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University of Houston
xLSU
Cougars Upset Eighth-Ranked LSU
3/1/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 1, 2003
In the biggest upset in the three-year history of the program, the University of Houston softball team defeated #8 LSU, 3-1, on the second day of the Purple & Gold Challenge at Tiger Park. Earlier in the day the Cougars shut out Jackson State, 5-0, and move into the championship bracket tomorrow afternoon as the number-two seed. UH will face the number-three seed, Southern Miss, at 10 a.m.
With a combination of solid pitching, timely hitting and stellar defense, the Cougars were able to shock the Tigers on their home field. The win over the nationally-ranked program was the highest rated team the Cougars have ever defeated, topping the two wins they posted over Southwest Texas State in 2002 when SWT was ranked 17th.
With the score tied at one in the bottom of the fifth inning, second baseman Jeanie Davis ripped a two-run shot to left center to give UH the cushion it needed to defeat LSU. The Cougars had scored a run two innings earlier to break the ice, as Davis plated Kim Nesloney with two outs on a double to center field.
Jamie Falco continued her dominant performance of the tournament, throwing her second complete game while scattering four hits while striking out four. It was the fourth complete game of the season for Falco, as she ran her season record to 5-3 with the win.
In the Jackson State contest the Cougars outhit the Lady Tigers, 6-2, while freshman pitcher Crystal Briscoe baffled the opposition all afternoon in registering her first complete game shutout of her career. Briscoe held Jackson State to a mere two hits while striking out a career-high 11 batters. She needed only 98 total pitches to secure the win.
The Cougars scored one run in the first and a pair in both the third and fourth innings to register their eighth win of the season. Houston scored in the first when Jenny Baker, making the first start of her UH career, reached on an infield error and then stole second base. She scored on a single by Nesloney, but it was all the scoring the Cougars would do again until the third.
In that frame Candis Turnbo reached first on another Jackson State error and then Nesloney coaxed a one-out walk to put runners at first and second. After Kristen Glowacz grounded out to the pitcher, moving the runners up one base, Turnbo scored on a wild pitch and then Arelis Ferreris knocked in Nesloney with a run-scoring single to left.
One inning later the Cougars would score their final two runs on the afternoon. Michelle Whipple led off the inning with a walk and was sacrificed to second by Turnbo. Baker reached on an infield single, and both her and Turnbo advanced a base on a mental letdown by Jackson State. With two outs Glowacz singled to left field to knock in both runs.
