University of Houston Athletics
Cougars Host Louisville For Conference Series
3/28/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 28, 2014
| HOUSTON (16-10 | 3-0) vs. LOUISVILLE (20-11 | 1-2) | |
|---|---|
| Tickets | UHCougars.com | 713-GO-COOGS |
| Time | Saturday, March 28 | 1 and 3 p.m. Sunday, March 29 | 12 p.m. . |
| Location | Cougar Softball Stadium |
| Video | Game 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Live Stats | Game | | |
| Series History | Louisville leads, 14-4 |
| Game Notes | • Houston • Louisville • The American |
| Social Media |   |
HOUSTON - Houston Softball continues conference play this weekend hosting Louisville at Cougar Softball Stadium. The Cougars (16-10 | 3-0) and Cardinals (20-11 | 2-1) play a doubleheader Saturday starting at 1 p.m. and close out the series at noon on Sunday. Wednesday's weather shifted the Striking Out Breast Cancer Game presented by Wells Fargo to next Wednesday, April 2. Houston and No. 17/20 Texas A&M play at 6:30 p.m. for the annual Pink Game with the proceeds from the event benefitting the Susan G Komen For the Cure foundation.
LAST TIME OUT
Houston (16-10 | 3-0) enjoyed the beginning of American Athletic Conference action by sweeping Temple last weekend. The Cougars run-ruled the Owls 8-0 twice on Saturday and recorded their second come-from-behind victory of the week to take Sunday's game. Jaime Edwards drew a bases-loaded walk in the seventh inning as Houston won 7-6 over the Owls (7-14, 0-3). The Cougars also posted a three-run, seventh-inning rally to take a 5-4 win over Texas in Austin last week. Three-straight RBI singles by the Cougars offense allowed UH to pick up the program's second win all-time in Austin. Tiffani McKnight batted .500 (6-for-12) for the week, drove in six runs and scored four times to earn American Honor Roll honors for the second time this season.
ON HOUSTON (16-10 | 3-0)
The Cougars are riding a four-game winning streak after sweeping Temple and winning at Texas in Austin last week. The Cougars began the season on a 9-2 run as the host of a pair of tournaments. After the quick start, UH went .500 (8-8) over a stretch that included 1-4 mark against Top 10 opponents. The win against that stretch was the program's highest-ever ranked win beating No. 4/5 Michigan.
With seven runners scoring in double digits, Houston ranks third in the conference in runs scored and second in home runs with 23 homers. Haley Outon's home run (6) and RBI (21) totals rank third and fifth in the league and the team-leader in scoring is fifth in the conference with 24 runs scored. Tiffani McKnight (.394) and Katie St. Pierre (.385) lead the team in batting. St. Pierre also leads the team with her 0489 on base percentage and currently has .376 career batting average which is the highest in program history through 200 at bats.
UH has turned to a trio of hurlers in to get the job done inside the pitching circle. Diedre Outon (5-5), Summer Groholski (4-2) and Julana Shrum (4-3) have thrown 168 innings thus far and Outon's 2.41 ERA ranks as the best on the team. Houston ranks No. 5 in the NCAA in double plays per game (0.62) and No. 30 in scoring (5.96). ON
LOUISVILLE (20-11 | 2-1)
The Cardinals are 20-11 on the year and took two of three games from Rutgers to start league play last weekend. Sandy Pearsall is in 15th year as head coach at U of L and has guided the program to 10 consecutive NCAA Regional appearances.
Louisville is led offensively by senior Katie Keller (.409) as she is one of six Cardinals to bat above .300 - the senior's 10 doubles lead a squad ranked No. 2 in the NCAA for doubles per game (1.93). Kelsi Jones is tied for the team lead with Keller at 10 doubles and leads the team in home runs (7) and RBI (24).
Freshman Maryssa Becker has posted a team-best 8-1 record and 1.73 ERA inside the circle for the Cardinals. Seniors Caralisa Cornnell and Rachel LeCoq share the pitching load both possessing ERAs of 3.71 and 3.87.
SERIES HISTORY
Houston won its first ever conference (C-USA) game against the Cardinals in 2001 (5-4) and the two teams split the first eight games of the series. Since the split, Louisville has posted 10 straight wins to lead the all-time series 14-4.
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 75 hit by pitches in her career including 63 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 body shots 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 her second of the inning as Houston batted around the lineup. 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. 500 Head coach Kyla Holas is nearing a milestone as she has amassed 491 career wins. Overall she holds a .609 winning percentage (491-314-1) over her 13 years at the helm of Houston Softball. Her first win came in a 7-1 decision over Bethune-Cookman on Feb. 9, 2011.
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)
OUTON BOMBS
Haley Outon has established herself as the program's premier long-ball hitter as she moved into first place in the record books with her 48th career home run against Nicholls State on Feb. 22. Outon's fifth home run of the year added to her impressive weekend where she went 6-for-13 (.462) with three home runs, nine RBI and seven walks. Outon now holds the career and single season (22, 2011) Houston records. She also shares two NCAA records thanks to her power prowess. She became the fifth player in NCAA history with home runs in six-straight games (May 1-11, 2012) and the eighth to hit two grand slams in a single game (April 13, 2013 at UTEP).
FACING TEXAN COMPETITION
The Cougars carry a 4-2 record against fellow Texan teams this season with wins over Texas (5-4), Sam Houston State (11-5, 13-5) and SFA (7-3) and losses coming to North Texas (1-6) and Texas (1-5). The Cougars have 11 games remaining against teams from the Lone Star State facing Texas A&M, Baylor, Houston Baptist, Lamar and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
RPI
Houston checks in at No. 48 in the first RPI release. The Cougars have a 3-7 record against Top 50 RPI opponents this season with six of those games coming against Top 10 opponents (1-5).
Alabama (2) 0-2
FSU (3) 0-1
Michigan (5) 1-0
Arizona (8) 0-1
Nebraska (9) 0-1
Texas (31) 1-1
Long Beach State (39) 0-1
Fresno State (49) 1-0
Texas A&M (12)
Baylor (10)
South Florida (40)
FAMILIAR FACES
Six starters for Houston have been on the lineup card for all 26 games this year in their respective positions - Kendra Cullum (LF), Katie St. Pierre (CF), Selena Hernandez (SS), Kayla Holland (2B), Jaime Edwards (1B) and Haley Outon (C). St. Pierre and Outon started all 61 games at both of their positions in 2013 while Outon has started 163 consecutive games dating back to April 9, 2011. The catcher started the last 20 games of 2011 (56 overall), all 59 games in 2012, all 61 in 2013 and 23 this season.
LEADING THINGS OFF
Houston is 8-1 on the season when leading after the first inning having outscored their opponents 21-11 in the opening frame this year. The team as a whole bats .500 when leading off an inning highlighted by Kendra Cullum's .786 reaching base clip followed by Selena Hernandez .619 clip.
LOOKING BACK TO 2013
Houston went 41-20 advancing to its third-straight NCAA Regional for the first time in program history. The Cougars competed in Conference USA for the 13th and final season while finishing second during the regular season (19-5) and tournament. The schedule included a 12-14 against tournament teams during the year including the results at the Austin Regional where UH went 1-2 with a win against Army while falling to South Carolina twice.
UP NEXT
Cougar Softball Stadium will be the site of the eighth annual Striking Out Breast Cancer Game presented by Wells Fargo on Wednesday, April 2 against No. 17/20 Texas A&M. The annual Pink Game gives all proceeds from the game to the Susan G. Komen For the Cure foundation and the first 1,000 fans at the stadium will receive free pink shirts.
