University of Houston Athletics
Cougar Softball Heads West
3/1/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Houston Softball Notes - Sun Devil Invitational (PDF)
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March 1, 2007
HOUSTON - The University of Houston softball team leaves the Lone Star State for the first time this season and heads west to the Sun Devil Invitational on the Arizona State campus. This weekend opens a stretch where Houston will play 10 of the next 12 games away from the Cougar Softball Stadium.
The Cougars (13-6), on a season-long six game winning streak, square off against Utah Valley State, UCSB, North Florida and host No. 2 Arizona State for the first time on the softball diamond.
"This weekend begins a challenging, two-week stretch for us," head coach Kyla Holas said. "We've got to buckle down, stay focused and take each game one at a time."
Houston has compiled a 93-27 (.775) mark since the start of the 2004 season when scoring first, including a 9-4 (.692) record this season. The Cougars also have won 13 of its last 16 contests (.813) after scoring a run in the first inning.
Even though Houston has won at a .775 clip since the start of the 2004 season when scoring first, the Cougars have done well with the opposite effect this season. Houston is 4-2 (.667) when the opposition scores first. Christa Raley hit a three-run, walk-off homer to cap a 4-2 comeback victory against Ole Miss (Feb. 9).
The Cougars also have had a knack for finishing strong, notching an impressive 84-4 (.955) since the start of the 2004 season when taking a lead into the seventh inning. Houston has won 42 of its last 44 decisions during the streak.
Houston is 11-3 (.786) all-time on March 1-3 in program history and have won five straight on these dates. The Cougars are a combined 6-0 on March 1 and 3. Highlights on these dates include Carla Kennimer and Barbie Love combining to four-hit Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Cougars also knocked off Ole Miss 8-0 last season at the Time Warner Texas Invitational.
Houston picked up a 3-1 win at No. 7 LSU on March 1, 2003. It was the highest-ranked opponent the Cougars have defeated in program history.
Angel Shamblin earned her second Conference USA Pitcher of the Week honor and seventh of her career Monday afternoon as announced by the league office. The Florida native is only one of six pitchers in league history to win the weekly honor seven times.
Shamblin rebounded from a mid-week setback at No. 16 Baylor with a dominating 3-0 mark and a 0.32 ERA at the Marriott Houston Hobby Invitational, where she held opponents to a stifling .083 average. She punched out 31 batters and was touched up for only one earned run on six hits in 22.0 innings of work.
The Florida native closed the tournament with a bang Sunday, tossing her third career no-hitter against Iowa State. It was Shamblin's first no-no since the 2005 season at Saint Louis (April 9).
She also matched her seven-inning program strikeout record with 14 Ks against the Cyclones. After Iowa State's leadoff batter reached on an error in the first inning, Shamblin set down 20 consecutive batters, 12 of those via the strikeout.
With those 14 Ks against Iowa State, Shamblin also surpassed Crystal Briscoe (2003-06) into the No. 3 position of program history for career strikeouts and equaled a program record with her 12th career shutout.
Barbie Love also had a memorable weekend at the Marriott Houston Hobby Invitational (Feb. 23-25). She racked up a career-best nine strikeouts against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Feb. 23).
The Manvel native set the tone early against the Islanders, retiring the first 10 batters she saw. After a walk and a Cougar error, Love regrouped to put down 11 of the last 12 batters in a 7-0 victory.
She concluded the weekend with a win against New Mexico State (Feb. 25) out of the bullpen. With runners on first and second base, the Cougars turned to Love, and she immediately extinguished the threat with a strikeout and ground ball. Love went back to work and got the Aggies to go 1-2-3 in the seventh inning to secure the 4-3 win.
The Houston offense is fueled by six sophomores. Each brings a unique talent to the lineup. Jessica Valis and Katie Bush are the slappers. Valis has hit safely in 14 of 18 games this season and in 35 of her last 43 outings dating back to last season. The Shiner native paces the squad with 22 hits and enters this weekend's action six hits shy of reaching 100 for her career.
Bush has put together a four-game hitting streak and has tallied a hit in seven of her last eight appearances. She headlines the Cougars with a .388 batting average and is one of two Cougars to hit .400 against right-handed pitching. The Brenham native has also used her strong arm from the outfield to gun down two runners at the plate, including one in the fifth inning against New Mexico State (Feb. 24)
Elaina Nordstrom is starting to climb out of an early season slump and has produced eight RBIs in her last eight games. She paces the team with three home runs and 11 RBIs. The California native has drawn a team-best 10 walks and is fourth on the squad with a .351 on-base percentage. Nordstrom also has reached base in 73 of her 81 career games, including 16 of 18 this season.
Christa Raley provided a three-run walk-off home run against Ole Miss (Feb. 9). She has a knack for getting on-base by any means necessary and has hit safely in five of her last six games. Raley has drawn five walks in addition to getting hit-by-a-pitch seven times this season. The La Porte native already holds the program record and has been hit-by-a-pitch 17 times in her career.
Laurie Wagner started the Crowne Plaza Classic (Feb. 15-18) with a 0-for-14 stretch but broke out of that mini-slump with a three-run double in the fifth inning against Centenary (Feb. 18). Wagner also provided a two-out, two-run double in the first inning against No. 11 Michigan (Feb. 11) that ended up being the game-winning hit. The Houston native is second on the team with 10 RBIs and pushed across the go-ahead run with a RBI-single in the sixth inning against Iowa State (Feb. 24).
Haley Valis has produced in key situations, including a team-best .385 batting average with runners in scoring position. The Shiner native provided a solo home run in the sixth inning of a 3-3 game against New Mexico State (Feb. 25). Valis also has successfully advanced runners at a team-high .571 percentage.
The Cougars also have got contributions from senior left fielder Laura Durham, who provided pop in the middle of the Houston batting lineup last season. Five of Durham's last eight hits have been for extra bases, including three doubles, a home run and a game-tying triple in the sixth inning against Iowa State (Feb. 24).
Freshman designated player Samantha Cummings is starting to see more at-bats as the season goes along. The Shepherd native hit her first career home run against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Feb. 23) and notched her first career multi-hit game with a 2-for-4 performance against Iowa State (Feb. 25) at the Marriott Houston Hobby Invitational.
All games from the Alberta B. Farrington Stadium will have live stats via Gametracker on UHCougars.com
