Bracket Set For 2018 American Athletic Conference Softball Championship

Bracket | Championship Central

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – ECU (23-31, 8-13) has earned the No. 7 seed for the 2018 American Athletic Conference Softball Championship and will face No. 2 seed Houston (35-19, 13-8) Thursday at 12:30 p.m. in a quarterfinal matchup in Tampa, Fla. The three-day, single-elimination tournament will be held May 10-12 at the USF Softball Stadium.

All quarterfinal and semifinal contests will be broadcast live on the American Digital Network via Facebook at facebook.com/americanconf. Saturday's championship will air live on ESPN2, beginning at Noon ET/11 a.m. CT. All rounds are single-elimination, with the tournament champion earning The American's automatic bid to the 2018 NCAA Division I Softball Championship.

The Pirates and Cougars met during the regular season March 23-24 in Greenville to open AAC play. ECU used a walkoff home run by redshirt senior Alex Mycek to claim the series opener 3-2 in eight innings before the Cougars rebounded with 10-7 and 11-0 victories the next day in a doubleheader.

Houston won last season's meeting in the league tournament semifinals at the ECU Softball Stadium, downing the Pirates 6-0 behind Savannah Heebner's complete-game shutout. ECU knocked off UCF in the quarterfinals for its first-ever win in the event.

By claiming its final weekend series with Wichita State, USF (36-20, 14-7) enters The American Championship as the top seed for the second time in the past three seasons. The host Bulls will open tournament play at 6:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, squaring off with No. 8 UConn (20-34, 5-16). USF dealt the Huskies a series sweep in the opening week of conference play.

In its first year as a member of The American, Wichita State (30-20, 12-9) is the No. 3 seed after earning a three-game sweep of No. 4 seed UCF (34-21, 12-9) during the conference circuit. The Shockers will open the tournament against the defending champions and No. 6 seed Tulsa (30-23, 10-11) at 10 a.m. ET on Thursday, with the Knights taking on No. 5 Memphis (36-20, 10-11) at 4 p.m. ET.

For ticket information and full coverage of the American Athletic Conference Softball Championship, visit TheAmerican.org/Softball and follow @American_SBall on Twitter.

2018 American Athletic Conference Softball Championship
USF Softball Stadium – Tampa, Fla.

Quarterfinals – Thursday, May 10
American Digital Network
Game 1: No. 3 Wichita State vs. No. 6 Tulsa – 10 a.m. ET/9 a.m. CT
Game 2: No. 2 Houston vs. No. 7 ECU – 12:30 p.m. ET/11:30 p.m. CT
Game 3: No. 4 UCF vs. No. 5 Memphis – 4 p.m. ET/3 p.m. CT
Game 4: No. 1 USF vs. No. 8 UConn – 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT

Semifinals – Friday, May 11
American Digital Network
Game 5: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 – 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT
Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 – 4:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. CT

Championship – Saturday, May 12
ESPN2
Game 7: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6 – Noon ET/11 a.m. CT

Bracket Set For 2018 American Athletic Conference Softball Championship

Players Mentioned

Alex Mycek

Footer