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]

2016 American Athletic Conference
softball tournament
Teams7
FormatSingle-elimination tournament
Finals site
ChampionsTulsa (1st title)
Winning coachJohn Bargfeldt (1st title)
MVPMaddie Withee (Tulsa)
TelevisionESPN3
ESPNU
2016 American Athletic Conference softball standings
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

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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

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Bracket

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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

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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

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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

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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

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  1. ^ "Standings & Leaders". American Athletic Conference. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  2. ^ "2016 American Athletic Conference Softball Championship Bracket Announced". American Athletic Conference. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
  3. ^ "2016 Softball Championship Central". American Athletic Conference. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Tulsa Defeats USF, 4-0, Wins 2016 American Softball Championship". American Athletic Conference. May 14, 2016. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  5. ^ Derek Volner (May 9, 2016). "College Softball Conference Tournaments: More than 55 Games, 12 Championships in Five Days". ESPN. Retrieved May 10, 2016.