May 5, 2006
Weekly Softball Notes in PDF Format
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Memphis softball team will travel to Houston, Texas this weekend to square off with the University of Houston in its final C-USA series and a do-or-die match-up at Cougar Softball Stadium on Saturday and Sunday, May 6-7.
Entering the games, the U of M is in seventh place in the Conference USA standings, a half game behind East Carolina and Southern Miss and one position away from the final spot in the C-USA Tournament, which will be held next week at Tulsa.
Currently, four teams (Marshall, Houston, Tulsa and UAB) have clinched spots in the tournament, while any of the four could win the regular-season title depending on results from this weekend.
Memphis is one of four additional squads, along with ECU, USM, and UTEP, vying for the final two positions in the tourney. Though the possible scenarios are about as complicated as one could imagine, basically, the U of M must win at least one more game than East Carolina or Southern Miss in order to make the top six. Thus, no matter what the Lady Tigers do, they must have help from Tulsa, who plays at USM, or UCF, who hosts ECU, if they have a shot at making the trip to Tulsa.
SCOUTING THE COUGARS: Houston enters the weekend series with a record of 36-20 overall and is currently tied for third place in Conference USA with a 13-8 mark. The Cougars are 8-2 in their last 10 games, but have lost two of their last three, dropping games one and two of a C-USA set last weekend at UAB. Prior to the UAB series, Houston swept Southern Miss in three home games before sweeping mid-week double-headers from Texas Southern and Grambling State. The Cougars are 6-3 in C-USA home games this season, having swept Southern Miss, lost two of three to UTEP and taken two of there from East Carolina.
Houston ranks third in the league with a .285 team batting average. The Cougar bats are led by a pair of freshmen in three-hitter Elaina Nordstrom and lead-off hitter Jessica Valis, who top the squad and rank in the top-five in the conference in multiple offensive categories. Nordstrom is first on the team with a .371 batting average and 49 RBI, while sitting second in hits (62), homeruns (7), doubles (9) and on-base percentage (.455), The LaPalma, Calif., native is second in the league in RBI and third in batting average and hits. Valis leads the Cougars in hits (66), runs (44) and on-base percentage (.460) and is second in batting average (.367), with her hit total leading C-USA, her runs scored ranking second, the on-base percentage ranking third and the batting average ranking fourth. No other Houston player has an average over .281, with sophomore pitcher/DP Angel Shamblin and freshman centerfielder Katie Bush tying for third on the team with that mark. Junior third-baseman Laura Durham is another top power threat, as she has logged 10 doubles and eight homeruns.
The Cougar pitching staff has a combined earned-run average of 1.86. Shamblin leads the way in nearly every pitching statistic, sporting a 1.68 ERA, which is third best in the league, 159 strikeouts and a 15-7 record in 28 appearances (21 starts) and 146.0 innings pitched. Juniors Candi Kloecker and Carla Kennimer alternate in the second spot in the rotation, with each posting solid numbers in the circle. Kloecker leads the team with a .194 opposing batting average, six shutouts and 22 starts, while ranking second with a 1.89 ERA, nine wins and 129.1 innings pitched. Kennimer has a 7-2 record and a 2.72 ERA in 16 games, ranking second on the team with a .205 opposing batting average.
THE GAMES: The Lady Tigers and Cougars are slated to play a double-header beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday, before a single game at 1 p.m on Sunday. All three contests can be followed on Gametracker via the University of Houston website, www.uhcougars.cstv.com.
