| Year: | 2016 |
| Conference: | American Athletic Conference |
| Shortconference: | American |
| Division: | I |
| Teams: | 7 |
| Format: | Single-elimination tournament |
| Ballpark: | Collins Family Softball Complex |
| City: | Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Titlecount: | 1st |
| Coach: | John Bargfeldt |
| Coachcount: | 1st |
| Mvp: | Maddie Withee |
| Mvpteam: | Tulsa |
| Television: | ESPN3 ESPNU |
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.[1] The event determined the champion of the American Athletic Conference for the 2016 NCAA Division I softball season. Third-seeded won the Tournament for the first time and earned the American Athletic Conference's automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA Division I softball tournament.[2] [3] All games were televised; the quarterfinals and semifinals were shown on the American Digital Network while the championship was broadcast on ESPN.[4]
Previous winners of the Tournament were UCF in 2015 and former member Louisville in 2014.
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | 3 | .833 | — | 1 | ||
| 12 | 4 | .750 | 1.5 | 2 | ||
| 9 | 9 | .500 | 6 | 3 | ||
| 9 | 9 | .500 | 6 | 4 | ||
| 7 | 11 | .389 | 8 | 5 | ||
| 5 | 13 | .278 | 10 | 6 | ||
| 4 | 12 | .250 | 10 | 7 |
| Date | Game | Winner | Score | Loser | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 12 | Game 1 | (4) | 5–4 | (5) | |
| Game 2 | (2) | 3–2 | (7) | ||
| Game 3 | (3) | 2–0 | (6) | ||
| May 13 | Game 4 | (1) | 4–1 | (4) | |
| Game 5 | (3) | 4–0 | (2) | ||
| May 14 | Game 6 | (3) | 4–0 | (1) |
The following players were named to the All-Tournament Team.
| 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 |
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.