University of Houston Athletics
Softball Set for Doubleheader against HBU
4/22/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 22, 2014
| HOUSTON (28-15 | 11-4) vs. HBU (16-23 | 10-11) | |
|---|---|
| Tickets | UHCougars.com |
| Time | 5 and 7 p.m. |
| Location | Cougar Softball Stadium |
| Live Stats | Game | |
| Video | Game 1 | 2 |
| Series History | Houston leads, 3-0 |
| Social Media |   |
HOUSTON - The University of Houston Softball program welcomes HBU to Cougar Softball Stadium for a doubleheader on Wednesday evening. First pitch between Houston (28-15 | 11-4) and HBU (16-23 | 10-11) is set for 5 and 7 p.m.
PROMOTIONS
Faculty/Staff Appreciation Day
-$5 tickets for all UH Main Campus faculty/staff
-UH Athletics staff Home Run Derby following the game
ON HOUSTON (28-15 | 11-4)
Houston stands in second place in the American Athletic Conference standings while picking up votes in both national poll for the fourth straight week. As a team, UH leads the league scoring 6.1 runs per game to rank No. 24 in the NCAA and the defense has pulled its weight with the seventh most double plays per game (0.51).
Katie St. Pierre has paced the team with her .405 batting clip and .507 as the secondary leadoff batter with the No. 1 slot, Selena Hernandez, hitting a team-best 13 doubles and scoring a league-leading 40 runs. Haley Outon leads the conference with her 12 home runs and 45 RBI as she continues to build her leads in the UH program career records.
Diedre Outon leads the charge inside the circle throwing a 13-6 record to the tune of a 2.49 ERA on the year. Sophomore Julana Shrum possesses a 3.10 ERA with a 10-5 mark.
ON HBU (16-23 | 10-11)
HBU enters the weekend series with a 16-23 record coming in with a road mark of 6-12. The Huskies are 10-11 in the Southland and currently sit sixth in the standings. The Huskies are coached by Mary-Ellen Hall in her 23rd season at HBU.
Sophomore Kirsten Schwirtlich leads the team, and the conference with a .404 batting average. Freshman pitcher Emily Mueller is 7-8 on the season and leads the staff with a 2.86 ERA. She has tossed eight complete games and one shutout in fifteen games started.
The Huskies currently have four batters above .300 with Kirsten Schwirtlich's .404 leading the pack. Schwirtlich is 46 for-114 with a team leading 8 HRs and 31 RBI. Senior Lauren Schwirtlich follows with a .391 average and 54 hits and 2B Shay Orsak leads the conference with 16 doubles, all three players have played every game this season.
SERIES HISTORY
Houston is 3-0 against HBU never allowing a run to Huskies with wins of HBU 6-0, 5-0 and 8-0 (6) in each of the past three years.
FACING TEXAN COMPETITION
The Cougars carry a 8-3 record against fellow Texan teams this season with wins over Texas (5-4), Texas A&M (2-1), Baylor (3-2), Sam Houston State (11-5, 13-5), SFA (7-3) and Lamar (5-2, 7-1) and losses coming to Baylor (0-3), North Texas (1-6) and Texas (1-5). The Cougars have four games remaining against teams from the Lone Star State facing Houston Baptist and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
For the first time since 2011 and the second time in program history, Houston recorded wins over Texas, Texas A&M and Baylor in the same season.
FAMILIAR FACES
Six starters for Houston have been on the lineup card for all 43 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 183 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 43 this season. Outon is the only batter in the lineup to hold the same spot (cleanup) all season-long.
LAST TIME OUT
The Cougars dropped their first conference series of the season as they were swept by USF over the weekend. The Cougars won a pair of games at Lamar during the midweek road series.
UP NEXT
Houston travels to challenge first-place UCF this weekend with a doubleheader on Saturday and conclude the series on Sunday.
