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Another Key Weekend Ahead for Softball at UAB
4/27/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Houston at UAB Game Notes (PDF)
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April 27, 2006
HOUSTON - The University of Houston softball team (35-18, 12-6 C-USA) heads into the home stretch of Conference USA action with another key weekend series at UAB (27-18, 11-7 C-USA). After losing five of its first seven games to start the month of April, the Cougars have won seven straight and nine of its last 10 games.
Houston enters the weekend tied with Tulsa for first place in the C-USA Standings.
"This is the point of the season where you want to begin to play your best softball," head coach Kyla Holas said. "Over the last ten games, we've taken the steps necessary to accomplishing this goal. We control our own destiny and have a chance to validate our preseason selection as the best team in conference."
The Cougar pitching staff enters the weekend leading Conference USA with a 1.71 staff ERA and is holding opponents to a league-low .202 batting average. The staff also headlines C-USA, recording 370 strikeouts, and enters the weekend two Ks away from setting a new program record previously recorded in 2004.
Angel Shamblin picked up her third Conference USA Pitcher of the Week honor Monday afternoon. It's the fifth C-USA pitching award for Shamblin in her Cougar career and the sophomore right-hander joins C-USA Preseason Pitcher of the Year Keli Harrell of East Carolina as the only hurlers to be named C-USA Pitcher of the Week three times this season.
Shamblin headlined the Cougars in the circle during its series sweep over Southern Miss. She went 2-0 with a 0.50 ERA and held the Golden Eagles to a .173 batting average in her two starts last weekend.
The Davie, Fla. native has registered a 14-6 mark to go along with a staff-low 1.56 ERA and is holding the opposition to a .214 batting clip. Her ERA and opponent batting average in the Top 10 of Conference USA.
Shamblin paces the Cougar pitching and is fifth in C-USA with 152 strikeouts in 136.1 innings of work. She enters the weekend with the second-most strikeout total in a season and is 23 Ks shy of matching Jenny Johnson's 175-mark for the record.
After a rough opening outing against No. 19 Florida, Carla Kennimer has reeled off a win in her last seven decisions to improve to 7-1 on the season with a 2.22 ERA and has held opponents to a .193 batting average. Her ERA and opponent batting average are in the Top 10 of Conference USA.
In C-USA action, Kennimer has registered a 4-0 record with a blistering 1.12 ERA. The southpaw has been touched up for only 11 hits in 25.0 innings of work and has held the opposition to a .129 clip in C-USA action.
Jessica Valis has been a spark at the top of the Cougar lineup pacing the squad and is second in Conference USA with a .373 batting average. She has also racked up a team-best 21 multi-hit games.
Valis has hit safely in 14 of her last 16 games en route to a team-high 63 hits. The 63 hits are a freshman record and are first in C-USA. Valis is only one hit shy from matching Kristen Glowacz's 64 hits set during the 2003 and 2005 season for No. 2 in program history for hits in a season.
The Shiner, Texas, product also has scored a run in 35 of 53 games on the season, including 10 of her last 12 outings and has also reeked havoc on the base paths, going 24-for-29 in the stolen base department.
Katie Bush follows Valis at the top of the batting order and her 46 hits are third on the team. The 46 hits are also fourth-highest for a freshman in program history. Bush is nine hits away from matching Kristen Glowacz's 55 hits set during the 2002 season for the No. 3 spot. The Brenham, Texas, native has hit safely in five of her last seven games.
Elaina Nordstrom has provided a big bat in the middle of the batting order. She is hitting .368 to go along with a team-best 47 RBIs. Her batting average and RBIs rank inside the Top three of Conference USA.
Her 47 RBIs have already eclipsed Kristin Glowacz's freshman record of 35 RBIs set during the 2002 season. The LaPalma, Calif. native has registered a RBI in four of her last five games and has recorded a team-best 13 multi-RBI efforts.
After starting the season with an 11-game hitting streak, Nordstrom has hit safely in six of her last seven games and has reached base in 48 of 53 games this season.
Christa Raley has given a new meaning to being a utility player already seeing action at four positions during the 2006 campaign. Raley has hit safely in three of her last five games and went 2-for-3 matching a career-best four RBIs in the series finale against Southern Miss.
She is one of only three players to hit six home runs this season and her 20 RBIs are tied for seventh with teammate Laurie Wagner in the freshman RBIs record.
Laura Durham has provided pop with a team-best eight home runs and is second on the squad with 32 RBIs. Her 32 RBIs is ninth in program history for a single-season and is three behind Kristen Glowacz's 35 RBIs set during the 2002 season for the No. 8 spot.
The Texas A&M transfer is hitting .283 this season and has already racked up 13 multi-hit to go along with eight multi-RBI games. Her .533 slugging percentage is 10th in Conference USA.
Jaci Gonzalez enters the weekend one hit away of reaching Michelle Keith's (2002-05) 119 career hits for the No. 5 spot all-time in program history. She has reached base in 23 of 33 games this season when in the batting order, including nine of her last 11 outings. The San Antonio native has also hit safely and scored in eight of her last 10 games.
She opened the ninth inning of game two against Southern Miss with a triple off the right field fence and came around to score the game-winning run on a Jessica Valis sacrifice fly.
Houston has won 11 of 15 previous meetings with UAB, including the last nine meetings in the series dating back to the 2003 season. Over that stretch, the Cougars have outscored the Blazers, 56-20.
The two teams met to conclude the 2005 season with Houston winning both meetings 6-2 and 4-3. In the second game, the Cougars rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the fifth inning when Kristen Glowacz cranked a three-run homer. Glowacz smashed a grand slam in the opening game to give Houston a 6-2 win.
The weekend series opens with a Saturday doubleheader followed by a Sunday single game. First pitch on both days is on tap for 1pm. All of the action from George Ward Field this weekend will not have live stats.
