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Sports

Houston puts 10 game streak on the line on road against Aggies

by LOURDES CASTILLO
The Daily Cougar 

The Cougars' ability to compete against a ranked team will be put to the test again, this time on foreign territory. UH will travel to College Station to face NFCA/USA No. 9 Texas A&M at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Wednesday. 

"(A&M) usually (has) a great crowd and has been one of those in-state rivals," head coach Kyla Holas said. "They are not really intimidating to us; they just have a really good team so we've got to play our A game."

The defending Big 12 champions welcome UH after beating the Fordham Rams 7-0 on Sunday. Against the Rams, junior second baseman Joy Davis and freshman catcher Patti Wunderlich sent their first career balls over the fence to give the Aggies 3-0 and 6-0 advantages in the second and fourth innings. After going 1-for-2 with a walk, a home run, two runs and two RBIs, Wunderlich was named State Farm Player of the Day. 

On the mound, A&M is led by sophomores Megan Gibson (4-0) and Amanda Scarborough (2-2) with 1.68 and 3.97 ERAs, respectively. Freshman shortstop Holly Ridley and sophomore third baseman Jamie Hinshaw claim the top two spots with .364 and .345 batting averages, respectively, in nine games worth of play as starters. The Aggies (7-2) defeated No. 17 Fresno State in their opening game of the season, but registered losses to No. 5 Arizona and No. 12 Oregon State.

UH is coming off a 5-0 weekend performance that extended the Cougars' winning streak to 10 consecutive games, only the third time UH has accomplished this feat in program history. 

During UH's latest 12-2 victory against Texas A&M Corpus Christi, the Cougars registered 12 runs and 15 hits, both season highs. The pitching team effort combined to strike out 40 batters in 35 innings of work, enough to hold opponents to a .211 batting average.

"That's where our strength should be -- in our pitching staff," Holas said. "We've got to keep relying on them and they have to keep putting those types of numbers."

Third baseman Laura Durham, a junior transfer from Texas A&M, went 2-for-4, which includes a home run and career best 4 RBIs, while freshman shortstop Jessica Valis registered her seventh multi-hit game of the season. Pitchers sophomore Angel Shamblin and freshman Candi Kloecker both hold 4-0 records, while freshman catcher Elaina Nordstrom is the only Cougar to hit safely in all 11 games. Senior shortstop/second baseman Jaci Gonzalez is three hits away from becoming the ninth Cougar to reach 100 career hits.
 

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