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Softball to Play Challenging Fall Schedule
9/10/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Sept. 10, 2010
HOUSTON - The University of Houston softball team announced its schedule for the upcoming 2010-11 fall season on Friday.
The Cougars finished the season 30-24-1 (C-USA 12-10-1) a year ago, and are hitting the ground running as they will face an NCAA Super Regional team, an NCAA Regional team and a top-15 team in two quick weekends of fall softball.
Houston will kick off the fall, Oct. 2-3, at the Spring Klein Fall Classic in Spring, Texas. The Cougars play twice on Saturday, beginning their fall season against Big 12 Conference power, Texas A&M at 11:45 a.m.
The Aggies finished the regular season ranked No. 20 in the USA Today/NFCA top-25 poll after posting a 41-13 record heading into postseason play. In their only meeting last season, the Aggies edged the Cougars, 6-4. Texas A&M notched two wins in the NCAA Tournament against McNeese State and LSU before falling to Louisiana-Lafayette, another of the Cougars' fall opponents, in the Regional.
Houston started practice this week, but several days of storms prevented the team from practicing outside until Friday afternoon, putting a kink in the Cougars' preparation for a difficult fall ball schedule.
"The rain makes things tough getting them ready, but this is who we're going to play during the year," head coach Kyla Holas said. "If you can't play them now, how can you expect to play them in a few more months? Mentality-wise, you have to be able to play these kind of teams every single day if this is where we want to be."
The Cougars will end the first day of the SK College Classic against the Texas State Bobcats at 4:15 p.m. UH took the only game between the two in 2010, while the Bobcats finished the season 22-24.
On Sunday, Houston will again start the day matched up against another Big 12 foe, the Baylor Bears, at 9:30 a.m. The duo met three times last season, and Baylor came out on top 2-1 in the season series. UH notched a win against Baylor in the last game of the regular season, 9-7. The Bears posted a 27-24 record a year ago, and peaked at No. 15 in the polls.
Every game of the Spring Klein Fall Classic will be played at Collins Park, located at 6727 Cypresswood Drive in Spring, Texas.
With just a week in between tournaments, Houston will then head to the Sugar Land College Classic hosted by the Sugar Land Girls Softball Association (SLGSA) on Oct. 9-10.
The team will play back-to-back games both days of the tournament, squaring off against Galveston College and Texas State at noon and 2 p.m., respectively. Houston split the season series with Galveston in 2010.
On Sunday, the Cougars take on 2010 NCAA Super Regional team, Louisiana-Lafayette, at noon. In three meetings last season, UH handed UL one of its 18 losses as the Ragin' Cajuns went 45-18 last season. Louisiana was receiving votes by the end of the spring before falling to the tournament's overall-No. 5 seed, UCLA, in the Super Regionals.
"They are always interesting in the fall, because they don't try to show very much," Holas said. "(UL co-head coaches Michael and Stefni Lotief) carry a big squad and split it into two teams in the fall to try to give them a chance to play against each other. Unless you're seeing their pitching, you're not going to get a great look at what they're going to do. They really keep that close to their hand."
Holas mentioned that Baylor usually has the same tactic, as each of the coaches generally tend to throw pitchers not commonly used in the spring.
After the first week of practice, Holas is seeing the discrepancy between her returning starters and the newcomers, but is pleased with the leadership shown by her upper classmen and even last year's freshmen who are stepping up to help. Preparing for fall ball is building strong team chemistry, even though the two weeks in October hold different objectives for Holas and her players.
"I tend to look a lot more big picture," Holas said. "I say we don't have to be ready today, we have to be ready in February. I know for them, that these games are the most important thing. It's difficult for young people to say `what am I practicing for if we're not going to play soon?' It's right smack dab in the middle of fall practices, where we practice before the tournaments and still get some work in after. It helps keep them centered and focused to play these games, but I tend to focus on the details through the entire fall."
San Jacinto College is the final opponent on the fall schedule. The Cougars went 1-0 against SJC last season and the duo will face each other at 2 p.m., on Oct. 10, at Imperial Park in Sugar Land, Texas.
2010 Fall Softball Schedule
Spring Klein Fall Classic
Oct. 2 (Saturday)
11:45 a.m. - Houston vs. Texas A&M
4:15 p.m. - Houston vs. Texas State
Oct. 3 (Sunday)
9:30 a.m. - Houston vs. Baylor
2:00 p.m. - Houston vs. Alvin College
Sugar Land College Classic
Oct. 9 (Saturday)
12:00 p.m. - Houston vs. Galveston College
2:00 p.m. - Houston vs. Texas State
Oct. 10 (Sunday)
12:00 p.m. - Houston vs. Louisiana
2:00 p.m. - Houston vs. San Jacinto College