American Athletic Conference Softball Championship; Charlotte 10, Wichita State 1 (five innings)

WICHITA, Kan. – Arianna Rodi hit two home runs, including a backbreaking grand slam in the second inning, as Charlotte won its first conference tournament title in program history with a 10-1 victory against Wichita State Saturday morning in the American Athletic Conference Softball Championship at Wilkins Stadium.

The win sends the 49ers (38-16) to the NCAA Championship for the second consecutive season and the second time in program history. Charlotte will take a 16-game winning streak into the NCAA tournament, trailing only Texas (18) for the longest active streak nationally.

Rodi took the second pitch she saw over the left field wall in the first inning to give Charlotte a 1-0 lead and she broke the game open with a no-doubt grand slam to left in the bottom of the second to stake the 49ers to a 6-0 advantage.

Rodi finished the day 2-for-3 with five RBIs, while Makalah Mitchell and Abigail Knight both went 3-for-3 for the 49ers.

Charlotte pitcher Sam Gress, meanwhile, kept a potent Wichita State lineup at bay through four innings to get the win. Gress allowed four hits and four walks, but had six strikeouts and more importantly, stranded seven runners on base. Wichita State had scored a combined 36 runs with nine home runs in its first three tournament games.

The Shockers put their first two runners on in the top of the first inning when CC Wong reached on a grounder through the left side and the 49ers walked Addison Barnard on four pitches. But Gress froze Taylor Sedlacek on a changeup for a key strikeout before Bailey Urban lined into an inning-ending double play to short to end the threat.

Gress again escaped trouble in the second inning when Sami Hood led off with a bunt single, was sacrificed to second and took third on a wild pitch. But Gress got the text two hitters looking to strand the runner at third. The Shockers again had two runners on with one out in the third, but Gress worked out of it with a strikeout and a weak grounder to first.

After Rodi cleared the bases with her grand slam, Ella Chancey legged out a triple on a ball down the rightfield line and came home on Cori Hoffler’s grounder to short to put the 49ers ahead 7-0. Mikalah Mitchell brought Hoffler home with a grounder up the middle to give Charlotte an 8-0 lead through two innings.

Wichita State’s best chance to extend the game came in the top of the fourth, when the Shockers worked the bases loaded for Wong. Wong laced an 0-1 pitch down the leftfield line, but it landed just foul to erase what could have been a two-run double. Gress got Wong to strike out after a seven-pitch at bat to leave the bases loaded.

Trailing 10-0 in the top of the fourth, Wichita State got on the board on Bailey Urban’s RBI single that brought home Barnard, who was intentionally walked to start the inning. But the 49ers turned to Georgeanna Barefoot, The American Pitcher of the Year, to retired the next three hitters in order to end the game.

Barnard was named as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after she went 7-for-9 with six home runs, 13 RBIs, nine runs scored and a 2.889 slugging percentage in four games. Barnard was walked all three times she came to the plate Saturday.

Charlotte had six players named to the all-tournament team, while Wichita State had four and North Texas had two.

2024 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

May 8-11 | Wilkins Stadium | Wichita, Kansas

First Round – Wednesday, May 8

Game 1 No. 7 East Carolina 4, No. 6 UAB 0

Game 2 No. 3 North Texas 7, No. 10 Memphis 1

Game 3 No. 5 Tulsa 2, No. 8 South Florida 1

Game 4 No. 4 Wichita State 13, No. 9 UTSA 0 (five innings)

Second Round – Thursday, May 9

Game 5 North Texas 9, East Carolina 1

Game 6 Wichita State 11, Tulsa 9

Semifinals – Friday, May 10