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University of Houston Athletics
Softball Kicks Off 2008 Season This Weekend
2/7/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 7, 2008
HOUSTON - The University of Houston softball team kicks off the 2008 season when they welcome Nicholls State and McNeese State to Cougar Softball Stadium this weekend.
The defending Conference USA Championships open the weekend with a double-header at 3pm against Nicholls State on Feb. 9. The Cougars will wrap-up the weekend against McNeese State at 1pm on Feb. 10.
The Cougars open the season as the defending C-USA regular season and tournament champions. After posting a program best 44-18 record in 2007, Houston was named the preseason conference favorite in the annual coaches poll for the third-straight season. Houston returns 12 letterwinners from last year's squad.
When they take to the field on Friday they will look to improve their 2-5 opening day record.
When the conference preseason rankings came out senior pitcher Angel Shamblin was named the Preseason Pitcher of the Year and junior shortstop Jessica Valis was the Preseason Player of the Year. The duo made the Preseason All-Conference-USA Team along with junior outfielder Katie Bush.
Valis also found herself on the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) Top 50 Watch List when it was announced on Jan. 30. The list is a compilation of some of the best softball players in the country and the ASA Player of the Year will be announced from the list prior to the start of the 2008 NCAA Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City, Okla.
Fans can follow all games through Gametracker available at www.UHCougars.com.
For a complete wrap-up of each day's events visit the website.
Houston will continue a month-long home stand next weekend when they play host to the Crown Plaza Classic. They will welcome teams including DePaul, Army and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to the weekend tournament.
