University of Houston Athletics
No. 16/20 Softball Set to Host Marriott Houston Classic
2/21/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 21, 2008
HOUSTON - The University of Houston softball team will continue tournament play this weekend when they play host to the Marriott Houston Classic on Feb. 22-24. This is the second-straight tournament the Cougars will host this season.
Teams slated to compete in the tournament include, Texas State, Centenary, Kansas, Boston University and Cal State Northridge.
The tournament will begin at 9am on Friday and will be the first of six games that afternoon. Houston will not take the field until 5pm for a game against Cal State Northridge and Boston University.
Last weekend, UH hosted the Crowne Plaza Classic and went 5-0 including two wins over then-ranked No. 14 DePaul. The wins moved the Cougars to 9-0 to open the season. They are just two wins shy of tying the program record of 11 consecutive wins set in the opening weeks of the 2002 season.
With their impressive open to the season, Houston finds themselves ranked in both softball polls. After receiving votes in both preseason polls, UH is No. 16 in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll and No. 20 in ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll.
All games of the tournament will be available through Gametracker by logging onto www.UHCougars.com.
Following the Marriott Houston Classic, the Cougars will travel to College Station, Texas for a double-header against Texas A&M at 4pm on March 27. They will return home on March 5 for the Second Annual Breast Cancer Awareness Game against Texas at 5pm.
Cal State Northridge
The Cougars will open tournament play with a 5pm match-up with Cal State Northridge. The Matadors bring a 3-7 record into the contest after playing in the Cathedral City Kick Off and the UNLV Louisville Slugger Desert Classic the previous two weekends. CSNU is led by Amanda Peek's .464 hitting percentage this season. Pitcher Mercedes Lovato holds a 3-5 record this season and 10 appearances at the plate.
Head coach Barbara Jordan is 153-139-1 in her seventh season at the helm of the Matador softball team. This will be the first time in Cougar softball history that the two schools will meet on the field.
Boston University
Boston University will open the 2008 season at the Marriott Houston Classic. Last season, the Terriers finished 34-14 and 17-3 in America East play. They were chosen the 2008 preseason favorites following a vote by the league's head coaches. They return 13 letterwinners and six All-Conference starters.
Houston is 2-0 all-time against Boston. Head Coach Shawn Rychicik is in his third season as head coach of the Terriers.
Kansas
Kansas is 8-3 coming into the tournament. One of the Jayhawks losses have come to C-USA opponent UCF and the other two have come to Seton Hall and UNLV. Kansas will be looking to rebound after suffering two-straight losses last weekend. Val Chapple is one of four Jayhawks who lead the offense with 11 hits this season and Valerie George has a team-leading 0.78 ERA in 27.0 innings of work.
Houston won the last contest between the two schools 1-0 on Feb. 11, 2006 at the Wilson/DeMarini Invitational. Head coach Tracy Bunge is 351-295-2 in 11 seasons at Kansas.
Centenary
Centenary is 1-9 heading into tournament play. Their lone win this season came against Syracuse and they will be looking to snap a four-game losing streak when they take to the field. Allison Shepperd leads the Ladies with a .444 hitting percentage this season. She also leads the team in hits (12), RBI (5) and stolen bases (4). Ryan Thacker leads the pitchers with a 5.75 ERA and has four starts this season including a win.
The Cougars are 2-0 in the all-time series against the Ladies. Head Coach Mark Montgomery is in his seventh season as head coach at Centenary and is 38 games over .500 in his tenure.
Texas State
Texas State is 4-6 this season and have lost their last two contests. They are led by Kristina Tello who is batting .364 this season and has 12 hits. Pitcher Katie Garnett was named the Southland Pitcher of the Week and has seven appearances at the mound this season. She also has a team-best 1.89 ERA in 37.0 innings and 16 strikeouts.
Houston is 7-4 all-time against Texas State. Head coach Ricci Woodard is 266-147-1 all-time as the Texas State head coach.
Complete Tournament Schedule
Friday, Feb. 22
9am- Texas State vs. Centenary
11am- Kansas vs. Texas State
1pm- Centenary vs. Kansas
3pm- Boston vs. Cal State Northridge
5pm- Cal State Northridge vs. Houston
7pm- Houston vs. Boston
Saturday, Feb. 23
9am- Cal State Northridge vs. Texas State
11am- Texas State vs. Boston
1pm- Centenary vs. Cal State Northridge
3pm- Boston vs. Kansas
5pm- Kansas vs. Houston
7pm- Houston vs. Centenary
Sunday, Feb. 24
9am- Boston vs. Centenary
11am- Cal State Northridge vs. Kansas
1pm- Texas State vs. Houston
