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Sports

Houston hopes wins keep racking up

Cougars head to Memphis with momentum in tow

by RUTHIE RODRIGUEZ
The Daily Cougar

After sweeping defending Conference USA champion Tulsa in a three-game series last weekend, Houston hopes to achieve more of the same this weekend against Memphis. The Cougars will open their three-game series against the Tigers with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. Saturday at the new Memphis softball complex.

Aiming to maintain the momentum gained in last weekend's sweep, the Cougars (23-10) are hoping to take advantage of Memphis' current slump and return home with three more wins.

"A (3-0) record is exactly what we're expecting against Memphis and nothing less," UH head coach Kyla Holas said. "If we can (sweep) Tulsa, who (was) in second place (prior to last weekend), then we can do the same against everyone else."

Last season, Memphis (17-9) defeated the Cougars 6-3 in the first game of their three-game series at Cougar Softball Stadium to end the regular season. That loss would later cost Houston a shot at the C-USA regular season title and a No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.

"We're definitely looking to come out and win all of the games," junior pitcher Angel Shamblin said. "We're just hoping to carry out the energy from last weekend and even the weekend before."

Houston's recent sweep also earned the team two votes in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association top 25 poll. 

"We thought we (deserved to be) in the (NFCA) top 25 all year, so for us it's exactly what we wanted and it's what we shoot for every week," Holas said. "We just make sure we make a strong enough case as possible by putting as many wins on the board as we can." 

Pitching has been and will continue to be Houston's dominant force, but leaving runners stranded at the end of key innings has been the team's biggest problem. 

In order to continue winning, the Cougar offense will have to step up its game and consistently drive in more runs.

"Our offense needs to come around for us and start putting some more runs on the board," Holas said.

Even though the Cougars are starting to exhibit more plate discipline, they still have to avoid lapses on the base paths. 

"We're going to have to make sure we play really solid defense and that we do a much better job of base running," Holas said. "This past weekend we ran ourselves out, so we focused on running again this week and hopefully that'll get us back in sync."

Shamblin is scheduled to take the mound for Game 1 of Saturday's doubleheader.

"Angel and Barbie (Love) are who you're going to see in Games 1 and 2, and I think depending on how those games go and how they throw will determine how much pitching Carla (Kennimer) does," Holas said. 

Game 2 is slated to start at 3 p.m. Saturday, and the series finale is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Sunday.

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