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HOUSTON – The HBU softball team fell victim to missed opportunities on Wednesday evening at Cougar Softball Stadium, stranding 10 baserunners in a 3-1 loss to the Houston Cougars.
In the top half of the second, the Huskies (2-3) got a one-out single from
Cecilia Bauer followed by
Megan Hiers reaching on a dropped line drive. With runners on first and second,
Brooke Bushman followed suit with an infield single. The HBU threat ended there, though, as the following two batters struck out and fouled out down the right field line.
The Cougars (3-4) got on the board in the bottom half of the second, getting a leadoff single to center from Sarah Queen. Queen advanced on a wild pitch before Brooke Vannoy drove a 2-2 offering over the wall to left center for a two-run home run and a 2-0 UH lead.
The Huskies again loaded the bases in the third thanks to three singles, including a pair with two outs. The HBU half came to an end on a bang-bang play at first on a grounder by
Libby Brown. The Cougars got a leadoff single in the fifth and runners on first and second with one out after a hit batter but a well-hit ground ball to third was fielded cleanly by
Kassie James who stepped on the and threw across the diamond to first for the double play.
In the bottom of the sixth, UH took advantage of a leadoff walk turned into a run on a one-out single to make it a 3-0 ballgame.
Down to their last at bat, Brown got the Huskies going with a double off the center field wall.
Heidi Jaquez followed with a single on a hard-hit ball that took a big hop off the shoulder of the second baseman into center field to bring Brown home. Next,
Demi Janak lined a single back at the pitcher for a single, putting runners on first and second. A fielder's choice got the lead runner at third and a James fly out to center ended the Husky threat.
Jaquez finished the game 2-for-3 with a pair of singles and one RBI, raising her season average to .438. Brown's double was the only extra-base hit of the game for the Huskies, as the junior was 1-for-4 with a run scored.
Emily Mueller suffered the loss in the circle for the Huskies, allowing three earned runs on 10 hits over six innings of work. The HBU senior struck out one, walked one and hit one batter. She falls to 1-2 on the season.
The Huskies open the home portion of their schedule this Saturday, February 18, when they host Prairie View A&M for a doubleheader at Husky Field beginning at 1:00 p.m.
