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University of Houston
35-14, 16-2
UCF
32-21, 8-10
Softball Notches Series Sweep over UCF
4/22/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 22, 2007
UCF at Houston Box Score (PDF)
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HOUSTON - Jessica Valis fueled the University of Houston softball team with a 2-for-3 performance with two runs scored, two RBIs and two stolen bases in a 7-0 win over UCF Sunday afternoon in the Conference USA weekend series finale at the Cougar Softball Stadium.
Before the game, the Shiner native was presented with her National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) honor by UH strength coach Dale Jones.
"Jessica is a difference maker in our program," head coach Kyla Holas said. "She showed today what we've felt all season long about her being a valid Conference USA Player of the Year candidate. She is the one that our opponents are most worried about. She's works so hard on and off the field."
Houston (35-14, 16-2 C-USA) set a new program mark by recording its 16th C- USA victory. The Cougars tallied 15 wins in both 2003 and 2006.
Angel Shamblin tossed a five-hit shutout to improve to 23-6 on the season. The Florida native sat down 11 UCF hitters via the strikeout against one walk. Shamblin closes to within 28 strikeouts of tying Jenny Johnson (2001-04) for the top spot on the program's career strikeout list.
"This afternoon was the strongest that I've felt in a while," Shamblin said. "My pitches were sharper. I knew that I had to make adjustments from last game to keep them off balanced at the plate."
"Angel's performances on Sundays have been spectacular," Holas said. "That's what separates her and has made the most difference in her game this season. She continues to get better as the weekend goes along."
Jessica Valis kick started the Houston offense in the first inning by reaching on a throwing error by UCF shortstop Amber Lamb. The ball went into the dugout and allowed Valis to move to second base. After stealing third base, Valis came around to score as UCF catcher Lindsay Dean threw the ball into left field.
Laura Durham made a critical defense play from her left field post in the fourth inning to keep the score 1-0. She fired a one-hop bullet to the plate to gun down Cici Alvarez, who attempted to score from second base on an Allison Kime single.
The Cougars used that momentum and struck again with three runs in the home half of the frame. Another Lamb throwing error extended the frame by an extra out, allowing Courtney Spittler to plate Laura Durham with a RBI-single perfectly place up-the-middle. Jessica Valis made it 4-0, belting a two-run triple down the right field line.
Houston tacked on three more runs in the sixth inning. An Amanda Grote double scored Haley Valis, who reached on a leadoff walk. After UCF (32-21, 8-10 C-USA) decided to intentionally walk Jessica Valis, Katie Bush brought two runs home on a RBI-single for the final margin of 7-0. The single was Bush's 100th career hit.
Allison Kime was tagged with the loss for the Golden Knights and fell to 19-9. She was touched up for seven runs, three earned, on five hits.
"It was tough to come out to practice (on Thursday) after losing the way we did to Louisiana-Lafayette," Valis said. "There was no other choice but for the team to get refocused. Everyone decided to go all in this weekend. We felt relaxed, comfortable and did an excellent job of playing our game all weekend."
Houston opens a weekend series with a Saturday doubleheader at East Carolina. First pitch against the Pirates is scheduled for Noon.
"We need to get back to work and have a strong week of practice in preparation for East Carolina," Holas said. "They had a strong weekend at UTEP. Our goal is to finish strong and keep our momentum going heading into the conference tournament."
Cougar Notes
This afternoon's meeting was the sixth all-time meeting between Houston and UCF on the softball diamond ... The Cougars have won all six games and have held UCF without a run in the last 34 innings of the series dating back to the fifth inning of game two during last year's series ... Houston pushes its record to 23-0 on the season when scoring four or more runs ... The Cougars have won 34 of its last 36 games against current non-ranked opponents, including 16 consecutive decisions at home ... Houston has won 41 of 56 games over the last two seasons when Jessica and Haley Valis are in the starting infield ... The Cougars are 28-7 in day games ... Houston has won 17 of 21 decisions this season when the game is decided by four or more runs ... The Cougars improve to 27-7 this season and to 111-30 since the start of the 2004 season when scoring first ... Houston also moves to 100-4 since the start of the 2004 season when carrying a lead into the seventh inning ... Jessica Valis and Elaina Nordstrom have started in all 111 games of their careers ... Laura Durham also has played in all 111 games of her Houston career since transferring from Texas A&M ... Katie Bush has made 108 consecutive starts in centerfield ... Jessica Valis is the only Cougar to hit safely in each of Houston's 18 Conference USA contests ... The Shiner native has hit safely in 17 of her last 19 games ... 11 of the 17 outings over the stretch have been multi-hit efforts ... Houston improves to 49-12 when Jessica Valis scores a run in her career ... The Cougars also are 33-11 when Valis tallies a multi-hit effort ... It was her 21st multi-hit effort of the season and 44th of her career ... Valis now has 137 career hits and is 23 away from matching Jenilee Skender (2002-05) for the No. 4 slot ... Katie Bush has registered a hit in 12 of her last 17 outings ... The two-run single by Bush in the sixth inning was the Brenham natives 100th career hit ... Houston moves to 28-15 since the start of last season when Jessica Valis and Katie Bush tally a hit in the same game ... Elaina Nordstrom drew a walk in the first inning and has reached base in 97 of 111 career games ... Nordstrom joins Jessica Valis as the only Cougars to reach base in each of Houston's 18 C-USA games ... Christa Raley has reached base in 32 of her last 37 games ... It was only the seventh time in the last 18 games that Raley failed to score a run ... Laura Durham has scored a run in eight of Houston's 18 C-USA games ... Haley Valis has scored a run in each of her last six C-USA home appearances ... Amanda Grote has notched a hit in six of her last eight C-USA games ... Courtney Spittler has slapped a hit in her last two starts ... She produced her first RBI of the season with a single in the fourth inning ... Angel Shamblin added to her single season program record by picking up her 23rd win in the circle ... With 11 strikeouts, the Florida native moves to 28 Ks from matching Jenny Johnson (2001-04) for the top spot in program history ... Shamblin has racked up double-digit strikeouts in 12 of her 25 starts this season, including five of her last nine outings ... The junior right-hander also has allowed two or less earned runs in 28 of her last 32 starts dating back to last season.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Shamblin, Angel (23-6)
L: KIME, A. (19-9)
Batting:
2B: Valis, Jessica 1 ; Grote, Amanda 1
3B: Valis, Jessica 1
RBI: Valis, Jessica 2 ; Bush, Katie 2 ; Grote, Amanda 1 ; Spittler, Courtney 1
SH: Valis, Haley 1 ; Shamblin, Angel 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Valis, Jessica 2 ; Durham, Laura 1 ; Valis, Haley 1 ; Grote, Amanda 2 ; Spittler, Courtney 1
SB: Valis, Jessica 2 ; Nordstrom, Elaina 1
HBP: Shamblin, Angel 1
