WICHITA, Kan. – Anneca Anderson’s double to right-center in the bottom of the fifth inning broke a 1-1 tie and lifted Tulsa to a 2-1 win against South Florida in a first-round game of the 2024 American Athletic Conference Softball Championship Wednesday afternoon. at Wilkins Stadium.
The Golden Hurricane (30-22) advances to face either UTSA or Wichita State in a second-round matchup Thursday at 3:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. CT.
Tulsa was limited to just three hits – all doubles, including two that accounted for the Golden Hurricane’s two runs.
Anderson’s two-bagger came with two outs in the sixth as she laced a 1-1 pitch to the wall to bring home Kailyn Bearpaw, who had led off the inning with a double down the leftfield line.
Anderson’s go-ahead RBI came after South Florida had tied the game in the top of the fifth. Alexa Galligani smacked an RBI double to the wall in left, scoring Jordyn Kadlub, who drew a nine-pitch walk and stole second to lead off the inning.
The Bulls had a chance for a big inning in the top of the fourth after back-to-back singles and a hit batter loaded the bases with no outs. But Tulsa pitcher Maura Moore got a force out at home to the next hitter before striking out the next two Bulls on six pitches to escape the jam unscathed.
Tulsa responded in the bottom of the fourth as Clara Skaggs’ RBI double to left brought in Imani Edwards, who reached on a walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt.
Moore worked six innings and scattered five hits while allowing one run with two walks and seven strikeouts. Moore improved to 12-7 with the win, while Kylee Nash worked a 1-2-3 seventh inning to register her fourth save.
Payton Dixon took the loss for South Florida, falling to 17-9 after allowing two runs and three hits in six innings with three strikeouts.
Tulsa improved to 14-4 all-time in The American Championship. The 14 wins are the most by any American Athletic Conference team in the tournament’s history.
The latest information on the 2024 American Softball Championship can be found on the conference’s Championship Central site.
2024 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
May 8-11 | Wilkins Stadium | Wichita, Kansas
First Round – Wednesday, May 8 | ESPN+
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. 9 UTSA (15-41) vs. No. 4 Wichita State (25-21) 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT
Second Round – Thursday, May 9 | ESPN+
Game 5 East Carolina (38-18) vs. North Texas (31-23) 1 p.m. ET/Noon CT
Game 6 No. 5 Tulsa vs. Game 4 winner 3:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. CT
Semifinals – Friday, May 10 | ESPN+
Game 7 Game 5 winner vs. No. 2 Charlotte (36-16) 1 p.m. ET/Noon CT
Game 8 Game 6 winner vs. No. 1 Florida Atlantic (41-13) 3:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. CT
Championship Game – Saturday, May 11 | ESPN2
Game 9 Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner Noon ET/11 a.m. CT
