March 22, 2008

IRVING, Texas - Three Houston softball players recorded home runs in the Cougars 6-0 defeat of Southern Miss on Saturday at Cougar Softball Stadium. Houston ran their Conference USA win streak to six and earned their second-straight sweep of a league opponent. Houston outscored Southern Miss 26-5 over the weekend and have outscored their conference opponents 62-10.

No. 11 Houston moves to 28-4 overall this season and 6-0 in Conference USA. The Cougars are now 21-11 all-time against Southern Miss.

East Carolina 5, Princeton 1
Wisconsin 7, East Carolina 3
BYU 7, East Carolina 6
East Carolina 8, Princeton 0
East Carolina defeated Princeton 5-1 in its first game of Saturday but allowed Wisconsin to rally for a 7-3 win at the Stanford Invitational II at Boyd and Jill Smith Family Stadium. The Pirates now stand at 23-12 overall.

ECU took a 1-0 lead over Princeton in the top of the first when Cristen Aona singled with two outs, scoring Charina Sumner. The Pirates extended their advantage to 4-1 in the top of the fifth. With one out, Jessica Johnson doubled to right center. She would score a batter later as Andrews roped her team-leading third triple of the season to left center. Vanessa Moreno then poked a bunt single that scored Andrews. East Carolina made the final margin 5-1 in the sixth when Johnson singled up the middle to score Aona.

The Pirates jumped ahead of Wisconsin 3-0 in the bottom of the first inning, all with no outs. With the bases loaded, Aona was hit by a pitch, bringing the first run across the plate. Then, with Johnson and Tom on second and third, Andrews doubled down the right field line, scoring both runners. The Badgers mounted a comeback in the top of the sixth, scoring six runs on six hits and two ECU errors.

The Pirates split their first two games of the Stanford Invitational II Friday afternoon, dropping a tough 7-6 decision to BYU while taking out Princeton 8-0 in six innings.

East Carolina will finish play at the Stanford Invitational II tomorrow afternoon as it battles host and No. 5 Stanford. The contest is scheduled for 3 p.m.

No. 11 Houston 6, Southern Miss 0
No. 11 Houston 7, Southern Miss 3
No. 11 Houston 13, Southern Miss 2
Three Houston players recorded home runs in the Cougars 6-0 defeat of Southern Miss on Saturday at Cougar Softball Stadium. Houston ran their Conference USA win streak to six and earned their second-straight sweep of a league opponent. Houston outscored Southern Miss 26-5 over the weekend and have outscored their conference opponents 62-10.

No. 11 Houston moves to 28-4 overall this season and 6-0 in Conference USA. The Cougars are now 21-11 all-time against Southern Miss.

The Cougars scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning after junior Haley Valis hit her sixth home run of the season. Her three run homer scored pinch runner Katy Beth Sherman and senior Amanda Grote. Sherman came in to run for junior Laurie Wagner who singled to shortstop and Grote reached base on a throwing error by Southern Miss.

Wagner started things off for the Cougars in the bottom of the second inning with a home run to centerfield on her first pitch. The home run was her sixth home run this season. The third Cougar home run of the game came in the bottom of the fourth inning when freshman Jennifer Klinkert hit her ninth home run of the season over the right center fence.

Junior Christa Raley also scored for the Cougars in the bottom of the fifth inning after a double to right center put her on base. She scored on a double by junior Katie Bush. Shamblin moves to 16-2 in the circle this season. She pitched the complete game allowing two hits, no walks and three strikeouts.

Houston used two home runs in the second inning of the second game of a double-header to defeat Southern Miss 7-2 on Saturday. Freshman Jennifer Klinkert and Shamblin each recorded home runs for Houston's lone runs of the game. Klinkert's home run was her eighth of the season while Shamblin has two.

The Cougars took out Southern Miss 13-2 after Raley hit a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning during the first game of the three-game series.

In the bottom of the sixth, after Klinkert reached base on a walk, Wagner was hit by pitch and Shamblin reached first on a fielding error to load the bases. With only one out, Raley hit her first walk-off grand slam of the season to give the Cougars a 13-2 win over the Golden Eagles. It was the third grand slam this season.

Houston will remain on their home field for a weekend series against Memphis on March 29-30. First game of the double-header will begin at 1pm on March 29.

Southern Miss (14-18, 2-7) returns to action this Wednesday, March 26, when it hosts Northwestern State in a non-conference doubleheader beginning at 4:00 p.m. at the Southern Miss Softball Complex.

Marshall 7, UTEP 4
UTEP 8, Marshall 5
Marshall 6, UTEP 0
Trailing 4-2 in the sixth inning, Marshall scored five runs culminated by a Kelly Nielson grand slam to defeat UTEP, 7-4, capturing its second Conference USA road series of the season, Saturday afternoon at Helen of Troy Field.

In the top of the sixth inning, the Herd managed three hits scoring five runs. Pinch hitter Marcena Bertoldo started the sixth with a walk. Caitlyn Jackson singled putting Herd runners on first and second. With one-out, freshman Melanie Stoehr battled a full count to earn the second walk of the inning. The second pinch hitter of the inning, Rachel Schmidt hit a blooper to left field advancing the runners and cutting the deficit to 4-3.

Trailing by one, Nielson blasted her first NCAA grand slam giving the Herd the 7-4 lead. It was the first grand slam for the Herd since March 21, 2007 when Rachel Folden cleared the bases against Kentucky. Nielson finished with a game-high four RBIs.

After scoring six runs in the final two innings Marshall was unable to score any more runs as it lost the second game to UTEP, 8-6, Friday afternoon.

In the top of the seventh inning the Thundering Herd scored two runs before loading the bases, placing the go ahead run on first base with two outs. The Miners defense forced a third out in the seventh to close out the victory.

Marshall senior Samantha Rodriguez's three-run fifth inning home run led the Herd to a 6-0 victory over host UTEP in game one.

The Oakley, Calif., native finished the game with three RBIs, a home run and a triple. Rodriguez tripled in the first inning, the first of her career. Outfielders Rachael Sofie and Kristina Knecht tallied multi-hit performances and Sofie went 3-for-4 with a double and Knecht finished 2-for-3.

The Herd will next travel to the state of Arizona for a pair of non-conference doubleheaders. Marshall will square off against No. 1 Arizona State, Tuesday, March 25 at 5 p.m. (MT). The Herd concludes the seven-game road trip against No. 8 Arizona, Wednesday, March 26 at 5 p.m. (MT).

UTEP will take a break from league action to play a two game series at Texas Tech on Tues., March 25. They return home on March 27 to take on former WAC foe Nevada in a doubleheader tilt. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m.

UAB 4, Memphis 3
UAB 9, Memphis 1 (5 inn.)
UAB 6, Memphis 4
UAB (17-18, 4-5) completed a three-game conference series sweep over Memphis winning both games of a doubleheader on Saturday at George Ward Park. The Blazers run ruled the Tigers in game one, 9-1, in five innings and were defeated in series finale, 4-3.

Junior Leandra Hines led Memphis (16-14, 0-5) with four hits in the two games and matched a career high with a 3-for-4 performance in game two.

The Tigers fell behind in the second game after UAB scored a run in the second inning. Memphis knotted the game at one in the fourth inning on a RBI by Kailey Kassner.

Memphis gave up eight runs in the third inning in the first game of the doubleheader.

The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, but lost for only the third time this season when scoring the first run in the game. Memphis hit into two double plays and were held hitless in the final two innings.

Kayla Harris earned the victory for the Blazers, holding the Tigers to one run on three hits and striking out two. Freshman Janelle Valle suffered the loss after allowing seven runs, four earned, on eight hits in two and a third innings.

Harris and Cameron Skates guided UAB to a 6-4 victory against Memphis Friday evening. Harris went 2-for-3 and had two RBI while Skates went 3-for-3 and drove in three runs, including the game winning for the Blazers.

Skates earned her RBI in a variety of ways, including a hit-by-pitch which turned into the game winning run for UAB. She also plated runs with a line drive of Kimber Bossom's left shin in the third and a line-drive double to left center in the sixth.

Memphis will next play a three-game Conference USA series at No. 11 Houston on Saturday and Sunday, March 29-30.

The Blazers will next play No. 2 Alabama on Tuesday in Tuscaloosa before traveling to Hattiesburg, Miss on Saturday for a C-USA series with Southern Miss.

UCF 8, Tulsa 0
UCF 6, Tulsa 5
UCF 2, Tulsa 0
Breanne Javier's single in the sixth inning helped lead UCF to a series sweep of Conference-USA foe, Tulsa, Saturday afternoon with an 8-0 blanking of the Golden Hurricane at the UCF Softball Complex. With the victory, the Knights improve to 25-14 overall and 6-3 in C-USA action.

Javier went 2-for-4 from the plate with two RBI, while Hillary Barrow paced the offense with a 2-for-3 performance, three RBI and two runs scored.

Allison Kime picked up her third win of the series, throwing a complete-game shutout with six strikeouts. The hurler allowed no runs on four hits, while walking only one batter, moving her record to 14-7 on the season and 5-1 in league play.

UCF opened Friday's doubleheader against Tulsa (16-14, 5-4) with a ceremony to honor head coach Renee Luers-Gillispie for reaching the 500 career-win milestone, while also getting the skipper a doubleheader sweep with 2-0 and 6-5 wins over the Golden Hurricane at the UCF Softball Complex.

Kime picked up both wins for the Black and Gold in the circle, allowing no runs on three hits in nine innings of work. The senior totaled nine strikeouts and walked only one batter.

Marquita Council paced the Knights' offense in the pair of games with four hits and two runs scored, while Javier added three hits, a double, two runs and two RBI.

In game one, the Knights scored both of their runs in the third inning, thanks to back-to-back singles by Tiffany Lane and Javier, and RBIs from Lexi Gresham and Kime.

Council and Kime both posted two hits in the opening game.

In game two, the Golden Hurricane took a three-run lead in the third inning after Lauren Lindsay hit a three-run home run over the right field fence.

But, the Black and Gold answered back in its half of the frame, plating three runs courtesy of a Javier double to the centerfield fence and a single up the middle by Barrow. Abby McClain (Waterloo, Iowa) led off the inning with a single and Council reached on a bunt single, before Javier put the Knights within one run of the Golden Hurricane. Barrow then plated Javier and tied the game, 3-3.

The score remained deadlocked for only one inning, with Tulsa scoring two runs in the top of the fifth inning. Again, UCF fought back, answering with two runs of its own in the bottom of the inning. McClain walked, Council singled and Javier singled. A throwing error by the shortstop on a play at the plate allowed both runners to score and against tied the game, 5-5.

The winning run for the Knights came in the sixth inning thanks to a walk, a Golden Hurricane throwing error and a RBI by Lane.

UCF hits the road for five games next week, visiting Florida Atlantic and Florida International Tuesday and Wednesday, before facing Marshall for a three-game C-USA series Saturday and Sunday.

Tulsa will jump out of conference play with a pair of mid-week games. On Wednesday, TU will travel to Fayetteville, Ark., for the annual Border War. TU will play Oklahoma State at 3 p.m., then take on Arkansas at 7 p.m. The Hurricane will return to the friendly confines of the Donna J. Hardesty Sports Complex on Saturday, Mar. 29, to host East Carolina in a three-game C-USA series.