Softball Steamrolls Texas Southern
April 24, 2006
Texas Southern at Houston Game One Box Score (PDF)
Texas Southern at Houston Game Two Box Score (PDF)
HOUSTON - Barbie Love fired her first career no-hitter in game two of a doubleheader as the University of Houston completed a twinbill sweep with a pair of 9-0 and 8-0 victories over Texas Southern Monday afternoon at the Cougar Softball Stadium. "Barbie did a wonderful job of making the most of the opportunity that was given to her," head coach Kyla Holas said. "She had excellent command of her pitches today and had Texas Southern guessing all afternoon." Love made the most of her first start of the season being touched up for only two walks and set a season-high with seven strikeouts on the afternoon. "I had the mindset to go out there and get the job done," Love said. "My change-up was working really well and was very effective this afternoon." After starting April dropping five of its first seven games, the Cougars (33-18) have won five consecutive outings and seven of its last eight games. Houston opened the scoring with four runs in the first inning. The Cougars scored two runs on a Texas Southern fielding error, while Jamie Adams and Brandi Clark concluded the frame added RBIs. Laura Durham added a RBI-double in the fifth inning and Courtney Spittler picked up her first RBI of the season scoring Durhan on a single to left field to make it 6-0. The Cougars tacked on two more runs in the sixth inning as Jessica Valis, Elaina Nordstrom and Haley Valis loaded the bases by drawing walks. Candi Kloecker knocked home Valis with a RBI-single to right field, while Durham added a sacrifice fly platting pinch-runner Christa Raley to end the game in six innings. "I thought that we played well considering it was a Monday and that's normally our off day," Holas said. "Our goal was to extend our bench for the end of the season and I was proud of our reserves for stepping up to the challenge." The Cougars used a six-run fifth inning capped by a three-run walkoff home run by Brooke Johnson to put away Texas Southern 9-0 in the opening game. Durham drove home two runs with a RBI-single, while Haley Valis added a RBI-single leading up to Johnson's homer. In the circle, Candi Kloecker moved to 9-9 firing a one-hitter and adding three strikeouts against zero walks. The lone hit came in the fourth inning on a single to centerfield. Nordstrom got things started in the first inning crushing a two-run longball to left centerfield to give Houston a 2-0 advantage. The Cougars conclude its seven-game homestand with a Tuesday doubleheader against Grambling State. First pitch against GSU is set for 1pm.
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