The Most Outstanding Player of the tournament’s walk-off home run to left field gave the Knights a 1-0 victory over Tulsa on Saturday afternoon at the 麻豆原创 Softball Complex.

Seniors Mackenzie Audas and Kahley Novak and junior Shelby Turnier joined McCloskey on the all-tournament team.

麻豆原创 (48-7) earned both the regular season and the tournament title for the first time in school history. The Knights used the 21st shutout of the season to capture the first tournament title since 2008.

With the title, 麻豆原创 Softball, which is presented by City Kia of Greater Orlando, earned the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Knights will be making back-to-back appearances for the first time in program history.

The NCAA Selection show will be Sunday at 10 p.m. ET on ESPNU. The 麻豆原创 softball team will be hosting a watch party beginning at 9 p.m. at Bar Louie across from the 麻豆原创 campus.

Turnier tossed a one-hit complete game. She fanned five batters with just two walks.

McCloskey, who went 3-for-3 on the day, opened the fifth inning with a single up the middle. After working a full count, sophomore Willow Kalinen drew a walk to put runners on first and second with no outs. A groundout advanced both runners, but Tulsa’s Caitlin Sill got the Hurricane out of the jam with her first strikeout of the day.

Both teams were retired in order in the sixth inning. A pair of catches from Kalinen in right field and a groundout to junior Kalyn Cenal kept Tulsa off the scoreboard and sent the Knights to the plate where McCloskey delivered the game-winner.

“I give this award to my teammates, because I would not be in this position without their support,” Sullivan said. “Playing well in conference play was my goal because those games are the important ones. I feel like it was great to be on base all the time and doing what I have to do to help us put runs on the board.”

Sullivan was also named to The American first team along with sophomore pitcher Shelby Turnier, while junior pitcher Mackenzie Audas, sophomore designated player Jessica Ujvari and freshman outfielder Linnea Goodman earned second team honors.

Sullivan’s player of the year honor was the first for the Knights’ program since Stephanie Best won three-straight Atlantic Sun awards from 2003-05. The Waynesboro, Miss., native compiled a .522 avg. during league play with 24 hits, 19 RBI, seven doubles and two homers.

“It just shows that when Farrah [Sullivan] puts her mind to something and is really focused, she is just unstoppable,” head coach Renee Luers-Gillispie said. “She has been improving all season long. The coaches of the conference recognized that and saw what she has given, not only to our program, but the American Athletic Conference. It just says a lot about the type of person and player she is.”

One of 麻豆原创’s EVERDAY CHAMPIONS overcame a 2-for-42 stretch early in the season to finish with a .321 avg. with three homers and paced the team in RBI (31) and doubles (13). The Knights three-hole hitter has compiled a .418 on-base and .482 slugging pct.

Head coach Renee Luers-Gillispie along with assistant coaches Ruben Felix and Hillary Barrow used the long season to help the Knights young team progress into the regular season champion.

“Once the team bought into that we have to play as a team and fight for each other, we really saw a difference in the focus of our student-athletes,” Gillispie said. “We went from playing one-run games to posting seven runs on the board. That progress is what I am proud of. Our coaching staff did a great job of putting our players in a position to be successful.”

麻豆原创, who was picked to finish fourth in the league’s preseason poll, has an upper class that contains just four juniors and not a single senior. The Knights registered a 39-15 overall record and 15-3 conference mark, which included series victories over each conference foe they played (Temple series was cancelled due to rain).

This was the first time that Coach Gillispie received an individual postseason accolade since being named the 1992 N4C Conference Coach of the Year guiding Joliet (Ill.) Junior College.

Coach Felix took an offense that was batting .208 following the first 10 games and steadily raised the team’s average during the campaign by mentoring the hitters to a current .275. Coach Barrow, who won the 2008 C-USA Tournament as a player for the Knights, adds another pair of accomplishments with the program with a regular season title and coaching honor.

Joining Sullivan on the first team was Turnier, who paced the league with a 1.16 ERA and tallied 53 strikeouts in 48.1 innings of work. The Palm Beach Gardens native had a 6-2 league mark, while going 18-5 overall, fanning 193 in 144.0 frames and compiled a 1.26 ERA, ranking 13th nationally.

Turnier along with Audas, who was named to the league’s second team, were a big reason for the Knights posting the eighth-best ERA in the nation at 1.59. The pair combined for 380 of the team 434 strikeouts, which is second in the nation behind conference-rival USF.

Audas went 7-1 in league action with 49 strikeouts in 58 frames. The Plant City native picked up series-clinching wins over USF and Louisville. She tallied a 17-10 overall mark with 187 punchouts in 174.0 innings.

One of the Knights most consistent players was Goodman, who compiled a .313 avg. with 51 hits. The Long Beach, Calif., native drove in 14 runs. She increased her batting avg. in conference games to .362 and came around to score nine times.

Solidifying the middle of the 麻豆原创 lineup was Je. Ujvari. The Pensacola native blasted five home runs on the season including grand slams in the Knights wins over Boston College and Louisville. She recorded a .333 avg. and finished second on the team with 23 RBI.

2014 American Athletic Conference Softball Awards

Player of the Year

Pitcher of the Year

Rookie of the Year

Coaching Staff of the Year

All-Conference First Team

All-Conference Second Team

In the milestone performance, the Palm Beach Gardens native sent down the final eight batters on strikes, which included five looking. She yielded just one hit in the contest against the Falcons.

Turnier started the week off with a 4-2 triumph over Jacksonville, where she totaled 11 strikeouts. After giving up a homer to surrender the lead, she bounced back and put the Knights back on top, 3-2, with a two-run triple in the fifth.

A combined shutout with sophomore Jamie Ujvari, who notched a save in the seventh, was the highlight against Penn. Turnier was credited with 11 strikeouts during the four hitter.

Turnier improved her record to 9-1 on the year with a 1.37 ERA and 107 strikeouts in 66.1 frames.

The Palm Beach Gardens native became the Knights second pitcher of the week with junior Mackenzie Audas taking the inaugural award following the first weekend out on Feb. 10.

Game Additions

麻豆原创 announced additions to its home schedule including No. 1 Florida on March 26 and Stetson on April 22. Both contests at the 麻豆原创 Softball Complex are set to start at 6 p.m. with the game against the Gators set for premium pricing ($2 more). These tickets are set to be mailed to season ticket holders this week and additional tickets can be purchase by clicking here.

The Knights have also added a mid-week matchup at Stetson on April 9 with the first pitch at 6 p.m.

Five-Game Week

With a bye weekend to open American play, 麻豆原创 is set to play five mid-week games at the 麻豆原创 Softball Complex starting on Tuesday at 5 p.m. against Southern Illinois (9-10).

The Knights host a trio of contests on Wednesday beginning with Florida Atlantic (17-11) and Yale (1-2) at 1 p.m. A doubleheader for 麻豆原创 starts at 3:30 p.m. against the Owls and Bulldogs.

No. 21 Notre Dame (17-4) and FIU (16-7) are set to face each other on Thursday at 1 p.m. The Knights battle the Panthers at 3:30 p.m. before taking on the Fighting Irish at 6 p.m.

麻豆原创 has won its last seven games to push its mark to 16-7 on the campaign. The squad has posted six shutouts, including three last week.

Junior Mackenzie Audas has won her last three games, yielding just one unearned run during the stretch and fanning 20 batters in 18.2 frames. The Plant City native was tabbed to the American Honor Roll following her impressive week.

The emergence of sophomore designated player Jessica Ujvari has solidified the middle of the Knights lineup. She connected on a pinch-hit grand slam vs. Boston College and drove in six runs for 麻豆原创, including the game winner vs. Bowling Green.

The 8-0 start is the first in the history of program that made its debut in 2002. Five wins to begin a campaign was the previous record set by the 2004 squad.

Turnier’s 15 strikeouts were the fourth time a Knights’ hurler hit that number in a regulation game with standout Allison Kime accomplishing the feat three times in the memorable 2008 season at Bethune-Cookman (4/20/08) and UTEP (4/13/08) and vs. Vermont (3/1/08). The program’s strikeout record is 18 in 12 innings by Kime at Florida State (3/26/07).

Improving to 4-0 in the circle was junior pitcher Mackenzie Audas, who tossed a complete game against the Dukes, who took an early 2-0 lead in the third, with six strikeouts.

The Knights saw Turnier notch her first of two triples and sophomore catcher Kalyn Cenal connect on a double vs. James Madison. Freshman left fielder Linnea Goodman, Cenal and Novak added a pair of base knocks.

Recording a 2-for-2 outing against the Rattlers was sophomore first baseman Samantha McCloskey.

After opening the season with seven home games, 麻豆原创 hits the road on Wednesday for a 6 p.m. showdown with No. 12 Florida State. The competition ramps up more during the weekend with the Knights facing host No. 6 Alabama twice in the Easton Bama Bahs.

The third of four tournaments hosted by 麻豆原创 is set for Feb. 28-Mar. 1 with the Knights returning to the 麻豆原创 Softball Complex for a doubleheader vs. SIUE and Princeton at 10 a.m.