2016 American Athletic Conference softball tournament
The 2016 American Athletic Conference softball tournament was held at the Collins Family Softball Complex on the campus of the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, Oklahoma from May 12 through May 14, 2016.[2] The event determined the champion of the American Athletic Conference for the 2016 NCAA Division I softball season. Third-seeded Tulsa won the Tournament for the first time 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 ESPN.[5]
| Teams | 7 |
|---|---|
| Format | Single-elimination tournament |
| Finals site | |
| Champions | Tulsa (1st title) |
| Winning coach | John Bargfeldt (1st title) |
| MVP | Maddie Withee (Tulsa) |
| Television | ESPN3 ESPNU |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 25 South Florida †y | 15 | – | 3 | .833 | 45 | – | 16 | .738 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UCF y | 12 | – | 4 | .750 | 38 | – | 22 | .633 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tulsa ‡y | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 35 | – | 21 | .625 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Houston | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 27 | – | 29 | .482 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Memphis | 7 | – | 11 | .389 | 26 | – | 31 | .456 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| East Carolina | 5 | – | 13 | .278 | 23 | – | 31 | .426 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UConn | 4 | – | 12 | .250 | 19 | – | 33 | .365 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of May 23, 2016[1] Rankings from Today/NFCA Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Previous winners of the Tournament were UCF in 2015 and former member Louisville in 2014.
Format and seeding
The conference's seven teams were seeded based on conference winning percentage from the round-robin regular season. The teams then played a single-elimination tournament with the top seed earning a single bye.
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Seed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Florida | 15 | 3 | .833 | — | 1 |
| UCF | 12 | 4 | .750 | 1.5 | 2 |
| Tulsa | 9 | 9 | .500 | 6 | 3 |
| Houston | 9 | 9 | .500 | 6 | 4 |
| Memphis | 7 | 11 | .389 | 8 | 5 |
| East Carolina | 5 | 13 | .278 | 10 | 6 |
| UConn | 4 | 12 | .250 | 10 | 7 |
Results
Bracket
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
| 1 | South Florida | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Houston | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Houston | 5 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Memphis | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | South Florida | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Tulsa | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Tulsa | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | East Carolina | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Tulsa | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | UCF | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | UCF | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | UConn | 2 | ||||||||||||
Game results
| Date | Game | Winner | Score | Loser |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 12 | Game 1 | (4) Houston | 5–4 | (5) Memphis |
| Game 2 | (2) UCF | 3–2 | (7) UConn | |
| Game 3 | (3) Tulsa | 2–0 | (6) East Carolina | |
| May 13 | Game 4 | (1) South Florida | 4–1 | (4) Houston |
| Game 5 | (3) Tulsa | 4–0 | (2) UCF | |
| May 14 | Game 6 | (3) Tulsa | 4–0 | (1) South Florida |
All-Tournament Team
The following players were named to the All-Tournament Team.<recap />
| Name | Pos. | Team |
|---|---|---|
| Samantha McCloskey | C | UCF |
| Shelby Turnier | P | UCF |
| Savannah Heebner | P | Houston |
| Courtney Klingler | 1B | Houston |
| Erica Nunn | P | South Florida |
| Lee Ann Spivey | C | South Florida |
| Lauren Evans | 1B | South Florida |
| Astin Donovan | LF | South Florida |
| Morgan Neal | 2B | Tulsa |
| Emily Watson | P | Tulsa |
| Jocelyn Sheffield | DP | Tulsa |
| Caitlin Sill | P | Tulsa |
Most Outstanding Player
Caitlin Sill was named Tournament Most Outstanding Player. Sill was a pitcher for Tulsa who earned two wins in the tournament without allowing a run.[4]
References
- "Standings & Leaders". American Athletic Conference. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
- "2016 American Athletic Conference Softball Championship Bracket Announced". American Athletic Conference. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
- "2016 Softball Championship Central". American Athletic Conference. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
- "Tulsa Defeats USF, 4-0, Wins 2016 American Softball Championship". American Athletic Conference. May 14, 2016. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
- Derek Volner (May 9, 2016). "College Softball Conference Tournaments: More than 55 Games, 12 Championships in Five Days". ESPN. Retrieved May 10, 2016.