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University of Houston
Hilton Plaza Invite - Oklahoma
Rain Cancels Softball's Lead
2/13/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 13, 2005
HOUSTON - Rain brought a premature end to the Houston Hilton Plaza Invitational at Cougar Softball Field on Sunday morning as the remaining two games of the Invitational had to be cancelled with no makeup games scheduled.
Sunday's matchups were to feature the Cougars and No. 4 Oklahoma followed by No. 12 Alabama and Sam Houston State. When the call was made to cancel the games, Houston led the Sooners 4-1 with two outs in the bottom of the third inning.
The rain cancellation means the Cougar and Sooner game never happened. NCAA rules require that teams play through a minimum of five innings before a game can be called with W-L records applying.
After playing six out of seven games against opponents ranked in the top 15, Houston's record sits at 1-6, and the team left with the "only if's" of what could have been holding a three run lead and needing to play only one and half more innings to earn the upset win.
Before the game was called, Houston trailed the No. 4 Sooners 1-0 in the third inning, then the Cougars' bats roared to life, allowing Houston to hang up four runs on the Sooners in that inning.
The scoring borage began with junior Brooke Johnson reaching first base on a single to shallow centerfield. Senior Kim Nesloney then laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Johnson, but an error by the Sooners' Satcy Braddock allowed Nesloney to reach first safely and Johnson advanced to third.
Freshman Dru Daniels came to the plate and took advantage of the situation and by drilling the ball through the center gap and driving home Johnson.
With Nesloney on second and Daniels on first, the Sooners made a pitching change, bringing in Nicole Denes. The move proved to be costly for Oklahoma as Glowacz, the first batter to face Denes, sent a bomb over the leftfield fence to put the Cougars up 4-1 with one out in the inning.
Unfortunately for the Cougars, one batter later, the rain forced a 30-minute delay and then the eventual cancellation of the game.
The Cougars are at home for the remainder of the month with three more tournaments to be hosted at Cougar Softball Field. Next week Houston will welcome preseason ranked No. 17 Baylor, Minnesota, North Carolina, Texas State and Kentucky to the Crowne Plaza Classic running Friday, Feb. 18, through Sunday, Feb. 20.
