University of Houston Athletics
Softball Hosts Hilton Houston Plaza Invite
2/20/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 20, 2014
| HOUSTON HILTON PLAZA INVITE | |
|---|---|
| When | Feb. 21-23 |
| Where | Cougar Softball Stadium |
| Info | Tournament Central |
| Social Media |   |
| Tickets | UHCougars.com |
| Promotions | Free Admission on Saturday with Men's/Women's Basketball Ticket Free Schedule Posters Friday |
| Game Notes | |
HOUSTON - Houston Softball hosts the Houston Hilton Plaza Invite Feb. 21-23 at Cougar Softball Stadium with Columbia, Nicholls State and North Dakota State coming to town. Four games on Friday begin the action with six more to follow over the next pair of days. Houston (5-1) begins play with a pair of games on Friday against Nicholls State University and Columbia, beginning at 4:30 and 7 p.m.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Friday, Feb. 21
11:30 a.m. Nicholls vs. North Dakota State
2 p.m. North Dakota State vs. Columbia
4:30 p.m. Houston vs. Nicholls
7 p.m. Columbia vs. Houston
Saturday, Feb. 22
11:30 a.m. Nicholls vs. Columbia
2 p.m. North Dakota State vs. Nicholls
4:30 p.m. Columbia vs. Houston
7 p.m. Houston vs. North Dakota State
Sunday, Feb. 23
9 a.m. Columbia vs. North Dakota State
11:30 a.m. Houston vs. Nicholls
WEEKEND PROMOTIONS
Admission is free on Saturday to anyone who brings a ticket to the men's or women's basketball game. The first 100 fans in attendance on Friday will receive free schedule posters with 10 autographed by the team.
ON HOUSTON
Houston went 5-1 during its opening weekend to play with the only loss coming against No. 8 Nebraska (4-1). UH won the season opener 11-5 over Sam Houston State before dropping the Nebraska game and won the final four games to close out the tournament. UH added another win over Sam Houston State (13-5) with a pair of 6-2, 6-0 wins against Army and closed out with a 7-3 win over Stephen F. Austin.
Seven student-athletes connected on home runs with Selena Hernandez, Haley Outon and Jaime Edwards all hitting two long balls a piece.
Sophomore shortstop and Texas State transfer Selena Hernandez performed brilliantly during her first weekend donning the Red and White. The Austin, Texas, native paced the team with a .476 average, four doubles and eight runs scored to lead the Cougars over the weekend en route to being named to the conference Honor Roll. Senior stalwart and starting catcher Haley Outon was just being Hernandez batting .375 with a pair of doubles and four RBI.
Diedre Outon was also named to the conference honor roll as she lead Houston's pitching efforts throwing 17.0 innings and allowing only two earned runs while picking up a 2-0 record with a save.
Houston ranks second in the American as a team batting .331, third in ERA (3.07), first in slugging (.583) and on base (.426) and runs scored (44)
ON COLUMBIA
Columbia has yet to play a game this season and are coming off a 22-26 record in 2013 with an 8-12 Ivy League record. Alix Cook (.363) and Emily Snodgrass (.308) are the Lions top returning batters. Snodgrass had the team lead in doubles (11), home runs (6) and RBI (29) last year. The Lions will look to Brooke Darling (2.61, 10-11) and Emily Kenyon (2.70, 10-11) to lead their efforts from inside the pitching circle. Columbia is lead by head coach Kayla Noonan who is entering her 12th year with the program.
ON NICHOLLS
Nicholls State University sports a 4-7 record in 2014 with three of their wins coming against Southern including a 5-1 win on Wednesday. Brittany Marcet paces the team with a .471 average including a team-best three home runs and 11 RBI in 34 at bats. Danielle Phillips holds a .357 batting average for second on the squad and the Colonels rank third in the Southland with a .308 team batting average. Nicholls ranks first among its league in team ERA at 2.78 as Jackie Johnson has thrown 37.0 innings allowing only seven earned runs (1.70).
ON NORTH DAKOTA STATE
North Dakota State enters the weekend with a 4-5 record with three of their losses at the hands of No. 10 Florida State. The Bison went 1-4 at the FSU Renegade Classic in Tallahassee dropping their three games to FSU while posting a 1-1 split with Southern Miss. NDSU went 3-1 at the Auburn Plainsmen Invitational to begin the year posting a win against Morehead State, Tennessee Tech and Notre Dame. NDSU has played all nine of their games on the road this year and register a 4-0 record in neutral site games.
Outfielder Alex Sobrero leads the Bison's charge with a .448 batting average, three doubles and six RBI over her nine starts this year. Infielder Logan Moreland is second on the team batting a .357 clip.
Krista Menke (31.2 IP) and Tabby Bayers (20.2 IP) have paved way inside the circle as the two have pitched all but 1.1 innings this year. Menke has a 3-1 record and 1.99 ERA with 29 strikeouts while Bayers has a 1-3 record, 6.77 ERA and 21 strikeouts.
SERIES HISTORY
Houston owns a 5-0 combined mark against Nicholls State and North Dakota State, UH has never faced Columbia before. Houston is 3-0 against the Nicholls State Colonels with all three games being played at Cougar Softball Stadium. UH opened the 2008 season with a pair of wins over the Colonels and the two last met in 2011 with Houston posting a 6-0 win. The Cougars won 4-3 and 6-3 over North Dakota State at home in 2010 during the only time these two programs met.
USA Softball TOP 50 "WATCH LIST"
Houston's Haley Outon is one of 50 student-athletes that has been named to the "Watch List" for the 2014 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award awarded by the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America and USA Softball. This is the second-straight season the senior catcher has been named to the Preseason Watch List. Outon is one of four American Athletic Conference student-athletes named to the list along with Katie Keller (Louisville), Sara Nevins (South Florida) and Stephanie Pasquale (Temple). The Top 25 Finalists for the 2014 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award will be announced April 9.
DODGE, DUCK, DIP, DIVE, DODGE...OR DON'T
Kendra Cullum was a three-sport athlete at Conroe High School but dodgeball was not one of those. Cullum has taken a beating on her way to first base as she's totaled 68 hit by pitches in her career including 62 while wearing the Red and White. She set a school record with 21 bean balls in 2012 and then broke her own mark in 2013 with 38 bean balls. The 38 bean balls rank as the third-most in a NCAA single-season.
Cullum moved into second place in the NCAA history for career hit by pitches (1. 92 Mariah Gearhart, Oklahoma State) when she took three balls to the body against Stephen F. Austin on Feb. 16, 2013. The three times she was hit by a pitch is the 15th time she's been plunked multiple times in a game and the record-setting beanball was the second of the inning she received. Against Northwestern (May 19) in the 2012 NCAA Regionals, Cullum was hit by a pitch four times to set another program record in the category.
RECORD GRADES
Houston was recognized as one of the 2013 NFCA Top Ten All-Academic Teams. UH ranked eighth in the nation with a 3.53 cumulative team GPA which was an all-time record for the Cougars. Houston softball tied for the UH sport program lead with a fall semester GPAs of 3.48 while sporting the second-highest cumulative GPA behind the tennis team. Haley Outon earned the Team's Academic MVP and was named to the Conference USA All-Academic Team.
Ten Cougars earned NFCA All-American Scholar Athletes in 2012-13 (Holly Anderson, Jaime Edwards, Reina Gaber, Sydney Gerbracht, Ashleigh Jones, Diedre Outon, Haley Outon, Katie St. Pierre, Tess Soefje and Bailey Watts)
EYES ON THE PRIZE
Head coach Kyla Holas always strives for points of emphasis on manufacturing runs during the offseason. In 2012, Houston put an emphasis on base running and the Cougars were off to the races with a program record 111 steals. Last season, the Cougars stretched singles into doubles to the tune of 90 two-base hits, another program record. Houston looks to bolster their home run production in 2014. UH has 10 long balls through the first games and will look to challenge the 73 bombs hit in 2008.
LEADING THINGS OFF
Leadoff batter Katie St. Pierre has reached first base safely five of the first six games this year and twice has scored during the first inning this season. Houston is 2-0 on the year when St. Pierre scores during the first inning. St. Pierre carries a five-game hitting streak into this weekend with the No. 2 batter Selena Hernandez having reached base safely in all six games this year.
