University of Houston Athletics
Softball Starts Conference USA Action At Marshall Saturday
3/10/2012 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 10, 2012
| Houston (10-11) at Marshall (10-9) | |
|---|---|
| Saturday, 12 p.m. | |
| Saturday, 2 p.m. | |
| Sunday, 11 a.m. | |
QUICK HITS
The Cougars travel to Huntington, West Virginia, this weekend for the start of Conference USA action. The Cougars own a 15-3-1 record against the Thundering Herd, with the only tie in program history coming in 2010 - the last time Houston travelled to West Virginia. Houston hasn't lost to Marshall since 2009, a streak of eight games.
LAST TIME OUT
After facing three ranked opponents over last weekend at the Texas A&M Invitational, Houston faced a tough midweek test when the No. 11 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns came to town and took two games from Houston.
The two teams hit six home runs and combined to score 18 of the 19 total runs via the long ball in game one of the double header. Houston played extra innings for the first time all year and took a 12-7 loss in the ninth frame. Sydney Gerbracht hit her second home run of the year, both coming as a pinch hitter, and Jamie Edwards and Haley Outon both added home runs to their season totals as well. Louisiana used two grand slams in the game, with one coming in the ninth inning, to doom the Cougars.
Houston turned a season-high of three double plays to keep competitive in the second game of the series, but Louisiana outhit Houston 12-3 en route to a 3-2 win.
OPPONENT NOTES
Marshal (10-9) is fresh off hosting their own Invitational last weekend where the Thundering Herd posted a 3-2 record with two run-rule victories over Bucknell.
Marshall leads the conference with 66 steals including three student-athletes (Ashley Gue, Taylor Thompson and Jessica Hughes) who have posted double-digit numbers while only being thrown out twice in 42 combined attempts.
Gue leads the Thundering Herd hitters with her .404 season batting average and a career average of .313, the eighth best all-time at Marshall.
Andi Williamson has made the most starts for the Marshall pitching staff and leads the crew with a 2.15 ERA with a 6-5 record while throwing 71 strike outs over 58.2 innings.
FOLLOW THE COUGARS
Live stats for all games will be available at UHCougars.com or fans can follow @UHCougarSB on Twitter for live in-game updates.
NEED FOR SPEED
Houston went 33-for-51 in stolen bases in 2011, and heading into the offseason Holas emphasized that as an area for improvement. Through 21 games this year, the Cougars are 45-for-54 in steals led by Ashleigh Jones (11-for-12) and rank second overall in C-USA (Marshall - 66).
Houston went 7-for-7 in steals against Nevada at the Gaucho Classic this year and set a new program record for steals in a game. The Cougars had already tied the program mark with six steals against Sam Houston State during the Hilton Houston Plaza Classic.
The Cougars have recorded a steal in all but four games this year and are on pace to top the school's season record for steals (74 - 2008).
RALLY TIME
Of the 96 RBIs Houston has had this year, 49 runs have come home with two outs. Holly Anderson and Haley Outon are tied for the team lead with 10 two-out RBIs and as a team the Cougars are hitting .338 (67-for-198). The right line of the Cougars defense, first base Jaime Edwards (.417) and Reina Gaber (.542) lead the team in batting during the pressure situation.
RANKED OPPONENTS
Houston has faced four opponents (Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Nebraska, Louisiana) who were ranked this year, and have played a total of six games against those teams. Houston has posted a 2-4 record with the two wins coming against Oklahoma State and Texas A&M.
BEAT THE STREAK
Houston beat No. 21 Texas A&M in College Station earlier this year to end the Aggies NCAA-leading home-winning streak of 34 games.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
Seven freshman have made starts for Houston this year including Jaime Edwards who has started at first base every game this season. Sydney Gerbracht ranks second among the rookies with ten starts coming at DP.
Big production from freshman is nothing new for Houston as nearly every returning starter has been named to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team - Diedre and Haley Outon (2011), Bailey Watts (2010), Jennifer Klinkert (2008; Freshman of the Year) , Ashleigh Jones (2010) and Reina Gaber (2010).
400
Head coach Kyla Holas reached career and program win number 400 on opening day as Houston defeated Texas A&M - Corpus Christi 10-0. Holas had to wait an extra day to get a crack and No 400 as Houston's first scheduled game of the year against North Texas was cancelled due to rain.
ON TV
The Cougars are slated to play two conference games on Fox Sports Network this year. The first televised matchup of the year will be when ECU visist Houston on April 14 at 2 p.m. The Cougars will also appear on TV the next Saturday on April 21 at 3:30pm when Houston travels to Tulsa.
