Feb. 24, 2008

IRVING, Texas - No. 16/20 Houston moved to 14-0 Sunday after defeating Texas State, 4-0, to conclude play at the Houston Marriott Classic. The Cougars swept their second-straight tournament and outscored their opponents 28-4 in five games. The 14 consecutive wins are a program record.

The Cougars moved to 8-4 in the all-time series against the Bobcats with the win. Senior Angel Shamblin stayed perfect on the mound moving to 7-0 this season. In seven innings of work, she allowed just one hit, no runs and struck out five batters.

EAST CAROLINA
After falling to Penn State 9-3 in its first contest Sunday East Carolina rebounded to rout Appalachian State 8-2 in the nightcap of the Pirate Classic at the ECU Softball Field. The Pirates pushed their record to 11-4 on the season with the split.

Britt Howell took the loss for East Carolina in game one as she pitched three and two-thirds innings in relief of Brooke Swann. Her record now stands at 3-1 on the early season. Kaui Tom ended the contest a perfect 3-for-3.

Senior Stacey Andrews ripped a home run and triple against Appalachian State to lead the Pirates offensive attack. Swann pitched her seventh complete game of the season while running her record to 5-2. She scattered five hits while also striking out five. Andrews finished the game 2-for-4 with three RBI, a career-high.

ECU opened Pirate Classic action with a split at a rain-soaked ECU Softball Field on Saturday. The Pirates took out Syracuse 4-3 in eight innings while a late rally against Purdue fell just short in a 3-2 eight-inning affair.

Howell pitched five and two-thirds innings, allowing three hits and three earned runs while striking out one. She would not factor in the decision, keeping her record at 3-0. Swann threw the last two and one-third frames, allowing no hits. Christen Aona, Charina Sumner and Christina Merrida combined to go 7-for-11, accounting for two of the three ECU RBI.

Swann put in another sold effort in the circle, giving up seven hits and two earned runs in game two. The junior struck out four en route to her sixth complete game of the season. Merrida was 2-for-3 on the contest as she finished her day of work 4-for-6 with an RBI versus Syracuse.

East Carolina continues its season next weekend, hosting the Pirate Clash. The Pirates will take on the Radford Highlanders at 2 p.m. Friday at the ECU Softball Field. Delaware, Fordham, Liberty, Towson and UNC Greensboro make up the rest of the field. Contests will also take place at North Pitt High School throughout the weekend.

HOUSTON
No. 16/20 Houston moved to 14-0 Sunday after defeating Texas State, 4-0, to conclude play at the Houston Marriott Classic. The Cougars swept their second-straight tournament and outscored their opponents 28-4 in five games. The 14 consecutive wins are a program record. The Cougars (14-0) moved to 8-4 in the all-time series against the Bobcats with the win.

Senior Angel Shamblin stayed perfect on the mound moving to 7-0 this season. In seven innings of work, she allowed just one hit, no runs and struck out five batters.

On day two Saturday, the Cougars earned their first win, 7-3, over Kansas. Shamblin took her sixth win, allowing only three runs, five hits and striking out seven. This is only the second time this season that Houston has allowed three runs from an opponent.

UH capped the day off with a 7-1 win over Centenary College. Barbie Love got her fourth win of the season allowing only one run, one hit and striking out twelve.

The Cougars tied the program record of 11-straight victories with two wins to open the Classic on Friday. Baillie Lott earned her third victory on the mound in the game one 8-0 win over Boston. She recorded a shutout win allowing only two hits, no runs and striking out four batters.

Shamblin was the victor in game one, a 3-1 win over Cal State Northridge.

Up next, the Cougars will take to the road for the first time this season when they travel to College Station, Texas for a double-header against No. 3 Texas A&M. First pitch is slated for 4pm. Houston will then have the weekend off before hosting the second annual Breast Cancer Awareness Game against Texas on March 5 at 5pm.

MARSHALL
Marshall crushed 11 runs in the fifth inning to stay undefeated at the USD Invitational with a 12-1 victory over UC Riverside, Saturday afternoon at the USD Softball Complex. The Herd (8-6) racked up 11 hits in the contest and is currently riding a three-game winning streak. In the first battle between the two schools, Marshall held UC Riverside to one run off four hits.

Marshall's game with the Colorado State Rams on Sunday was cancelled, due to inclement weather.

All-American catcher Rachel Folden went 3-for-4 in her home state to lead the Thundering Herd to a 6-4 victory over the University of San Diego, Saturday morning. The Herd collected 13 hits in the contest and scored at least a run in the first five innings. The Herd had three players with multiple hits, Rachael Sofie and Marcena Bertoldo had two and Folden paved the way with three.

After being postponed three different times and with the first pitch coming seven and a half hours after the original schedule, Marshall fought through the weather and adversity for a 4-2 victory over the Nevada Wolfpack. The team recorded five hits from five different hitters. Second baseman Deanna Tourville led the Herd with two RBIs and Bertoldo tallied a hit, run and a RBI in the Herd victory.

Marshall returns to action for its final tournament of the year at the 2008 Frost Classic at Chattanooga, Tenn., Friday, Feb. 29-March 1

MEMPHIS
Memphis closed out its Blues City Classic at Greenbrook Park with a 16-2 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Sunday to finish second in the tournament. The Tigers (8-5) finished 3-1 in the tournament, taking runner-up behind a Morehead State.

Junior infielder Leila Dolfo, freshman pitcher Janelle Valle and senior third baseman Melissa Nance all were named to the all-tournament team. Memphis, which has won eight of its last 10 games, scored 13 runs in the second inning behind a pair of homers from Dolfo. The Tigers had 10 hits in the inning and had at least one hit in all but two spots in the batting order. Dolfo finished with five RBI in the game.

The Tigers earned two victories during day two of the Classic on Saturday. The U of M beat Southeast Missouri, 3-1, in the opening game and followed it with a 6-0 shutout over Alabama A&M. Senior third baseman Melissa Nance led the team with four RBI in the two games. Nance hit a two-run home run against Alabama A&M and had a two-run single against SEMO. The Tigers hit four home runs total against the Bulldogs.

Dolfo hit a solo home run for the Memphis in game one on Friday, but the Tigers failed to gain another hit in a 2-1 loss to Morehead State.

Memphis will next play in the Residence Inn Invitational hosted by Oklahoma in Normal, Okla., on Friday and Saturday. The Tigers will play No. 6/8 Oklahoma and North Texas twice each in the tournament.

SOUTHERN MISS
Karli Hubbard blooped a single to centerfield to score the go-ahead run in the top of the 11th to give No. 20 Louisiana-Lafayette a 3-2 victory over Southern Miss here Sunday at Ragin' Cajuns Park to complete play in the 22nd annual Louisiana Classics.

Southern Miss (9-6) also dropped a 5-3 decision in nine innings earlier in the day to Mississippi Valley State to finish the tournament 1-3, but garnered the event's runner-up trophy. The quartet of Kristin Chaney, Jennifer Fox, Kristin Pilgrim and Lana Vaughn were named to the Louisiana Classics All-Tournament team.

Southern Miss opened the first day of the Classic on Saturday with a 5-0 victory over Mississippi Valley State, before falling to No. 20 Louisiana-Lafayette 4-1 Ragin' Cajuns Park.

Four Lady Eagles, Holly Milner, Pilgrim, Megan Hill and KChaney, got the squad going in the opening game with two hits each as Southern Miss put the game out of reach in the first frame with three runs. Freshman Vaughn (3-1) scattered three hits and five walks, while striking out four to record a complete-game shutout.

USM starter Hannah Griffin (1-1) allowed three runs on four hits and four walks over three innings to suffer the loss in game two.

TULSA
Tulsa (6-6) got a near record performance from freshman Jordan Kinard, sparking a 3-0 victory over UCA at the Holiday Inn Select-Tulsa Festival on Sunday. In the Golden Hurricane's second game, TU shutout Eastern Illinois, 8-0 in five innings to win the tournament .

The Golden Hurricane bats started on fire against the Bears, posting six doubles in the first two innings to go along with three runs. Kinard did her part in the circle to keep the TU lead. The Sand Springs, Okla., native struck out 15 UCA batters to pick up her first collegiate win.

In the night cap, the Hurricane made sure the bats were still warm. TU pounded out 11 hits for the second consecutive contest, including five for extra bases. Lindsay led off the TU first inning with a single, followed by a single from Stephanie Chomicki and doubles by Sara Dyer and Kailey Yarmer. A ground out by Vanessa Vice and an RBI single from Christian Timmons gave TU an early 4-0 lead.

TU opened the home portion of its schedule with a rain soaked 8-5 victory over Valparaiso on Saturday. Against the Crusaders, TU opened the scoring early with a pair of runs in the top of the first inning.

Sophomore Lauren Lindsay started the game with a double to rightfield, then scored on a single up the middle by Chomicki. Dyer posted TU's third straight hit of the inning with another single up the middle. Chomicki would later score on a double play. Sophomore Vice and junior Brooke Smart would also post hits in the inning for TU.

The Golden Hurricane return to action on Wednesday, February 27 against in-state rival Oklahoma in Norman in a contest set to begin at 4:00 p.m.

UAB
UAB (9-8) lost its final game of the Mustang Classic to host school Cal Poly on Sunday, 5-2. The Blazers finished with one win and three losses at the tournament. Kayla Harris (4-3) lasted four innings in the circle and was moved to first after her hand was struck with a line drive to start the fourth. She was 2-of-3 from the plate.

UAB jumped out to an early lead in its 9-1 victory over Santa Clara Saturday morning. The Blazers set the tone early, scoring five runs in the first inning. Harris delivered the exclamation with a two-run homer and chased the Santa Clara starter from the game after recording just one out. As a team the Blazers knocked out 10 hits, with Andrea Rogers collecting three singles and Leigh Walker, Holly Krzan and Harris each with two hits.

The Blazers dropped decisions to Sacramento State and California Friday during the first day of the Classic. UAB lost a marathon game to Sacramento State, 15-8 before falling to California 10-2 in six innings.

UAB will be in action 6 p.m. Tuesday at George Ward Park as it hosts No. 15 Mississippi State for a single game.

UCF
UCF (10-8) nearly pulled off its biggest upset of the season Sunday night against No. 12 Michigan, but fell to the Wolverines, 6-1. The Knights held the Michigan squad scoreless through the first seven innings, before giving up six runs in the top of the eighth. Breanne Javier led the Black and Gold at the plate with a hit and a RBI, while three additional Knights posted a hit in the contest.

The Knights downed Drake in game one on Sunday, 2-1. UCF scored early, getting all the runs it needed in the second inning, plating two runners courtesy of a pair of walks and a pair of Drake miscues.

UCF used 17 hits from its offense and 13 strikeouts from senior pitcher Allison Kime to defeat George Mason, 10-1, in six innings Saturday.

Sophomore pitcher Ashleigh Cole recorded three hits and picked up her second win of the season in the circle to lead UCF to a 5-2 win over Birmingham Southern Friday evening. Earlier in the day, the Knights dropped a 1-0 contest to Auburn, where Kime registerd eight strikeouts.

Javier added two hits against the Panthers, while Marquita Council posted a hit in each contest.

The Knights will have the opportunity to avenge the loss Wednesday, when they entertain the Wolverines in a rematch at the UCF Softball Complex at 6 p.m.

UTEP
UTSA topped UTEP, 5-0, in the final game of a three-game series on Sunday at Helen of Troy Field. The Miners move to 9-5 on the season. Stacie Townsend received the loss and moves to 3-3 on the season. The Miners combined for six hits including two by Shea Lodes.

UTEP won both ends of a doubleheader, defeating UTSA, 6-0 and 8-4, respectively on Saturday. Townsend and Nichole Tunget received the wins. Townsend and Tunget each fanned eight batters to finish the day with perfect ERAs.

Amber Bennett notched four of UTEP's six doubles, to total seven for 2008. The junior batted a team-high .500 for the day going 4-for-8 with two runs and one RBI. Simone Holland chipped in three runs and four RBI to lead UTEP and Townsend also had three runs. As a team, UTEP totaled 14 runs on 19 hits, including 11 hits in Game 1.

UTEP returns to Helen of Troy on Thursday as they open the UTEP Softball Invitational in a doubleheader against Northern Colorado. The tournament field also features Loyola Marymount, Georgetown and UC Riverside.