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
editThe 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
editBracket
edit| 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
edit| 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
editThe 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
editSamantha McCloskey was named Tournament Most Outstanding Player. McCloskey was a catcher for UCF.[4]
References
edit- ^ "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.
- ^ a b c "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.