No. 16/20 Softball Set to Host Marriott Houston Classic
Feb. 21, 2008
HOUSTON - The University of Houston softball team will continue tournament play this weekend when they play host to the Marriott Houston Classic on Feb. 22-24. This is the second-straight tournament the Cougars will host this season. Teams slated to compete in the tournament include, Texas State, Centenary, Kansas, Boston University and Cal State Northridge. The tournament will begin at 9am on Friday and will be the first of six games that afternoon. Houston will not take the field until 5pm for a game against Cal State Northridge and Boston University. Last weekend, UH hosted the Crowne Plaza Classic and went 5-0 including two wins over then-ranked No. 14 DePaul. The wins moved the Cougars to 9-0 to open the season. They are just two wins shy of tying the program record of 11 consecutive wins set in the opening weeks of the 2002 season. With their impressive open to the season, Houston finds themselves ranked in both softball polls. After receiving votes in both preseason polls, UH is No. 16 in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll and No. 20 in ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll. All games of the tournament will be available through Gametracker by logging onto www.UHCougars.com. Following the Marriott Houston Classic, the Cougars will travel to College Station, Texas for a double-header against Texas A&M at 4pm on March 27. They will return home on March 5 for the Second Annual Breast Cancer Awareness Game against Texas at 5pm. Cal State Northridge Head coach Barbara Jordan is 153-139-1 in her seventh season at the helm of the Matador softball team. This will be the first time in Cougar softball history that the two schools will meet on the field.
Boston University Boston University will open the 2008 season at the Marriott Houston Classic. Last season, the Terriers finished 34-14 and 17-3 in America East play. They were chosen the 2008 preseason favorites following a vote by the league's head coaches. They return 13 letterwinners and six All-Conference starters. Houston is 2-0 all-time against Boston. Head Coach Shawn Rychicik is in his third season as head coach of the Terriers. Kansas Houston won the last contest between the two schools 1-0 on Feb. 11, 2006 at the Wilson/DeMarini Invitational. Head coach Tracy Bunge is 351-295-2 in 11 seasons at Kansas.
Centenary The Cougars are 2-0 in the all-time series against the Ladies. Head Coach Mark Montgomery is in his seventh season as head coach at Centenary and is 38 games over .500 in his tenure. Texas State Houston is 7-4 all-time against Texas State. Head coach Ricci Woodard is 266-147-1 all-time as the Texas State head coach. Complete Tournament Schedule Saturday, Feb. 23 Sunday, Feb. 24 |
