Softball Dismisses East Carolina to Claim First Conference USA Crown

May 12, 2007

ORLANDO, Fla. - Angel Shamblin tossed a two-hit shutout en route to Conference USA Championship MVP Honors as the University of Houston softball team won its first C-USA crown emerging with a 1-0 victory over East Carolina Saturday afternoon in the C-USA Championship Game at the UCF Softball Complex.

Houston (42-16) earned the league's automatic bid and returns to the NCAA Regionals for the first time since the 2004 season. Laura Durham and Courtney Spittler joined Shamblin on the Conference USA All-Tournament Team.

"Controlling your own destiny is such a better spot," head coach Kyla Holas said. "It was such a horrible feeling to sit there and wonder afterwards. It's not a question of if but where on our side. We know what East Carolina is going through by our experience from last year. Give credit to Tracy and her kids. They fought really hard to get to this point."

The Cougars scored the game's only run in the first and capitalized on a pair of East Carolina (40-20) errors. Amanda Grote reached on a fielding error by ECU second baseman Erin St. Ledger. After an Elaina Nordstrom single and Christa Raley loaded the bases, another fielding error allowed Grote to score.

Houston looked to bust the game open, but an inference call on a Laura Durham single halted the frame as Haley Valis was ruled out as the ball nicked off of Valis' cleat going from first to second base.

Shamblin allowed a St. Ledger single in the second inning but the Florida native rebounded to retire 17 of the last 18 batters she faced. The lone blemish during that stretch was a Jessica Johnson single in the seventh inning.

"Angel put up a great showing out there," Holas said. "She did a fantastic job and finished this tournament out in that fashion. The key to her game today was that she didn't allow any walks, and the defense behind her made all the routine plays."

Houston finds out where it will play next week Sunday at 2pm CDT when the NCAA Selection Committee was announced the 16 NCAA Regionals live on ESPNews.

Game Notes
This afternoon's Conference USA Championship game was the 20th all-time meeting between Houston and East Carolina on the softball diamond ... The Cougars improve to 12-8 against the Pirates and have won six of the last eight meetings in the series dating back to last season ... The victory also allowed Houston to win its first Conference USA Championship and secure the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals next weekend ... The Cougars continue to add to their program mark by recording its 42nd win of the season ... Houston compiled a 117-30 mark since the start of the 2004 season when scoring first, including a 33-7 mark in 2007 ... Houston has won 106 of its last 110 decisions since the start of the 2004 season when taking a lead into the seventh inning ... The Cougars played without Conference USA Player of the Year and shortstop Jessica Valis for the sixth consecutive game ... Angel Shamblin added to her single season program record by picking up her 29th win in the circle ... With seven strikeouts, the Florida native is six Ks away from reaching 300 for the season ... The junior right-hander has allowed two or less earned runs in 34 of her last 39 starts dating back to last season ... Elaina Nordstrom has started in all 120 games of her career ... Laura Durham also has played in all 120 games of her Houston career since transferring from Texas A&M ... Katie Bush has made 117 consecutive starts in centerfield ... Amanda Grote has recorded a hit in six of her last seven games ... Elaina Nordstrom extended her hitting streak to five games with a single in the first inning ... The California native also has hit safely in eight of her last nine games ... She is the only Cougar to reach base in each of Houston's 27 games this season against C-USA opponents ... Nordstrom now has 110 career hits and matches Riane Netardus (2001-02) for the No. 9 spot on the program's career hits list ... Christa Raley has reached base in 39 of her last 46 games ... She drew a walk in the first inning ... Haley Valis has notched a hit in five straight games and seven of her last nine outings ... Laura Durham has strung together a five-game hitting streak and has tallied a hit in 18 of 27 games against C-USA opponents this season ... Laurie Wagner has tallied a hit in four of her last five outings ... Angel Shamblin has recorded a hit in four of her last six games ... With a fielder's choice in the second inning, Courtney Spittler has reached base in seven of her last eight games.

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