Houston Takes Down Golden Eagles, Advances to Conference USA Semifinals

May 12, 2011

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	F	H	E
SOUTHERN MISS	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	5	2
HOUSTON	0	0	0	3	0	1	X	4	8	0

Pitching	IP	ER	K/BB	H
Donna Bourgeois (W, 16-6)	4.1	2	4/0	3
Amanda Crabtree (Save, 2)	2.2	0	7/0	2

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Batting	H	AB	R	RBI	BB
Haley Outon	2	3	1	2	0
Jennifer Klinkert	1	2	2	1	1
Stesha Brazil	1	3	0	1	0

GREENVILLE, N.C. - The top-seeded University of Houston softball team defeated No. 8 Southern Miss, 4-2, in the opening round of the 2011 Conference USA Softball Championship Thursday evening at ECU Softball Stadium.

Facing the Golden Eagles (17-38) for the fourth time this season, Houston (40-15) held off a Southern Miss team ready to rally using lockdown defense and solid relief pitching.

Senior right-hander Donna Bourgeois (16-6) earned the start in the tournament opener, opposite USM sophomore starter Beth Dietrich (10-19). The C-USA Newcomer of the Year logged her 12th victory in her last 12 decisions. Despite giving up her first homerun to a C-USA hitter, Bourgeois allowed just two runs on three hits. In her 4.1 innings of work, she struck out four and walked none.

Coming in to relieve her in the fifth, senior Amanda Crabtree struck out seven and walked none in 2.2 scoreless innings. The two hits she surrendered were the first the Golden Eagles tallied against her all year after facing her twice in the regular-season series.

Heading into the semifinals, Crabtree needs just four strikeouts to become Houston's all-time, single-season strikeout leader.

At the plate, C-USA All-Freshman catcher Haley Outon led the way, going 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored. Fellow freshman Stesha Brazil and redshirt junior Jennifer Klinkert accounted for the other two RBI in the Cougars' 17th C-USA Tournament victory.

As Bourgeois rolled through the first two innings, throwing 1-2-3 frames, Dietrich was keeping the Cougars quiet as well. Senior right fielder Katy Beth Sherman raced to first on an error to lead off the game. Although she found her way to third using a sac bunt and a long fly out, the senior stayed on third as the first inning ended.

Two innings later, Sherman knocked a single to right center for the first hit of the game, but again would be stranded as the game moved into the fourth knotted at zero.

The Golden Eagles matched the effort in the visitor's half of the fourth, when junior right fielder Britney Dinelt singled through the left side to notch the first hit against Bourgeois. A ground out to the next batter ended any threat, keeping the game scoreless.

Houston broke the silence in its next trip to the plate.

Player of the Year Melissa Gregson led off the bottom of the fourth with a sharp single to center, and made her way to second using a well-executed sac bunt from sophomore designated player Reina Gaber. Klinkert smacked an RBI single to bring home Gregson for the first run of the game.

Although sophomore shortstop Brooke Lathan's attempt to stretch her single into a double resulted in an out, she still moved Klinkert to third. Outon saw to it that Klinkert wouldn't stay there long and drove her in with a single to right field.

Returning the favor, Brazil tattooed a 0-1 delivery to the right-center field wall to score Outon, chasing Dietrich from the game for reliever Gabby Luciani and giving Houston the 3-0 lead.

Not ready to surrender to the top seed, Southern Miss fought back in its next at bat to narrow the gap, 3-2. Shortstop Chanell Thurman reached on a fielder's choice and scored when designated player Alexis Hurley handed the Cougars a first of the season. Her homerun to left field was the first Bourgeois has surrendered to a C-USA hitter all season.

Hurley marked the last batter the right-hander faced as senior Amanda Crabtree was called in in relief. Crabtree struck out the next two to end the inning and send her offense back to the plate for the bottom of the fifth.

Anderson connected on a one-out single and Gregson beat out an error to put two Cougars on, but a base-running blunder ended the inning with Houston holding tight to the slim lead.

After striking out the first three batters she faced, Crabtree gave up her first hit of the season to USM. The senior right-hander tossed 11.1 innings of hitless softball, including her third no-hitter of the season, in two appearances during the regular-season series in March. On Thursday, first baseman Taylor Brown singled to left to break up her streak. Rebounding quickly, Crabtree struck out back-to-back Golden Eagles to render the hit irrelevant.

Klinkert drew her team-leading 24th walk of the season to kick off the bottom of the sixth before darting to second on Lathan's sac bunt. Outon came through in her second-straight at bat. Her single down the left field line gave the speedy Klinkert enough time to slide home under the tag, putting Houston ahead 4-2.

Gregson threw a bullet to Klinkert at second to tag left fielder Michelle Takeda out following her leadoff single in the top of the seventh. Crabtree finished the game with back-to-back strikeouts for the 4-2 victory and her second save of the season.

UP NEXT
The top-seeded Houston Cougars will take on the No. 5 seed and tournament host, East Carolina in the semifinals of the 2011 Conference USA Softball Championship. The game is scheduled for Friday at 4:30 p.m. ET.

2011 Conference USA Softball Championship
ECU Softball Stadium
Greenville, N.C.

Thur., May 12
Game 1: No. 2 Tulsa vs. No. 7 Marshall - Tulsa 10-0 (5)
Game 2: No. 3 UAB vs. No. 6 UCF - UCF 2-1
Game 3: No. 4 Memphis vs. No. 5 East Carolina - ECU 5-1
Game 4: No. 1 Houston vs. No. 8 Southern Miss - Houston 4-2

Fri., May 13
Game 5: No. 6 UCF vs. No. 2 Tulsa - 3 p.m.
Game 6: No. 1 Houston vs. No. 5 East Carolina - 4:30 p.m.

Sat., May 14
Game 7: Winners of Game 5 & 6 - 1 p.m. (CBS Sports Network)

All Times Eastern

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