Student Publications
University of Houston
151C Communications Bldg
Houston, TX 77204-4015
713.743.5350

©1991-2007
Student Publications,
All rights reserved.

Last modified:

Contact:
ktruitt@uh.edu

Sports

Cougars have their eyes on second straight sweep

UH enters this weekend's series having won 
seven of its last eight games

by RUTHIE RODRIGUEZ
The Daily Cougar

The Cougars easily swept Sam Houston State in their doubleheader on Wednesday night, and they would love to take the broom to their next opponent as well.

This could mean bad news for Alabama-Birmingham, which visits Cougar Softball Stadium this weekend for a three-game Conference USA series. The two teams will start their series Saturday with a doubleheader, with the first game set to begin at 1 p.m.

As usual, the Cougars are confident they'll win all three games. 

"We're working towards another sweep and we've got to make sure we take care of business at home," UH head coach Kyla Holas said.

The first part of that business involves doing a better job driving in baserunners in key situations. Leaving runners stranded at the end of each inning is something that has plagued the Cougars (27-11, 8-1 C-USA) since the beginning of the season. 

Over the last few weeks, however, the Cougars' offense has performed efficiently with runners in scoring position. 

The same was true in Wednesday's doubleheader. The Cougars' were aided by a sloppy Sam Houston State defense, but the team shouldn't expect its luck to hold up against UAB. The Blazers (24-16, 5-3 C-USA) currently sit in third place in the league standings.

The Cougars have one of the top pitching staffs in the league, led by junior right-hander Angel Shamblin (17-5, 1.09 ERA), but their offense hasn't been as stellar. 

That'll have to change in order for Houston to gain the sweep this weekend.

"UAB's a really good team, and they have a left-handed pitcher (junior Jennifer Nelson) that keeps the ball away," Holas said. "We're going to have to make sure we hit to both sides of the field."

Holas believes that the Cougars' offensive performance will be the determining factor in the series.

"If the top of our lineup keeps doing a good job of getting on, and the heart of the lineup can find a way to keep (capitalizing) on those opportunities that come up, I think we'll have a good weekend," she said. 

The Cougars are on a quest to claim this year's C-USA championship. In order to do that, they'll have to beat good teams like UAB every weekend.

"UAB has consistently been in the top of C-USA (every year)," Holas said. "We've got to come back and establish ourselves as the leader in this conference."

Send comments to dcsports@mail.uh.edu