University of Houston Athletics
Softball Travels to UAB
3/31/2012 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 31, 2012
| Houston (18-14 | 7-2) at UAB (19-11 | 6-0) | |
|---|---|
| Saturday, March 31 - 1 p.m. | |
| Saturday, March 31 - 3 p.m. | |
| Sunday, April 1 - 12 p.m. | |
BIRMINGHAM, ALA - The Houston Cougars square off against the league-leading UAB Blazers (19-11, 6-0) in Alabama this weekend. Houston enters the weekend riding a seven-game Conference USA winning streak and stands in third place in the league standings. The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1 p.m. before Sunday's finale at noon.
LAST TIME OUT
The Cougars were winners of eight-straight games including series sweeps over UTEP and Memphis in back-to-back weekends. Houston dispatched the Tigers 5-1, 8-0 (6) and 8-0 (5) last weekend before falling 15-4 to No. 6 Texas on Wednesday, ending their streak.
Houston outscored Memphis 23-1 and allowed only eight hits over the 18 innings. None of those hits came in Diedre Outon's start against Memphis on Saturday as she threw her first career no hitter en route to being named the C-USA Pitcher of the Week.
Freshman Kayla Holland hit her first career home run to make Sunday's game abbreviated after she cleared the fence with a two-run shot to make it 8-0. It was the second home run of the Cougars seven-run inning as Holly Anderson delivered a three-run bomb.
Against the nation's No. 2 team in batting average, the Cougars surrendered a season-high 15 runs en route to their first run-rule loss of the year.
SERIES HISTORY
Houston leads the series record (21-13) but has lost seven straight games to UAB. The 2011 series between the two teams was decided by a total of four runs (1-3, 0-1, 1-2) as Houston was mired in a season-long six-game losing streak.
OPPONENT NOTES
UAB is 8-2 in its last 10 games and is rated No. 44 in the NCAA's most recent RPI.
In their last outing, the Blazers swept Marshall to reach six C-USA wins for the first time in program history.
Mandy Lowman leads the team with 36 hits and 60 total bases. The starting catcher is slugging .732 with a .540 on-base percentage.
Kristen McGrath has a team-high nine home runs and 27 RBI, while Whitney Fletcher leads the squad with 22 runs scored.
Lannah Campbell (8-4) leads the pitching staff with a 1.61 ERA in 17 appearances. She has fanned 88 batters and allowed just 17 earned runs in 74.0 innings pitched. Amber Torres (3-2) picked up two wins over the weekend and has allowed just 10 earned runs in 36.0 innings pitched for a 1.94 ERA.
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.
OFFENSE
The Cougars offense has began to click in recent weeks and has moved up to No. 26 in the NCAA in team batting average (.314). Reina Gaber paces the club with her .382 clip and ranks eighth in C-USA.
Melissa Gregson ranks second on the team and just behind Gaber in the conference rankings as she has brought her average up from .311 to .357 since conference play started. Gaber is hitting .440 (11-for-25) during league play this year.
As a team, Houston has belted 29 home runs, the 29th most in the nation (0.94 per game). Holly Anderson and Haley Outon share the team lead with eight a piece.
Bailey Watts BRINGING THE WINS
Redshirt sophomore Bailey Watts has racked up six wins in seven starts over the last two weeks. Watts started a winning streak of six games at Marshall to get the Cougars out of a season-long five game losing skid.
SEASON STORY NOTES
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.
1,785
For the second year in a row, Houston set a program attendance record at the annual Striking Out Breast Cancer Game. The mark surpassed last year's crowd of 1,672,
NEED FOR SPEED
Heading into the 2012 offseason, Houston looked to improve their scoring potential with a new approach on the base paths. The Cougars have racked up 56 steals this year and rank No. 19 in the NCAA per game in the category (1.74). Led by Ashleigh Jones (13-for-14) and Jennifer Klinkert (8-10), Houston is on pace to break the program record for steals in season (70 - 2008).
CONFERENCE USA PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Diedre Outon was named the C-USA Pitcher of the Week (Feb. 13) after the opening weekend of play at the Hilton Houston Plaza Classic. Outon went 2-0 with a save over four appearances.
Outon again earned the weekly honor (March 26) as she threw a no hitter against Memphis with eight strikeouts.
Reina Gaber was named the C-USA Hitter of the Week (Feb. 21) after hitting .571 (8-for-14) with six runs and five batted over the four games during the Houston Hilton Plaza Invitational.
RANKED OPPONENTS
Houston has faced five opponents (Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Nebraska, Louisiana, Texas) who were ranked this year, and have played a total of seven games against those teams. Houston has posted a 2-5 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.
NO HITTERS
The Houston pitching staff has thrown two no hitters thus far this year. Bailey Watts threw a hitless game against Louisiana Monroe, her second of her career, on Feb. 18
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 15 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).
IN A PINCH
Redshirt freshman Sydney Gerbracht has came up huge for Houston off this season. While the Torrey Pines, Calif., native has made 18 starts and owns a .405 batting average, she has made her biggest hits as a pinch hitter. All three home runs by Gerbracht this year have come in that role.
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 visit 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.
