University of Houston Athletics
Cougars Travel for First-Place Contest with UCF
4/25/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 25, 2014
| Houston (29-16 | 11-4) at UCF (33-15 | 9-3) | |
|---|---|
| When | April 26 | 12 and 2 p.m. April 27 | 12 p.m. |
| Where | UCF Softball Complex |
| Live Stats | Game | | |
| Live Video | Game 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Series History | Houston leads, 15-10 |
| Game Notes | • Houston Notes • UCF Notes • The American Notes |
| Social Media |   |
HOUSTON - Houston Softball hits the road for a first-place showdown with UCF this weekend in Orlando, Fla. Houston (29-16 | 11-4) sits in second place in the league trailing UCF (33-15 | 9-3) one game in the loss category with the winner of the series holding an inside position on the league crown with just one more weekend of conference action to follow.
The Cougars and Knights start the series on Saturday with a doubleheader at noon and conclude the series on Sunday at noon.
ON HOUSTON (29-16 | 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 .510 on base percentage. Leadoff batter Selena Hernandez has hit a team-best 13 doubles scored league-high 40 runs. Haley Outon leads the conference with her 12 home runs and 46 RBI as she continues to build her leads in the UH program career records.
Diedre Outon leads the charge inside the circle throwing a 14-6 record to the tune of a 2.53 ERA on the year. Sophomore Julana Shrum possesses a 3.02 ERA with a 10-5 mark.
ON UCF (33-15 | 9-3)
Houston has the unenvious task of facing the nation's leader (USF - 395) and No. 2 squad (UCF - 394) on back-to-back weekends traveling to the Knights home court. Shelby Turnier has turned in a 16-5 record and thrown the most strikeouts on the team with 178 to rank ahead of teammate Mackenzie Audas (15-10, 174). As a staff, UCF ranks No. 6 with a 1.50 team ERA.
UCF ranks No. 4 in stolen bases per game with five base thieves in the double digits led by Kahley Novak's 27. Novak is also the team leader in batting with her .360 average Jessica Ujvari has a team best four home runs and second most RBI with 19 alternating spots with Farrah Sullivan's three home run and 22 RBI totals.
SERIES HISTORY
Houston leads 15-10 in the all-time series picking up the series win last year winning two of three games in Houston. The series has moved in streaks with Houston winless in the last seven games at Orlando and Houston opened the series with eight consecutive wins.
FACING TEXAN COMPETITION
The Cougars carry a 9-4 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), Lamar (5-2, 7-1) and HBU. Houston has losses coming to Baylor (0-3), North Texas (1-6), Texas (1-5) and HBU (6-5). The Cougars have two games remaining against teams from the Lone Star State travelling to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi next week.
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 45 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 185 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. St. Pierre has started all 106 of her games for Houston in center field.
LAST TIME OUT
The Cougars dropped their first conference series of the season as they were swept by USF over the weekend and split a doubleheader with HBU. Houston took the first game against the Huskies 2-1 before falling 6-5 in the eighth inning to drop a loss to HBU for the first time in program history.
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 85 hit by pitches in her career including 79 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. She's been hit multiple times in a game 18 times and the beanball to move into second place was her second of the inning. 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.
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).
Twice this year Haley has hit multiple times in a game (at Memphis, April 12 and at UConn, April 5) joining her sister Diedre as the only Cougars to hit multiple home runs in a game this season - a feat they accomplished three straight weeks.
500
Head coach Kyla Holas picked up her 500th win leading Houston to a 12-5 win in 11 innings over Memphis on April 12, 2014. She has been at the helm for all 500 of the Cougars wins and earned the 200th conference victory over the Tigers with the win.
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).
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
Houston travels to Corpus Christi, Texas for a doubleheader against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi next Wednesday before closing the season at home. Houston hosts Rutgers the final regular series of the year before hosting the inaugural American Athletic Conference Championships May 8-10.
