Softball Eliminates Marshall; Punches Ticket to Conference USA Championship Game
May 12, 2007
Houston vs. Marshall Box Score (PDF)
ORLANDO, Fla. - The University of Houston softball team used a balanced attack on offense en route to a hard-fought 4-2 victory against Marshall Friday evening during the final game on day two of the Conference USA Championship at the UCF Softball Complex. Houston (41-16) set a program record with its 41st win of the season and advances to face the winner of the East Carolina-UCF elimination game at 2:30pm CDT Saturday in the Conference USA Championship Game televised by CSTV. The winner of the championship game secures Conference USA's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. "This is a big win for our program," head coach Kyla Holas said. "We wanted this game really bad and things are falling into place. We have taken some lumps and some bumps and had some hard obstacles to overcome. All of the things that we've done throughout the season are paying off right now." Elaina Nordstrom, Laurie Wagner and Courtney Spittler each went 2-for-4, while Laura Durham turned in a 2-for-3 performance with a RBI to fuel a balanced Cougar attack.
Houston also got another strong outing from Angel Shamblin in the circle as the Florida native notched her 28th win of the season after allowing two runs on five hits. The junior right-hander recorded six strikeouts against three walks. Amanda Luers was tagged with the loss and dropped to 12-6 for the Thundering Herd after being touched up for three on five hits in 4.1 innings of work. The Cougars jumped out to a 1-0 advantage in the first inning as Katie Bush opened the game by reaching on throwing error by Marshall third baseman Deanna Tourville. Amanda Grote dropped a bunt and reached on a fielder's choice as Bush beat Tourville's throw to second base. Nordstrom loaded the bases by dropping a bunt single of her own. Bush came around to score on a Christa Raley sacrifice fly. Houston went ahead 2-0 in the fifth inning when Courtney Spittler belted her first career home run over the centerfield fence. "Courtney is one of those kids that works extremely hard in practice and puts a lot of extra time in," Holas said. "She's done a great job of staying confident and things are starting to click for her on offense." The Thundering Herd (32-26) trimmed the deficit to 2-1 by stringing together a two-out rally in the home half of the fifth. Rachel Folden drew a walk and moved to second base on a Samantha Rodriguez single. On a 0-1 pitch, Rachael Sofie put Marshall on the board with a RBI-single to right field. Gina Guzzo drew a walk, but Shamblin dug deep to get pinch hitter Rachel Schmidt to pop out ending the Marshall threat with the bases loaded. The Cougars responded right away in the sixth inning. Raley led off the frame by getting hit-by-a-pitch. A Haley Valis bunt moved Raley into scoring position and she came across to score on a Durham RBI-single to push the score to 3-1. Houston added an insurance run in the seventh inning by capitalizing on a pair of Marshall errors in the infield to make the score 4-1. Kristina Knect opened the Marshall seventh with a bunt single. The Herd added Folden on a fielder's choice. The Marshall momentum changed as Rodriguez grounded into a fielder's choice of her own. Knect scored from second base on the play, but a pump fake to the plate by UH first baseman Candi Kloecker caught Rodriguez off guard. The Brenham native tagged Rodriguez for a critical second out in a race back to the first base bag. Shamblin closed out the game in-style by getting Sofie to strike out looking to secure the 4-2 win. Houston takes on the winner of the East Carolina-UCF elimination game at 2:30pm CDT Saturday in the Conference USA Championship Game televised by CSTV. The winner of the championship game secures Conference USA's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
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