University of Houston Athletics
Softball Opens Home C-USA Play
3/22/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 22, 2005
HOUSTON - After opening up Conference USA play with a three-game series sweep in Charlotte over the 49ers, the University of Houston softball team returns to the confines of the Cougar Softball Field to host DePaul on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Houston (18-12, 3-0) has been playing well as of late. The Cougars are winners in eight of their last 10 outings and enter the mid-week series on a five-game winning streak.
The Blue Demons (8-10, 0-0), who defeated the Cougars in the C-USA Tournament championship game a year ago, will be opening their C-USA season in Houston.
This week's matchup extends a rivalry between the two schools that has seen the Cougars and Blue Demons square off 12 times, with Houston falling victim to DePaul in 10 of those games.
Last season, the Blue Demons and Cougars faced off five times. DePaul swept the season series in Chicago, Houston the upset the Blue Demons in the first round of last season's C-USA Tournament, only to meet up with them in the championship game where Houston surrendered a 4-2 loss.
Houston is led by senior third baseman Kristen Glowacz, whose .402 hitting the second highest in C-USA, is also among the league's best with 37 hits, 31 RBI, nine home runs and 11 doubles.
Pitcher Angel Shambin, the reigning C-USA Pitcher of the Week, is coming off of the program's perfect game and a two-hitter last week. On the year, the freshman is 7-3, with a 2.58 ERA, and a team high 46 strikeouts.
For DePaul, the Blue Demons are fresh off a 2-2 performance at the KIA Klassic in Fullerton, Calif., where they defeated Penn State and No. 17 Nebraska, but fell to No. 4 Michigan and No. 15 Michigan.
Outfielder Linda Secka helped score the runs in the Demons' 2-0 victory over the Huskers as she hit a sacrifice fly to score the first run and a solo shot homerun for the second.
Houston and DePaul square off at the Cougar Softball Field on the main campus of the University of Houston in a twin bill slated for 4 and 6 p.m. starts Tuesday, and a noon start on Wednesday to close out the series.
