No. 9 Softball Prepares to Host Baylor in a Double-Header Wednesday
April 15, 2008
Houston-- The University of Houston softball team will play host to Baylor in a double header Wednesday at the Cougar Softball Field. First pitch is set for 3pm. The Cougars (37-5, 13-1 C-USA) enter Wednesday's games after a three game sweep on national television against Conference USA rival ECU last weekend. Five home runs on Saturday helped the Cougars defeat the Pirates 16-0 and 6-2 in the first two games of the series. In the first game, Junior Jessica Valis hit her first home run of the season, while senior Amanda Grote registered her first grand slam of the season. The grand slam was the Cougar's fourth this season. Junior Laurie Wagner also hit a home run to help the Cougars defeat the Pirates. Senior Angel Shamblin pitched 3.1 innings in the first game, allowing one hit, no runs, no walks and five strikeouts. Freshman Baillie Lott entered the game in the fourth inning to close out the game and allowed one hit and two strikeouts. In the second game, freshman Jennifer Klinkert and junior Elaina Nordstrom hit the fourth and fifth homerun of the day. Senior Barbie Love moved to 9-1 in the circle after she pitched four innings in the second game. She allowed five hits, two runs, one walk and two strikeouts. Shamblin entered the second game to pitch three innings to give her three saves this season.
The Cougars won Sunday's game 7-0 with the help of Wagner's 12th home run this season. The 12 home runs move Wagner into third place tied with Arelis Ferreris (2001) on the single-season home run list. She needs 17 to tie Kristen Glowacz (2002) for the single-season record. Shamblin moved to 22-2 for the season after pitching six innings, allowing one hit, no runs and four strikeouts. After the weekend sweep, Klinkert and Shamblin were named C-USA Hitter and Pitcher of the Week. The award was Klinkert's second this season and Shamblin's fifth. Wagner is one of two Cougars hitting over .400 this season. Wagner leads the team with a .411 batting average, while Jessica Valis is batting .409. This marks the 9th time the Cougars will face Baylor. The Bears lead the all-time series 8-3. The Bears (21-14, 4-7 Big 12) split at Nebraska this weekend winning the first game 7-0, but fell 5-0 in the second game. The Bears' Kristen Shortridge pitched a one-hitter, striking out four in the first game. Shortridge is 5-5 on the season and also carries the team's highest batting average hitting .389. Brette Reagan is in close second with a .386 batting average with five home runs this season. Right-hander Jenny Isham is 10-2 in the circle, with an ERA of 2.12 and 44 strikeouts. Livestats for all University of Houston softball games are available by clicking the Gametracker link on the schedule page at www.UHCougars.com. Streaming video for all home games is available by clicking the All-Access link on www.UHCougars.com. Up Next |
