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Sports

Houston tarnishes Golden Eagles

Cougars bring the brooms out of closet to send Southern Miss home

by LOURDES CASTILLO
The Daily Cougar

The Cougars finished strong, sweeping their Conference USA opponent Southern Mississippi (25-30, 10-8) on Saturday and Sunday registering wins at 1-0, 3-2 and 5-3 to improve their record to 31-18, 12-6.

"For morale and our rivalry that we have with them, being 0-7 against them at home (as of Saturday) I think this is one of the biggest statements we've made all year," head coach Kyla Holas said. 

UH was able to capitalize during Sunday's game despite Southern Miss taking a 1-0 lead in the first. The Cougars fired three runs in the third and two more in the fifth to take a comfortable 5-1 advantage. The Golden Eagles threatened to tie in the seventh scoring two, but failed to prevent the three game sweep.

The Cougars got off to a great start taking a 1-0 in Game 1. Senior right fielder Brandi Clark scored the lone run during the crucial win against the C-USA rival.

"I thought we hit real well, offensively I was really pleased," Holas said. "It was one of those games that we couldn't get the whole thing, just the break that we needed." 

Sophomore pitcher Angel Shamblin also registered 12 strikeouts in Game 1, marking the second time in the 2006 season she tallied five K's. Shamblin also moved to fourth place with 138 strikeouts in a single season.

The Golden Eagles threatened to return the favor in Game 2 and took an early 2-0 lead in the top of the third thanks to senior Charity Butler's two-run homer to right field. 

Freshman Jessica Valis got UH in the game with a base hit and a stolen base in the bottom of the sixth. Valis and freshman Katie Bush later advanced to third and second on a pass ball, while freshman Elaina Nordstrom walked to first. 

With one out on the board and the bases loaded, Christa Raley was hit by a pitch allowing Valis to narrow the deficit to 2-1. 

During Game 2, Valis moved into the top spot with 17 stolen bases in a single season. Valis also tied the freshman single season record with 55 hits, which was previously set by Kristen Glowacz' back in 2002. She also recorded her 19th multi-hit game of the season, both of which are team-leading accomplishments this season.

One batter later and with two outs, Southern Miss' Danielle Wymer walked junior Laura Durham and allowed Bush to tie the score going into the seventh.

The Golden Eagles threatened to load the bases in the top of the ninth with two runners on first and second, but senior Jaci Gonzalez' double play prevented Ashley Davis from advancing. 

Gonzalez' triple and Valis´ sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth with one out and a controversial call gave UH the doubleheader win at 3-2.

"The older players kind of have a history with Southern Miss so we knew what we needed to do," Gonzalez said. "We kind of let down last weekend when we were at Marshall going in with the two wins, but everything is back to zero-zero on Sunday." 

Junior Karla Kennimer (6-1) was tagged with the win after striking out seven batters in a total of nine innings. 

"I was disappointed because I gave up a hit, but I knew that we were going to pull through and I knew that I had to fight for my team because they were going to fight for me," Kennimer said.

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