Softball Comes up Short in Marathon Game Against -/rv McNeese

HOUSTON – The University of Houston Softball team lost to -/rv McNeese, 6-5, in a 13-inning, four-hour and 13 minute game on Wednesday night at Cougar Softball Stadium.

Shelby Smith (6-2) picked up the decision for Houston (12-5), tossing the final 3.0 innings in the circle and allowing one run. Paris Lehman threw the bulk of the game for the Cougars, spinning 9.2 innings and striking out five.

Ryann Schexnayder (4-0) earned the win for McNeese (11-4) with 6.2 innings and allowing one run. Lindsay Davis picked up her second save of the season after closing the last 0.2 innings.

Player Highlights

Turiya Coleman: 3-5, RBI, R, BB
Mandy Esman: 2-6, RBI, HR, R
Kennedy Thomas: 2-6, R
Shelby Smith: 3.0 IP, L, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 SO, BB

Game Highlights

At 13 innings and four hours and 13 minutes, the game was Houston's longest in program history by both length of innings and by duration. The previous bests were 12 innings vs. DePaul on March 22, 2005 and three hours and 57 minutes at Wichita State on April 14, 2023.
Both Turiya Coleman and Kennedy Thomas posted their 25^th career multi-hit games.
Mandy Esman hit her second home run of the season.

Key Innings
4^th | Down 3-0 after three innings, Houston got on the board in the fourth. With a pair of runners in scoring position, Coleman laced a single up the middle to drive home Lair Beautae. Mikalah Nitta reached on an error in the next at-bat but still succeeded in driving home Kennedy Thomas while Coleman scored on a Jazmyn Rollin sacrifice fly to tie the game.

5^th | The Cougars took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the fifth as Esman crushed a solo home run over the right-center field fence to put Houston up 4-3.

7^th | McNeese forced extra innings by evening the score in the top of the seventh. A leadoff double followed by a sacrifice bunt put a runner on third and a sacrifice fly drove the Cowgirl home to tie the game at 4-4.

13^th | After trading runs in the 11^th inning, McNeese clinched the win over Houston in the 13^th frame. Reese Reyna led off the inning with a double and stole third to put the game-winning run 60 feet away. McNeese's Corine Poncho hit a sacrifice fly two batters later to plate Reyna, giving the Cowgirls a 6-5 lead.

While Houston would get a runner to in scoring position in the bottom of the inning, the Cougars were unable to find the equalizer, giving McNeese a 6-5 win.

UP NEXT
Houston heads back on the road for a three game series against Texas A&M Commerce. The set begins on Friday at 6 p.m., followed by noon Saturday and noon Sunday contests. All three games will be streamed on ESPN+.

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