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University of Houston
33-14, 14-2
UCF
32-19, 8-8
Softball Smokes UCF
4/21/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 21, 2007
UCF at Houston Game 1 Box Score (PDF)
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HOUSTON - The University of Houston softball team bounced back from a pair of mid-week setbacks at No. 21 Louisiana-Lafayette in strong fashion with a 6-0 victory over UCF Saturday afternoon in game one of a Conference USA weekend series at the Cougar Softball Stadium.
"The team did an excellent job of refocusing and were fired up to get back on the field after what happened at ULL," head coach Kyla Holas said. "We played with a lot of heart, effort, attitude and intensity. These are the Cougars that we are capable of being."
Haley Valis broke open a 2-0 game in the fifth inning, belting a grand slam to left field on a 1-0 pitch for the final margin of 6-0. UCF hurler Allison Kime was tagged for all six runs on eight hits to go along with five walks and four strikeouts. Entering the game, Kime had only been touched up for three earned runs in conference play.
"Everyone in the lineup stayed in the hitting plan and chose good pitches to hit," Holas said. "Haley had that same situation in the inning before but their centerfielder made a great diving catch. I was so proud that she fought back and redeemed herself on her next chance."
"I had been struggling lately and not seeing the ball well," Valis said. "That swing really helped my confidence. Each game is so important for us down the stretch."
Angel Shamblin provided a four-hit shutout in the circle and punched out seven batters against zero walks en route to her 22nd win of the season. The 7 Ks also allowed the Florida native to pass the 500-strikeout mark for her career.
"My goal was to mix up my pitches and keep them off balanced," Shamblin said. "I focused on one pitch at a time and wanted to continue to throw my game even if they put a couple of runners on."
Jessica Valis set the tempo in the first inning for the Cougars (33-14, 14-2 C-USA) with a leadoff triple and came around to score on a Katie Bush groundout.
Shamblin pushed the advantage to 2-0 with a solo shot to left centerfield in the second inning.
UCF (32-19, 8-8 C-USA) put a pair of runners on in the fourth inning with one out. Shamblin responded by getting a popout and a strikeout to keep the game at 2-0.
Cici Alvarez headlined the Golden Knight offense with a 2-2 performance.
Game two of the series is set to get underway at 3pm. Live stats via GameTracker will be available on UHCougars.com
Cougar Notes
Game one of this afternoon's doubleheader was the fourth all-time meeting between Houston and UCF on the softball diamond ... This was the first meeting at the Cougar Softball Stadium ... The Cougars have now won all four games and have held UCF without a run in the last 20 innings of the series dating back to the fifth inning of game two during last year's series ... Houston pushes its record to 21-0 on the season when scoring four or more runs ... The Cougars have won 32 of its last 34 games against current non-ranked opponents, including 14 consecutive games at home ... 18 of Houston's last 22 home runs have produced multiple runs ... The Cougars are 19-5 when hitting a homer ... Houston has won 39 of 54 games over the last two seasons when Jessica and Haley Valis are in the starting infield ... The Cougars are 26-7 in day games ... Houston has won 15 of 19 decisions this season when the game is decided by four or more runs ... The Cougars improve to 25-7 this season and to 109-30 since the start of the 2004 season when scoring first ... Houston also moves to 98-4 since the start of the 2004 season when carrying a lead into the seventh inning ... Jessica Valis and Elaina Nordstrom have started in all 109 games of their careers ... Laura Durham also has played in all 109 games of her Houston career since transferring from Texas A&M ... Katie Bush has made 106 consecutive starts in centerfield ... Jessica Valis is the only Cougar to hit safely in each of Houston's 16 Conference USA contests ... The Shiner native has hit safely in 15 of her last 17 games ... Nine of the 15 outings over the stretch have been multi-hit efforts ... Houston improves to 47-12 when Jessica Valis scores a run in her career ... The Cougars also are 31-11 when Valis tallies a multi-hit effort ... It was her 19th multi-hit effort of the season and 42nd of her career ... Valis now has 132 career hits and is 28 away from matching Jenilee Skender (2002-05) for the No. 4 slot ... Katie Bush has registered a hit in 10 of her last 15 outings ... The Brenham native is now two hits away from reaching 100 for her career ... Houston moves to 26-15 since the start of last season when Jessica Valis and Katie Bush tally a hit in the same game ... Elaina Nordstrom drew three walks and has reached base in 95 of 109 career games ... Nordstrom joins Jessica Valis as the only Cougars to reach base in each of Houston's 16 C-USA games ... Christa Raley has reached base in 30 of her last 35 games ... The La Porte native was hit-by-a-pitch for the 13th time this season in the fifth inning ... She has scored a run in 10 in her last 16 games ... Laura Durham has popped a hit in 11 of 16 Conference USA games this season ... Haley Valis has notched a hit in four of her last seven C-USA outings ... The grand slam for Valis was the first of her career ... It was also the Shiner natives first career four RBI game ... Amanda Grote has slapped a hit in five of her last six C-USA games ... Angel Shamblin added to her single season program record by picking up her 22nd win in the circle ... With seven strikeouts, the Florida native surpassed the 500-career strikeout mark ... Shamblin moves to 39 Ks from matching Jenny Johnson for the top spot in program history ... The junior right-hander also has allowed two or less earned runs in 27 of her last 31 starts dating back to last season.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Shamblin, Angel (22-6)
L: KIME, A. (19-8)
Batting:
SH: ALVAREZ, C. 1
Base Running:
HBP: JAVIER, B. 1
Batting:
3B: Valis, Jessica 1
HR: Valis, Haley 1 ; Shamblin, Angel 1
RBI: Bush, Katie 1 ; Valis, Haley 4 ; Shamblin, Angel 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Valis, Jessica 1 ; Nordstrom, Elaina 1 ; Raley, Christa 1 ; Durham, Laura 1 ; Valis, Haley 1 ; Shamblin, Angel 1
HBP: Raley, Christa 1
