 a.m. on ESPNU. This season's championship game Is scheduled for a 10 a.m. final on Saturday and will air on ESPN2. Tiffany Greene and Erin Miller will have the action for the semifinal and championship rounds.
This season marks the ninth American Athletic Conference Softball Championship the Hurricane will take part in as a league member. Tulsa holds an 11-4 record in AAC Tournament games and has won three titles in The American, doing so consecutively in 2016, 2017 and 2018. Overall, TU holds a 26-11 in conference tournaments.
Tulsa finished the regular season with a 23-27 record and was 9-9 in American Athletic Conference play, which helped the Hurricane capture the No. 4 seed. Houston took the fifth seed with a 20-29 record, 7-10 in league play.
The two teams have split the meetings in the conference tournament the past two seasons. In 2021, Tulsa hosted the championship and beat Houston 8-2 in the opening round before falling to Wichita State. Last season, Houston got its revenge with a 5-2 win in the first game.
This season, the Hurricane and Cougars met in Houston, Texas near the end of April, and it was Tulsa who came away with the series sweep on the road. Rylee Keith drove in four to lead Tulsa to a 7-0 win in the first game of the series. Imani Edwards smash a grand slam in Saturday's matchup, which was enough to lift Tulsa to a 4-2 win. In Sunday's finale, Tulsa was up against the ropes heading into the seventh but scored four runs in the top of the frame to win 6-4.
Haley Morgan enters the conference tournament in possibly the best form of the season. The senior center fielder finished the season batting .400 with seven home runs and 32 RBI, leading the team in the first two categories and sitting one behind Kailyn Bearpaw in RBI. Morgan is coming off a week where she was named The American Player of the Week. She hit .500 in Tulsa's sweep of ECU with two home runs, two doubles and seven RBI, including a career-best five RBI performance in the opening game of the series.
Maura Moore helped Tulsa sweep the conference's weekly awards as she was named the Pitcher of the Week. She tossed two complete game shutouts against the Pirates, giving her seven for the season. She allowed just four hits in 12 innings of work and struck out eight batters. This season, she's fanned 109 batters while holding opponents to a .233 batting average.
Tournament Schedule (All Times Central)
Thursday, May 11 – First Round
Game 1: No. 4 Tulsa vs No. 5 Houston – 10 a.m. (ESPN+)
Game 2: No. 2 UCF vs No. 7 Memphis – 1 p.m. (ESPN+)
Game 3: No. 3 South Florida vs No. 6 East Carolina – 4 p.m. (ESPN+)
Friday, May 12 – Semifinals
Pregame Show – 10:30 a.m. (ESPN+)
Game 4: No. 1 Wichita State vs Winner of Game 1 – 11 a.m. (ESPNU)
Pregame Show – 1 p.m. (ESPN+)
Game 5: Winner of Game 2 vs Winner of Game 3 – 1:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Saturday, May 13 – Championship Game
Pregame Show – 9:30 a.m. (ESPN+)
Game 6: Winner of Game 4 vs Winner of Game 5 – 10 a.m. (ESPN2)
TAMPA, Fla. – For the third season in a row, the University of Tulsa softball team will face Houston in the opening round of the American Athletic Conference Softball Championship.
The teams will lead off the tournament with a 10 a.m. (CT) first pitch on Thursday at USF Softball Stadium on the campus of the South Florida Bulls. The game will air on ESPN+ with Ryan Urquhart and Francesca Enea bringing fans the action.
The winner of Thursday's quarterfinal will move on to face No. 1 Wichita State in Friday's semifinal at 11 a.m. on ESPNU. This season's championship game Is scheduled for a 10 a.m. final on Saturday and will air on ESPN2. Tiffany Greene and Erin Miller will have the action for the semifinal and championship rounds.
This season marks the ninth American Athletic Conference Softball Championship the Hurricane will take part in as a league member. Tulsa holds an 11-4 record in AAC Tournament games and has won three titles in The American, doing so consecutively in 2016, 2017 and 2018. Overall, TU holds a 26-11 in conference tournaments.
Tulsa finished the regular season with a 23-27 record and was 9-9 in American Athletic Conference play, which helped the Hurricane capture the No. 4 seed. Houston took the fifth seed with a 20-29 record, 7-10 in league play.
The two teams have split the meetings in the conference tournament the past two seasons. In 2021, Tulsa hosted the championship and beat Houston 8-2 in the opening round before falling to Wichita State. Last season, Houston got its revenge with a 5-2 win in the first game.
This season, the Hurricane and Cougars met in Houston, Texas near the end of April, and it was Tulsa who came away with the series sweep on the road. Rylee Keith drove in four to lead Tulsa to a 7-0 win in the first game of the series. Imani Edwards smash a grand slam in Saturday's matchup, which was enough to lift Tulsa to a 4-2 win. In Sunday's finale, Tulsa was up against the ropes heading into the seventh but scored four runs in the top of the frame to win 6-4.
Haley Morgan enters the conference tournament in possibly the best form of the season. The senior center fielder finished the season batting .400 with seven home runs and 32 RBI, leading the team in the first two categories and sitting one behind Kailyn Bearpaw in RBI. Morgan is coming off a week where she was named The American Player of the Week. She hit .500 in Tulsa's sweep of ECU with two home runs, two doubles and seven RBI, including a career-best five RBI performance in the opening game of the series.
Maura Moore helped Tulsa sweep the conference's weekly awards as she was named the Pitcher of the Week. She tossed two complete game shutouts against the Pirates, giving her seven for the season. She allowed just four hits in 12 innings of work and struck out eight batters. This season, she's fanned 109 batters while holding opponents to a .233 batting average.
Tournament Schedule (All Times Central)
Thursday, May 11 – First Round
Game 1: No. 4 Tulsa vs No. 5 Houston – 10 a.m. (ESPN+)
Game 2: No. 2 UCF vs No. 7 Memphis – 1 p.m. (ESPN+)
Game 3: No. 3 South Florida vs No. 6 East Carolina – 4 p.m. (ESPN+)
Friday, May 12 – Semifinals
Pregame Show – 10:30 a.m. (ESPN+)
Game 4: No. 1 Wichita State vs Winner of Game 1 – 11 a.m. (ESPNU)
Pregame Show – 1 p.m. (ESPN+)
Game 5: Winner of Game 2 vs Winner of Game 3 – 1:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Saturday, May 13 – Championship Game
Pregame Show – 9:30 a.m. (ESPN+)
Game 6: Winner of Game 4 vs Winner of Game 5 – 10 a.m. (ESPN2)
Players Mentioned
IF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballSoftball | Tulsa vs Drake
Friday, February 28
Softball | Tulsa vs UMKC
Friday, February 28
SB | South Dakota State Postgame
Tuesday, February 25
Softball | Tulsa vs South Dakota State
Tuesday, February 25