Softball Eliminates Marshall; Punches Ticket to Conference USA Championship Game

May 12, 2007

Houston vs. Marshall Box Score (PDF)
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ORLANDO, Fla. - The University of Houston softball team used a balanced attack on offense en route to a hard-fought 4-2 victory against Marshall Friday evening during the final game on day two of the Conference USA Championship at the UCF Softball Complex.

Houston (41-16) set a program record with its 41st win of the season and advances to face the winner of the East Carolina-UCF elimination game at 2:30pm CDT Saturday in the Conference USA Championship Game televised by CSTV. The winner of the championship game secures Conference USA's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

"This is a big win for our program," head coach Kyla Holas said. "We wanted this game really bad and things are falling into place. We have taken some lumps and some bumps and had some hard obstacles to overcome. All of the things that we've done throughout the season are paying off right now."

Elaina Nordstrom, Laurie Wagner and Courtney Spittler each went 2-for-4, while Laura Durham turned in a 2-for-3 performance with a RBI to fuel a balanced Cougar attack.

Houston also got another strong outing from Angel Shamblin in the circle as the Florida native notched her 28th win of the season after allowing two runs on five hits. The junior right-hander recorded six strikeouts against three walks.

Amanda Luers was tagged with the loss and dropped to 12-6 for the Thundering Herd after being touched up for three on five hits in 4.1 innings of work.

The Cougars jumped out to a 1-0 advantage in the first inning as Katie Bush opened the game by reaching on throwing error by Marshall third baseman Deanna Tourville. Amanda Grote dropped a bunt and reached on a fielder's choice as Bush beat Tourville's throw to second base.

Nordstrom loaded the bases by dropping a bunt single of her own. Bush came around to score on a Christa Raley sacrifice fly.

Houston went ahead 2-0 in the fifth inning when Courtney Spittler belted her first career home run over the centerfield fence.

"Courtney is one of those kids that works extremely hard in practice and puts a lot of extra time in," Holas said. "She's done a great job of staying confident and things are starting to click for her on offense."

The Thundering Herd (32-26) trimmed the deficit to 2-1 by stringing together a two-out rally in the home half of the fifth. Rachel Folden drew a walk and moved to second base on a Samantha Rodriguez single. On a 0-1 pitch, Rachael Sofie put Marshall on the board with a RBI-single to right field.

Gina Guzzo drew a walk, but Shamblin dug deep to get pinch hitter Rachel Schmidt to pop out ending the Marshall threat with the bases loaded.

The Cougars responded right away in the sixth inning. Raley led off the frame by getting hit-by-a-pitch. A Haley Valis bunt moved Raley into scoring position and she came across to score on a Durham RBI-single to push the score to 3-1.

Houston added an insurance run in the seventh inning by capitalizing on a pair of Marshall errors in the infield to make the score 4-1.

Kristina Knect opened the Marshall seventh with a bunt single. The Herd added Folden on a fielder's choice. The Marshall momentum changed as Rodriguez grounded into a fielder's choice of her own. Knect scored from second base on the play, but a pump fake to the plate by UH first baseman Candi Kloecker caught Rodriguez off guard. The Brenham native tagged Rodriguez for a critical second out in a race back to the first base bag.

Shamblin closed out the game in-style by getting Sofie to strike out looking to secure the 4-2 win.

Houston takes on the winner of the East Carolina-UCF elimination game at 2:30pm CDT Saturday in the Conference USA Championship Game televised by CSTV. The winner of the championship game secures Conference USA's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Cougar Notes
This evening's game was the seventh all-time meeting between Houston and Marshall on the softball diamond ... The Cougars have won five of the seven meetings in the series ... Houston set a program mark by recording its 41st win of the season ... The Cougars improve to 26-0 when scoring four or more runs ... Houston is now 10-7 in night games ... The Cougars have compiled a 116-30 mark since the start of the 2004 season when scoring first, including a 32-7 mark in 2007 ... Houston has won 105 of its last 109 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 fifth consecutive game ... Angel Shamblin added to her single season program record by picking up her 28th win in the circle ... With six strikeouts, the Florida native is 13 Ks away from reaching 300 for the season ... The junior right-hander has allowed two or less earned runs in 33 of her last 38 starts dating back to last season ... Elaina Nordstrom has started in all 119 games of her career ... Laura Durham also has played in all 119 games of her Houston career since transferring from Texas A&M ... Katie Bush has made 116 consecutive starts in centerfield ... Bush has scored 14 of her 21 runs this season against conference opponents ... Amanda Grote has recorded a hit in six of her last seven games ... She also recorded her 10th sacrifice hit of the season in the first inning ... The Brenham native is the fifth different Cougar to reach double-digits in sacrifice hits ... Elaina Nordstrom extended her hitting streak to four games with a bunt single in the first inning ... The California native has hit safely in seven of her last eight games ... She is the only Cougar to reach base in each of Houston's 26 games this season against C-USA opponents ... Nordstrom tallied her ninth multi-hit game of the season and 25th of her career ... She also passes Jeanie Davis and moves into sole possession of tenth place on the program's career hits list ... Nordstrom now has 109 career hits and is one shy of matching Riane Netardus (2001-02) for the No. 9 spot ... Christa Raley was hit-by-a-pitch for the 16th time this season and for the second consecutive game ... The LaPorte native has reached base in 38 of her last 45 games ... 18 of her 24 RBIs have come against conference opponents ... Haley Valis has notched a hit in four straight games and six of her last eight outings ... The Shiner native picked up her third stolen base of the season in the third inning ... It was only the second in Valis' last six games that she failed to produce a RBI ... Laura Durham has strung together a four-game hitting streak and has tallied a hit in 17 of 26 games against C-USA opponents this season ... The Pearland native notched her ninth multi-hit game of the season and 22nd of her career ... Durham has drove home runs in three of her last four games ... Laurie Wagner also provided a multi-hit effort, which was her fourth of the season and 15th of her career ... She has provided a hit in three of her last four games ... Courtney Spittler blasted her first career home run in the fifth inning ... Spittler has popped a hit in six of her last eight outings.

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