University of Houston Athletics
Softball's Hilton Plaza Invitational Begins Today
2/11/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 11, 2005
HOUSTON - The Houston softball team is set to host the Houston Hilton Plaza Invitational, starting today and rnning through Saturday at the Cougar Softball Field, with No. 4 Oklahoma, No. 12 Alabama and Sam Houston State set to participate.
For the third straight season, the Hilton Plaza and the Houston softball program have teamed up to produce another strong round-robin tournament.
Over the three seasons of the tournament, 10 different teams have attended the tournament where Houston has produced a 7-2 record in the tournament.
This weekend's games will mark the first meeting between the Cougars and Alabama, it's the fourth between Oklahoma and Houston where the Cougars trail 2-1, and the seventh meeting against Sam Houston where the Cougars own a 5-1 all-time record against the Bearkats.
Play begins Friday at noon with Oklahoma and Alabama squaring off, followed by Oklahoma and Sam Houston at 2 p.m. and Houston facing Alabama at 4 p.m. and Sam Houston at 6 p.m.
The Tournament runs picks up again all day Saturday and concludes on Sunday morning.
The Cougars (0-3) opened up the 2005 season with a three-game series at Texas where senior Kim Nesloney recorded back-to-back homeruns in the third game against the Longhorns.
After the first weekend of play, Oklahoma stands at 2-3 with three straight loses to fellow Conference USA teams DePaul and Louisville as well as Florida.
The Sooners' freshman pitchers Stacy Braddock leads the pitching crew after recording a 1-1 record with a 0.00 ERA, and six strikeouts in nine innings of work. The entire pitching staff is carrying a 1.31 ERA while giving up 20 hits, 11 runs and collecting 27 strikeouts.
Alabama is riding high with a perfect 7-0 record and the title of the Bama Bash to their credit in the early 2005 campaign.
The Crimson Tide boasts three hitters over .300, with Staci Ramsey leading the way at .389. In the circle, Stephanie VanBrakle is 3-0, carries a 0.00 ERA and has 23 strikeouts in the early goings on the season.
Sam Houston enters the tournament with a 2-3 record having fallen 8-0 to No. 9 Louisiana-Lafayette on Sunday.
The Bearkats pitching crew is giving up 7.4 hits per game, translating into 3.4 runs per contest, but is also picking up 7.4 strikeouts per game.
Offensively, Sam Houston has two hitters hitting over .500. Stephanie Mosley has produced more than any other Bearkat in her first 17 at-bats where she has nine hits, two doubles, five runs and five RBI.
Houston begins their home season against Alabama and Sam Houston on Friday night at 4 and 6 p.m., respectively. Admission is free to the public.
