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University of Houston
26-25, 9-11
Louisville
35-16, 16-4
Softball Plays Well But Louisville Gets The "W"s
4/30/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 30, 2005
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Despite a two-hit-three-RBI performance from Brooke Johnson in Game 1 and a two-run jack by Jenilee Skender in Game 2, the Cougars were unable to come away with a victory in a twin bill against Louisville in Kentucky on Saturday.
Houston (26-25, 9-11) rallied a comeback in the first game to force extra innings, but the Cardinals (35-16, 16-4) won the 5-4 battle in the bottom of the eighth, and went on to claim a 3-2 win in the second game.
Senior Kristen Glowacz and Johnson provided the offensive firepower in Game 1 with the two of them accounting for all four of the Cougars' runs in the ballgame.
Johnson went 2-for-3 at the plate, recording her first home run of the season, and driving in two more runs to tie the game with a base hit in the fourth. Glowacz broke her own single season home run record in Game 1, hitting her 15th bomb of the season and 45th of her career.
Skender gave the Cougars a 2-0 lead in Game 2 with her fourth trip around the bases this season, but Houston couldn't hold on for the win as the team fell for just the seventh time this year when scoring first.
Game 1 of the twin bill started off with the Cougars giving up two runs in the first inning with two hits by the Cardinals. Louisville's Candi Hicks smacked a triple, followed by a home run by Lacy Wood for the 2-0 lead.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the second inning, Houston brought in freshman Barbie Love to replace Angel Shamblin in the circle. The first batter to face Love singled into right field driving in two more runs for the Cardinals.
Needing to get some offense going, junior Brooke Johnson fired a solo shot over the right field wall to end the Louisville shutout bid with the fourth homer of her career and the first for Johnson this season.
Now trailing 4-1, the Cougars' bats came to life in the fourth inning beginning with Glowacz firing a rocket over the centerfield fence to close the gap to two runs.
 Senior Jenilee Skender recorded a two-run homer in Game 2's loss.  | |
Shamblin then grounded out to first base but advanced Skender to second, followed by senior Michelle Keith who added a single of her own to place runners on the corners. The next batter, junior Brandi Clark, grounded out to the shortstop, but moved Keith up to second.
It was then up to Johnson and she took advantage of the situation by drilling a single into the outfield that scored both Cougar runners to even up the score at four apiece.
After both teams failed to capitalize on opportunities to take the lead in the seventh, so the game headed into extra innings where the Cardinals scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth.
Not wanting to have to mount another comeback, the Cougars got out on top of the Cardinals in the fourth inning of Game 2 thanks to Skender's bat that airmailed a two-run score over the right-centerfield fence. Also scoring on the homer was Clark who had reached base on a single to left field.
However, the lead disappeared in the next inning with a three-run hit over the leftfield fence by Louisville's Courtney Moore, giving the Cardinals a one-run lea at 3-2 after five innings that would prove to be enough for the victory.
Houston and Louisville take the field again on Sunday at 12 p.m. (EDT) in the final game of their Conference USA series in Kentucky.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Aja Sherman (17-9)
L: Crystal Briscoe (4-4)
Batting:
HR: Jenilee Skender 1
RBI: Jenilee Skender 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Brandi Clark 1 ; Jenilee Skender 1
CS: Jenilee Skender 1
Batting:
HR: Courtney Moore 1
RBI: Courtney Moore 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Audrey Rendon 1 ; Candi Hicks 1 ; Courtney Moore 1
