2015 American Athletic Conference softball tournament
The 2015 American Athletic Conference softball tournament was held at the UCF Softball Complex on the campus of the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida, from May 7 through May 9, 2015.[2] The event determined the champion of the American Athletic Conference for the 2015 NCAA Division I softball season. Top-seeded UCF won the tournament and earned the American Athletic Conference's automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA Division I softball tournament.[3][4] All games were televised; the quarterfinals and semifinals were shown on the American Digital Network while the championship was broadcast on ESPN2.[5]
| Teams | 7 |
|---|---|
| Format | Single-elimination tournament |
| Finals site | |
| Champions | UCF (1st title) |
| Winning coach | Renee Luers-Gillispie (1st title) |
| MVP | Samantha McCloskey (UCF) |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 16 UCF †‡y | 16 | – | 2 | .889 | 50 | – | 9 | .847 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tulsa | 12 | – | 6 | .667 | 36 | – | 18 | .667 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Houston | 10 | – | 7 | .588 | 28 | – | 27 | .509 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| East Carolina | 7 | – | 11 | .389 | 16 | – | 37 | .302 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| South Florida | 6 | – | 10 | .375 | 36 | – | 20 | .643 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Memphis | 6 | – | 12 | .333 | 19 | – | 34 | .358 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UConn | 4 | – | 13 | .235 | 18 | – | 35 | .340 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of May 17, 2015[1] Rankings from USA Today/NFCA Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former member Louisville won the only previous event, in 2014, and then departed for the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Format and seeding
The American's 7 teams were seeded based on their conference winning percentage from the round-robin regular season. They then played a single elimination tournament, with the top seed receiving a single bye.
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Seed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UCF | 16 | 2 | .889 | — | 1 |
| Tulsa | 12 | 6 | .667 | 4 | 2 |
| Houston | 10 | 7 | .588 | 5.5 | 3 |
| East Carolina | 7 | 11 | .389 | 9 | 4 |
| South Florida | 6 | 10 | .375 | 9.5 | 5 |
| Memphis | 6 | 12 | .333 | 10 | 6 |
| UConn | 4 | 13 | .235 | 11.5 | 7 |
Results
Bracket
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
| 1 | UCF | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | South Florida | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | East Carolina | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | South Florida | 5 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | UCF | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Tulsa | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Tulsa | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | UConn | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Tulsa | 5 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Houston | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Houston | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Memphis | 0 | ||||||||||||
Game results
| Date | Game | Winner | Score | Loser |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 7 | Game 1 | (3) Houston | 1–0 | (6) Memphis |
| Game 2 | (2) Tulsa | 1–0 | (7) UConn | |
| Game 3 | (5) South Florida | 5–0 | (4) East Carolina | |
| May 8 | Game 4 | (2) Tulsa | 5–2 | (3) Houston |
| Game 5 | (1) UCF | 3–1 | (5) South Florida | |
| May 9 | Game 6 | (1) UCF | 1–0 | (2) Tulsa |
All-Tournament Team
The following players were named to the All-Tournament Team.[4]
| Name | Pos. | School |
|---|---|---|
| D’Anna Devine | OF | USF |
| Shelby Miller | P | Houston |
| Julana Shrum | DP/P | Houston |
| Jodi Edmiston | RF | Tulsa |
| Caitlin Sill | P | Tulsa |
| Jocelyn Sheffield | DP | Tulsa |
| Maddie Withee | CF | Tulsa |
| Mackenzie Audas | P | UCF |
| Kahley Novak | 2B | UCF |
| Shelby Turnier | P | UCF |
| Jessica Ujvari | DP | UCF |
| Samantha McCloskey | C | UCF |
Most Outstanding Player
Samantha McCloskey was named Tournament Most Outstanding Player. McCloskey was a catcher for UCF.[4]
References
- "Standings & Leaders". American Athletic Conference. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
- "Bracket Announced for 2015 American Softball Championship". American Athletic Conference. May 3, 2015. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
- "2015 Softball Championship Central". American Athletic Conference. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
- "UCF Walks Off With American Softball Championship". American Athletic Conference. May 9, 2015. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
- "NCAA Division I Softball: ESPN Networks to Carry 400 Games". ESPN. January 27, 2015. Retrieved April 6, 2021.