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Sports

Holas gets cool welcome

Head coach falls well short in doubleheader against alma mater

by RUTHIE RODRIGUEZ
The Daily Cougar

UH head coach Kyla Holas enjoyed a collegiate career for the ages as a pitcher at Louisiana-Lafayette. She compiled a 104-20 record while pitching for the Ragin' Cajuns from 1991-94, and was inducted into the ULL Athletics Hall of Fame in 1999.

Unfortunately, her trip back to her alma mater wasn't as sweet.

Holas led Houston into Wednesday's doubleheader against ULL, but the Ragin' Cajuns mercilessly swept the Cougars at Lamson Ragin' Cajuns Softball Park in Lafayatte, La.

The Ragin' Cajuns shut out the Cougars 5-0 in the first game, and followed that up with a 14-0 shutout in the nightcap. ULL romped the Cougars offensively by capitalizing on timely hitting, and the Ragin' Cajun pitching staff held the Houston offense in check, allowing only three hits combined over the two games. 

As embarrassing as the losses may have been for Houston (32-14), ULL is by no means a pushover. The Ragin' Cajuns (37-12) came into Wednesday's game ranked No. 21 in this week's National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top 25 poll. 

Until this mid-week encounter with ULL, the Cougars had dropped nine of 10 decisions against NFCA Top 25 teams.

The Ragin' Cajuns' blowout victory in the second game was the most demoralizing for Houston. UH sophomore shortstop Jessica Valis recorded the lone hit of the game for the Cougars. 

The Ragin' Cajun offense, on the other hand, ran all over the Cougars, taking advantage of 11 hits, six walks and four Houston errors.

ULL third baseman Melissa Verde went 4-for-4 with a pair of three-run home runs. She crushed the first of these homers off UH junior starter Barbie Love in the bottom of the first inning to give the Ragin' Cajuns an early 3-0 lead.

The Beaumont native repeated the feat in the bottom of the second. That home run propelled ULL to a six-run output in that frame that gave the Ragin' Cajuns a commanding 9-0 lead.

ULL freshman pitcher Brittany Cuevas (23-7) stifled the Cougar offense in Game 1. The Brazoria native went the distance in the complete game shutout, allowing only two hits, both singles, and zero walks with nine strikeouts. Oddly enough, the only Cougar who could break through Cuevas's pitching was UH ace junior right-hander Angel Shamblin (21-6), who went 2-for-2. 

The Ragin' Cajuns got off to a quick start with senior Desi Chatman's two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the first. ULL senior first baseman Lacey Bertucci put the finishing touches on the win with a two-run shot in the fifth that gave the Ragin' Cajuns their final margin of 5-0.

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