Softball Completes Sweep at UCF
March 26, 2006
Houston at UCF Box Score (PDF)
ORLANDO, Fla. - The University of Houston softball team scored a pair of runs in the sixth and seventh innings en route to a 4-0 win over UCF in the final game of a weekend series Sunday at the UCF Softball Stadium. Houston (24-12, 6-3 C-USA) completes a weekend sweep over UCF (13-23, 0-9 C-USA) and moves into sole possession of fourth place in the Conference USA standings. The Golden Knights have now lost a program-worst 12 consecutive games. "This is the kind of result that we were looking for this weekend," head coach Kyla Holas said. "I'm proud of the team for staying patient with the game plan on offense." Angel Shamblin and Laurie Wagner strung together back-to-back singles with two outs in the sixth inning to ignite the Houston offense. Haley Valis drew a walk to load the bases for Laura Durham. On a 2-2 pitch, Durham hit a chopper to UCF shortstop Amber Lamb who misplayed the ball off of her glove allowing Shamblin to cross the plate giving the Cougars a 1-0 lead. Jamie Adams stretched the advantage to 2-0 knocking a single up-the-middle completing a career-best 3-for-3 afternoon.
"Jamie has really been hot lately at the plate," Holas said. "She just hasn't had a lot of opportunities recently. I had a feeling to go with her today and she stepped up in a big way." The Cougars tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the seventh as Elaina Nordstrom added a sacrifice fly, and Wagner knocked a RBI-single for the final margin of 4-0. In the circle, Houston rode 5.1 shutout innings from Carla Kennimer. The southpaw surrendered only one hit, while picking up three strikeouts. Shamblin added her first save of the season firing 1.2 innings of flawless relief punching out four of the five batters she faced. She also matched a career-high going 3-for-3 at the plate. "Angel just continues to blow away the opposition in the circle with every opportunity she gets," Holas said. "She's emerged as the No. 1 pitcher. I'm really happy to be getting consistency from her both on offense and in the circle." The game stayed scoreless into the sixth inning, but both teams narrowly missed on scoring chances early in the contest. In the first inning, Katie Bush was thrown out at the plate by UCF centerfielder Kacie Feaster attempting to score from second base on a Shamblin single. UCF right fielder Brittany Walters missed a two-run home run by a matter of inches in the second inning as the ball hooked foul down the right field line. Houston returns to the friendly confines of the Cougar Softball Stadium facing off against UTEP for a weekend series. The two teams will begin the weekend with a Saturday doubleheader followed by a Sunday single-game. "The team is looking forward to returning home after spending the last two weekends on the road," Holas said. "At this point, we can't afford to overlook anyone since each game is so significant in conference play." First pitch against the Miners on both days is on-tap for 1pm. UH students receive free admission to all home games by showing their Cougar 1 Card.
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