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Weekend Series With UAB Includes Senior Day
5/6/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
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May 6, 2005
HOUSTON - In the final home series of the 2005 season, the Houston softball team plays host to Conference USA rival UAB in a series that holds C-USA Tournament implications for both schools and Senior Day for six Cougars.
Next week's C-USA Tournament in Tampa, Fla., will welcome the top six teams in the league with Houston currently holding the No. 5 spot at 26-26 overall and 9-12 in conference. Right behind the Cougars is Southern Miss (26-29, 8-13) who is one game behind Houston at the No. 6 spot.
Because the Cougars hold the tiebreaker over the Golden Eagles, Houston needs to win just one game in the weekend series to ensure their birth into the tournament for the third straight season.
UAB (23-35, 8-14), who is currently the seventh-place team, must sweep Houston, or take 2-of-3 and hope ECU sweeps Southern Miss to make the tournament. UAB hasn't defeated the Cougars since the Blazers swept the conference series back in 2002.
Head-to-head, Houston holds a 9-4 all-time record against the Blazers, and is currently on a seven-game-winning streak against its conference foe.
Last weekend, the Cougars were swept by Louisville in Kentucky, where the team belted four home runs against the Cardinals. Senior Jenilee Skender hit two of the bombs, with one being a grand slam in the seventh inning of the third game.
The Cougars continue to be the most dangerous long-ball team in the conference with their 0.94 homers per game, which ranks No. 20 in the NCAA.
Aside from being the last conference series of the year, seniors Kristen Glowacz, Kim Nesloney, Jenilee Skender, Jeanie Davis, Michelle Keith and Lindsay Vanover will all be saying goodbye to the Houston fans in what will be their final game at Cougar Softball Field on Sunday, May 8.
Hoping to spoil Senior Day is the Blazers' Lindsay Stanley who is the lone UAB player to be hitting above .300 on the season.
Stanley leads the team with her .335 hitting, 182 at-bats, 61 hits, 33 runs and 30 stolen bases. The speedster is aided by teammate Sara Christophel who, despite hitting just .263, has a team-high 28 RBI, 10 doubles and five home runs in 171 at-bats.
In the circle, Amanda Antonovich and Jennifer Nelson have earned the most playing time among the crew of four pitchers. Nelson is the only pitcher with a winning record at 9-7, and has earned an ERA of 2.93 in 103.0 innings, while giving up 87 hits and 44 earned runs.
Nelson, a southpaw, could present some problems for Houston who is 0-7 this season against lefties. Nelson also leads the team with 109 punchouts, for an average of more than one strikeout per inning.
Action begins on Saturday, May 7, with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m., and concludes with the regular season finale on Senior Day, Sunday, May 8, also at 1 p.m. However, player recognition for the six Cougar seniors will take place prior to the 1 p.m. first pitch. Admission is free to the public.