Softball
Softball Uses Balanced Attack in 8-0 Win Over UAB

Eight of nine Cougars register hits.

Laurie Wagner hit a two-run walk-off home run as Houston defeated UAB 8-0 in five innings.
 
Laurie Wagner hit a two-run walk-off home run as Houston defeated UAB 8-0 in five innings.
  
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March 31, 2007

Final Stats

HOUSTON - The University of Houston team used a balanced offensive attack as Laura Durham and Laurie Wagner hit towering home runs in the fifth inning to put the finishing touches on an 8-0 victory over UAB Saturday evening in game two of a Conference USA weekend series at the Cougar Softball Stadium.

The Cougars (29-11, 10-1 C-USA) got hits from eight of nine players in the starting lineup coupled with a three-hit shutout from Barbie Love in the circle. The Manvel native improved to 5-3 on the season and punched out seven batters against two walks.

Kayla Harris (6-8) was dealt the loss, allowing eight runs on eight hits. She recorded four strikeouts.

"The team did an excellent job of carrying the momentum from an emotional win in the first game into game two," Holas said. "We cut down on our mistakes and got a solid performance from Barbie in the circle, who kept UAB off-balanced by mixing up her pitches."

"It was tough to have to sit around all day and deal with all of the weather delays," shortstop Jessica Valis said. "We knew that UAB is a strong team, and we wanted to stay focused on them not the weather."

Elaina Nordstrom put the Cougars ahead 1-0 in the opening frame with a RBI-single to right centerfield. Katie Bush drew a walk and moved to second base on Harris balk.

Houston added a pair of runs in the third inning as Christa Raley provided a RBI on a fielder's choice, while Durham knocked in a run on a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0.

 

 

The Cougars exploded for five runs in the fifth inning. Jessica Valis turned a leadoff single into a run. The single was Valis' 123rd career hit and ties her with Jaci Gonzalez (2003-06) for the No. 5 position on the program's career hits list. She advanced to second base on a Bush sacrifice bunt and moved to third on a Harris balk before scoring on Harris wild pitch.

After a Raley double, Durham struck with a majestic blast that cleared the second fence in centerfield and bounced onto Elgin Street. Two batters latter, Wagner cranked a two-run shot to left centerfield for the final margin of 8-0.

"It took us a while to get going, but everyone on the team feeds off of each other's emotions" Bush said. "It's nice to know that anyone on the team can make the play that's going to make the difference. Our goal as a team since the first day of practice was to win the conference championship. We took a couple of steps closer today to reaching that goal."

Houston concludes its weekend series with UAB Sunday at Noon. The Cougars will make their television debut on CSTV as Carter Blackburn and Ann Schatz will have the call. Live stats also are available via GameTracker at UHCougars.com

"It's exciting for our program to be on TV," Holas said. "We have to make sure that we stay on an even keel. Our goal is to close out this sweep. That's more important to us than being on TV."

Cougar Notes
Game two of today's doubleheader is the 20th all-time meeting between Houston and UAB on the softball diamond ... The Cougars have won 14 of the 20 meetings and nine of the 10 games played at the Cougar Softball Stadium in the series ... Houston has won 28 of its last 29 games against current non-ranked opponents ... UH pushes its home winning streak to 13 games inside the friendly confines of the Cougar Softball Stadium ... 12 of Houston's last 14 home runs have produced multiple runs ... Houston improves to 23-6 when scoring first ... The Cougars also are 107-29 since the start of the 2004 season when scoring first ... Houston has won 34 of 46 games over the last two seasons when Jessica and Haley Valis are in the starting infield ... The Cougars are 8-5 in night games and 11-4 on Saturdays ... Houston moves to 17-0 when scoring four runs this season ... The Cougars have won 12 of 13 decisions when the game is decided by four or more runs ... Jessica Valis and Elaina Nordstrom have started in all 102 games of their careers ... Laura Durham also has played in all 102 games of her Houston career since transferring from Texas A&M ... Katie Bush has made 99 consecutive starts in centerfield ... Jessica Valis and Elaina Nordstrom are the only Cougars to hit safely in each of Houston's 11 conference games ... Valis has hit safely in nine of her last 10 games and has scored a run in six of her last seven outings ... She also tied Jaci Gonzalez (2003-06) with 123 career hits for the No. 5 position on the program's career hits list ... Over her 102 game career, Houston has tallied a 45-12 mark when Valis scores a run ... Katie Bush has recorded a hit in seven of her last eight games ... She also has scored multiple runs in three of her last six games ... The Brenham native moves to five hits away from reaching 100 for her career ... Elaina Nordstrom pushes her hitting streak to a season-best 10 games and has hit safely in 15 of her last 16 outings ... The California native moves to three hits away from reaching the 100-mark for her career ... Nordstrom has recorded a RBI in six of her last 10 games ... Christa Raley has recorded a hit in six of her last nine games and reached base in 25 of her last 28 games ... She also has produced a RBI in five of her last eight games ... Laura Durham compiled her first multi-RBI game of the season and 10th of her career ... Durham has popped a hit in four of her last six outings ... Haley Valis has scored a run in four of her last five games ... The Shiner native has notched a hit in 10 of her last 15 games ... Laurie Wagner came through with her fifth multi-RBI game of the season and 11th of her career ... Wagner has reached base in seven of her last nine games in addition to recording a hit in four of her last five games ... Amanda Grote snapped a five-game streak with a hit ... Barbie Love tossed her third shutout of the season ... Two of the shutouts have come in Conference USA action ... Love has recorded seven or more strikeouts in five of her last six starts ... The Manvel native is 11 Ks away from her single season record set during the 2005 season.

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