May 5, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

IRVING, Texas - Houston's Laurie Wagner is this week's Conference USA Softball Hitter of the Week after going 8-for-14 (.571) with a double, triple and home run to go along with four RBI last week to help the Cougars improve to 21-2 in the league standings. The home run was her 17th of the season, which tied the UH single season record. Houston's Angel Shamblin and UCF's Allison Kime share the Pitcher of the Week honors. Shamblin registered three wins, including one over No.16 Louisiana-Lafayette to improve to 30-2 in the circle and a perfect 15-0 in conference play. Kime helped UCF secure the No. 2 seed in the C-USA Championship last week after appearing in all four games last week. The senior struck out 42 batters in 23.2 innings of work to reach the 300 strikeout plateau on the season.

HITTER OF THE WEEK (5/5)
LAURIE WAGNER - Houston
RF, Jr., Houston, Texas (Stratford)
Wagner went 8-for-14 last week (.571) with a double, triple and a home run to go along with four RBI. She tied the UH single season home run record, hitting her 17th round-tripper in game one of Houston's series against UTEP. The junior hit her first triple this season in the final game against the Miners and scored the Cougars two runs to give them the 2-0 win. Wagner did not register a strikeout in 14 at bats. Her efforts improved her batting average to .417, second-best on the team. On the season, the Houston native has 50 RBI, the second-highest total on the team and the second-most RBI in a single season history. The double was her 14th this season, also the second-most in UH single season history. Wagner continues to lead the team with a .861 slugging percentage. The weekly honor is the third of Wagner's career and her second in 2008 (Mar. 31).

CO-PITCHER OF THE WEEK (5/5)
ANGEL SHAMBLIN - Houston
P, Sr., Davie, Fla. (Hollywood Christian)
Shamblin registered three wins last week to improve to 30-2 and a perfect 15-0 in conference play. The senior is one win away from tying UH's single season win record of 31 she set in 2007. Shamblin's 15 wins in league play are tied for the most all-time. In four appearances in the circle, Shamblin did not allow a single run, giving her 16 shutouts in 2008. She recorded two double-digit strikeout games during the week and has retired at least 10 batters in four of the last six games. This is Shamblin's 15th career weekly pitching honor and her sixth in 2008 (Feb. 18, Mar. 10, Mar. 17, Mar. 31, Apr. 14). Shamblin has 16 total career weekly honors as both a hitter and a pitcher, which ties the career record set by Lindsay Chouinard of DePaul (2000-04). The six honors in 2008 also tie Chouinard for the second-most weekly honors in a single season.

CO-PITCHER OF THE WEEK (5/5)
ALLISON KIME - UCF
P, Sr., Brandon, Fla. (Hillsborough C.C.)
Kime helped UCF secure the No. 2 seed in the C-USA Championship after appearing in all four games last week. The senior threw all three games in the series with Southern Miss, including two complete-games and one game in relief. In her first start against the Golden Eagles, Kime recorded 12 strikeouts and allowed only three hits. With her third strikeout of the contest, Kime recorded her 300th strikeout of the season and finished the game with her 12th double-digit strikeout mark of the season. In the series finale, Kime held the Golden Eagles scoreless for her 12th shutout of the season, while allowing only three hits and striking out nine batters. In the non-conference contest at Bethune-Cookman, Kime tied her season-high strikeout mark with 15, while also tying her career and the UCF program record for strikeouts in seven innings of work. Kime now has 319 K's on the season. The weekly honor is the third for Kime in 2008 (Mar. 24, Apr. 21) and the eighth of her career.