Softball Buries Tulsa to Complete Series Sweep

March 18, 2007

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HOUSTON - Christa Raley smacked a three-run home run with two outs in the sixth inning as the University of Houston softball team registered a 3-1 win to complete a weekend sweep of defending Conference USA champion Tulsa Sunday afternoon at the Cougar Softball Stadium.

"Coach (Holas) always gets on me about swinging out of my shoes at every pitch," Raley said. "She told me to shorten up my swing, and I saw the ball better during that at-bat in the sixth (inning). I wasn't trying to hit a home run, it just happened."

The Cougars (23-10, 6-0 C-USA) match their best start in conference play. The 2003 team also started C-USA action with a 6-0 record.

Angel Shamblin earned the win in the circle to improve to 14-5, tallying seven strikeouts. An Angela Osbon solo home run in the seventh inning was the lone damage allowed by Shamblin. Jessica and Haley Valis turned a spectacular double play one batter earlier to extinguish a Kelli McGlasson leadoff infield single.

"We wanted to close this series out after what happened (against Tulsa) last season up there," Shamblin said. "I wanted to go out and throw my game. I mixed up my pitchers and gave them a different look from yesterday. My goal was to keep them off-balanced."

"They know what Angel has after seeing her last season and in game one of this series," head coach Kyla Holas said. "I thought she did a good job of mixing up her pitches. She needs to finish stronger at the end. The double play before the home run changed the game, but Angel will keep working hard."

The game remained scoreless into the sixth inning as the Tulsa (16-13, 2-3 C-USA) defense threw out three Houston baserunners in scoring position.

Katie Bush drew a five-pitch walk to start the sixth inning and moved to second base on an Elaina Nordstrom sacrifice bunt. Two batters later, Laurie Wagner kept the frame going with a walk of her own. Raley made the most of a 1-0 pitch, sending it over the left centerfield fence to give Houston a 3-0 lead.

"Christa has been putting a lot of extra time in," Holas said. "She has a good swing at the plate. She can hit for power too when she wants to and does so when she has confidence."

"It's easy to use excuses about school work and being tired," Raley said. "The good thing is that you have teammates that push you to go the extra mile. It's important to get every cut in that you can. You can break down your swing in the cage and tweak the fundamentals."

Seven different Cougars notched hits, including Jessica Valis' leadoff double in the first inning. The Shiner native ties Leslie Seay (2001-02) with 112 hits for the No. 7 position in program history.

Houston travels to Memphis next weekend for the first time in program history. First pitch of Saturday's doubleheader against the Tigers is scheduled for 1pm. Live stats for both games will be available on UHCougars.com

"Our program has put a lot of time and effort in recruiting in addition to the schedule that we've played to get to this point," Holas said. "There's parity in our league and teams put their best foot forward in conference play. We have to stay focused and put in a good week of practice to get ready for Memphis."

Cougar Notes
This afternoon's series finale was the seventh meeting between Houston and Tulsa on the softball diamond ... The Cougars grab a 4-3 series advantage by completing their second series sweep in Conference USA action ... Houston moves to 17-5 in days games and are 9-2 when wearing blue jerseys and blue pants this season ... The Cougars have won 16 of its last 20 games, including its last 22 decisions against current non-ranked opponents ... Jessica Valis and Elaina Nordstrom have started in all 95 games of their careers ... Laura Durham also has played in all 95 games of her Houston career since transferring from Texas A&M ... Katie Bush has made 92 consecutive starts in centerfield ... With her double in the first inning, Jessica Valis draws even with Leslie Seay's (2001-02) 112 career hits for the No. 7 position in program history ... Valis has hit safely in 25 of 32 games this season ... The Shiner native is the first Cougar to 40 hits this season ... Katie Bush swiped her seventh stolen base of the season in the first inning ... Elaina Nordstrom has hit safely in eight of her last nine games ... The California native moves to 12 hits away from reaching the 100-mark for her career ... It was only the third time in the last eight games that Nordstrom failed to produce a RBI ... Laura Durham has popped a hit in four of her last seven outings ... Laurie Wagner has recorded a hit, scored a run and drawn a walk in her last two games ... Christa Raley has knocked a hit in six of her last eight games and has reached base in 19 of her last 21 outings ... It was the LaPorte natives third extra base hit of the season ... Both of her home runs this season have come in the Cougars last at-bat of the game ... It was her second multi-RBI game this season and sixth of her career ... With her double in the sixth inning, Haley Valis has notched a hit in seven of her last eight games ... Angel Shamblin racked up seven strikeouts and is now six Ks from matching Jamie Falco (2001-04) for the No. 2 spot in program history ... The Florida native also moves to 23 strikeouts away from equaling her own single-season program mark set last season ... Shamblin has allowed two or less earned runs in 19 of her last 22 starts dating back to last season ... The 14 wins recorded by Shamblin this season move her to third place in a single-season and one away from Jamie Falco (2002) and Jenny Johnson (2002) for the No. 2 spot.

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Jessica Valis

Katie Bush

Elaina Nordstrom

Laura Durham

Players Mentioned

Katie Bush

Laura Durham

Elaina Nordstrom

Christa Raley

Angel Shamblin

Haley Valis

Jessica Valis

Jessica Valis

Laurie Wagner

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