March 17, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

IRVING, Texas - Houston (25-3, 3-0) used three home runs to defeat Marshall, 9-1, in the final game of the conference series at Dot Hicks Field in Huntington, W. Va. The win gives Houston its second straight sweep to open conference play and fourth sweep in program history. Junior Laurie Wagner, senior Amanda Grote and junior Haley Valis each turned in home runs for the Cougars. No. 13 Houston moves to 25-3 overall and 3-0 in Conference USA. UH is now 8-2 in the all-time series against the Thundering Herd.

RECENT RESULTS
Sunday, March 16
#Memphis 5, Furman 0
*Southern Miss 7, East Carolina 6
*No. 13 Houston 9, Marshall 1
*Tulsa 6, UTEP 4
*UCF 2, UAB 0

Saturday, March 16
#Memphis 6, Vermont 1
*East Carolina 3, Southern Miss 2
*East Carolina 11, Southern Miss 6
*No. 13 Houston 17, Marshall 2
*No. 13 Houston 9, Marshall 2
*Tulsa 5, UTEP 1
*Tulsa 6, UTEP 4
*UAB 2, UCF 0
*UCF 3, UAB 2

Friday, March 14
#Memphis 2, Gardner-Webb 1
#Providence 8 , Memphis 5

Wednesday, March 12
Louisville 6, Marshall 2
Louisville 7, Marshall 0
$East Carolina 5, North Florida 3
Memphis 9, Alabama A&M 0 (6 inn)
Memphis 16, Alabama A&M 1 (5 inn.)
$No. 22 Georgia 2, East Carolina 1
UCF 3, Liberty 0
UTEP 3, New Mexico State 0
UTEP 6, New Mexico State 5
UCF 3, No. 14 Baylor 0
Southern Miss 4, Mississippi 0

Tuesday, March 11
UCF 3, Sam Houston State 1
Penn State 2, UCF 1 (10 inn.)
$North Florida 6, East Carolina 3
$No. 22 Georgia 2, East Carolina 0
No. 13 Houston 1, No. 23 Fresno State 0 (10 inn.)

* - C-USA Game
^ - Stanford Invitational II, Palo Alto, CA
$ - Bulldog Invitational, Athens, GA
# - Winthrop Tournament, Rock Hills, S.C.

ON THE WEB
For the latest Conference USA softball game recaps, scores, standings, stats and notes, please log on to the league's official website: www.ConferenceUSA.com

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK (3/17)
HITTER OF THE WEEK
TIFFANY LANE - UCF
SS, Fr., Moreno Valley, Calif. (Canyon Springs)
Lane helped lead the Knights to a 5-2 record on the week, including a series win over UAB and a 3-0 victory against No. 14 Baylor. In the series with the Blazers, Lane was 3-for-10 with a RBI and two runs scored, including the game-winning run in the fifth inning vs. UAB to clinch the series win. Overall on the week, Lane recorded a hit in every game, while scoring six of the Knights' 15 overall runs. The freshman also swiped five bases through seven games, four of which led to her scoring a run. Her eight-game hitting streak ties for the longest this season by a Knight, while her 31 runs scored and 18 stolen bases are almost double that of her closest teammate. Lane leads C-USA in stolen bases. This is Lane's first career C-USA weekly honor.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK
ANGEL SHAMBLIN - Houston
P, Sr., Davie, Fla. (Hollywood Christian)
Shamblin went 3-0 for the second consecutive week, including wins over No. 21 Fresno State and C-USA foe Marshall. The senior is now 14-1 in the circle this season and has a league-best 0.71 ERA. Last week, she struck out 14 batters in 20.0 innings of work, allowing just one walk and three runs. Shamblin is holding opposing hitters to a .167 batting average this season in conference games and her 14 total wins are the most in C-USA so far this season. This is Shamblin's 12th career weekly honor, her third in 2008 (Feb. 18, Mar. 10).

DIAMOND STARS
Each week, teams have individuals who shine both at the plate and in the circle and this is where those efforts will be highlighted throughout the season.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCE AT THE PLATE(3/11 - 3/16)
ERIN ST. LEDGER - East Carolina
St. Ledger hit .375 (6-for-16) with six runs scored, seven RBI, a double, two home runs, five waslk and two sac bunts. She led the Pirates to a series win against Southern Miss.

LAURIE WAGNER - Houston
Wagner hit .357 (5-for-14) with two home runs in the final two games against Marshall. She now has five home runs on the season and a team leading .423 batting average and .775 slugging percentage.

LEILA DOLFO - Memphis
Dolfo hit .417 (10-for-24) in eight games with three home runs, four doubles, nine RBI, 10 runs scored and a .958 slugging percentage. She also sported a .545 on-base percentage with eight walks.

KAILEY YARMER - Tulsa
Yarmer led the team in hitting with a .625 (5-for-8) average, including a 1.125 slugging percentage and a .667 on-base percentage.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES IN THE CIRCLE (3/11 - 3/16)
BROOKE SWANN - East Carolina
Swann appeared in all seven games last week and tossed four complete games. She now has 14 complete games on the season and two saves.

KIMBER BOSSOM- Memphis
Bossom went 3-1 on the week with a save. She registered a 1.30 ERA in 32.1 innings of work and tossed two shutout victories, including a six-inning no-hitter against Alabama A&M.

KATIE LEE - Tulsa
Lee went 1-0 in Tulsa's series sweep over UTEP. She held the hot-hitting Miners to just one run on five hits and a .192 batting average in the game. UTEP's 3, 4 and 5 hitter went 0-for-6 with two strikeouts.

ALLISON KIME - UCF
Kime posted a 3-1 record on the week, and recorded a pair of wins over UAB. The senior struck out 30 baters in 31.0 innings pitched, while allowing only three earned runs for an 0.68 ERA in four appearances.

C-USA NOTEBOOK
EAST CAROLINA
ST. LEDGER SLAMS
With the Pirates down 7-2 in their final game against Southern Miss this weekend, senior Erin St. Ledger stepped up with the bases loaded and lined a pitch over the center field wall. The long ball marks the first career grand slam for the Wilmington, N.C. native and first for East Carolina since Paige Baggett hit one against College of Charleston in a 9-0 victory on Feb. 10 last season.

SWANN'S THE ONE
Brooke Swann is getting the most out of her junior season in the circle. The Callao, Va. native, who actually led C-USA in earned run average her freshman year, has seen most of the innings for the Pirates this season. She ranks first on the team in appearances, games started, complete games, innings pitched and strikeouts while leading C-USA in appearances, games started and innings pitched. Additionally, Swann hurled her first career no-hitter against Delaware on Mar. 1.

HOUSTON
SERIES SWEEP
Houston swept its three-game series with Marshall in Huntington, W.Va., last weekend. This marks the second straight year that Houston has won its first three games in C-USA play. They also recorded openings series sweeps in 2005 and 2003.

C-USA HIGH
Houston scored a season-high 17 runs in game one against Marshall. The 17 runs are also the most ever by the Cougars in a C-USA game. Their previous best was 15 against Memphis in 2007. Every Cougar that stepped to the plate recorded a hit. UH out-hit the Herd 35 to eight in the series.

MARSHALL
DOT HICKS FIELD
Marshall unveiled the new Dot Hicks Field when it hosted Houston in a C-USA series last weekend.

Pregame ceremonies will took place before game one and included the honoring of seven donors whose generous contributions toward the naming of offices and rooms in the clubhouse has made this project a reality.

The inaugural first pitches were thrown by Marshall President Dr. Stephen J. Kopp, Judy Ketchum and Dr. Dorothy Hicks.

The state-of-the-art facility features a seating capacity of 325, which currently includes three rows of prime chair back seats that are located directly behind home plate. The rest of the grandstand allows for general admission seating.

The more than $2.5 million softball complex includes concessions, rest rooms, press box, warm-up areas, batting cages and a field turf playing surface. Construction of the new clubhouse is underway and will completed at the end of the season.

The first 200 fans at the game received a commemorative glass.

MEMPHIS
BOSSOM THROWS NO-NO
Freshman Kimber Bossom threw a no hitter against Alabama A&M in a 9-0 six inning victory. It is the fifth no hitter in Memphis history and first since Jenna Kubesch threw one against Alcorn State last season. Bossom struck out a career high eight batters in the game.

SILVER DIVISION WINNER
The Tigers were the Silver Division winner at the Winthrop/adidas Invitational in Rock Hill, S.C. Memphis went 3-1 in the tournament earning victories against Gardner Webb, Vermont and Furman and allowed only two hits in each of those games. Freshman pitcher Kimber Bossom and senior center fielder Lindsay Kelso were both named to the all-tournament team.

SOUTHERN MISS
FOX IN THE TOP TEN
Southern Miss 3B Jennifer Fox ranks in the Top 10 in 12 different categories. She just moved into first in RBI with 113 and is third in walks (77). She also has cracked the Top 10 in categories like batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, hits, doubles and home runs.

DAVIS HAS SOLID WEEK
Samantha Davis recorded a 2-1 record in the circle last weekend She registered her second shutout this season with a 4-0 win over in-state rival Ole Miss, while allowing only three hits . She also recorded her second conference win of the season with a 7-6 win over East Carolina.

TULSA
YARMER LEADS HURRICANE
Kailey Yarmer led TU in their sweep of UTEP, hitting 5-for-8 (.625). She had a 1.125 slugging percentage and a .667 on-base percentage. In Sunday's finale, she went 2-for-2 to help the Golden Hurricane sweep the series in come-from-behind fashion.

LEE SHUTS DOWN MINERS
Katie Lee set the tone for TU in the series opener with UTEP, by grabbing a complete game win. She held the top hitting team in the league to only one run and five hits and a .192 batting average for the game. UTEP entered the weekend as the conference's top hitting team with a batting average of .316. The Miers were averaging nearly nine hits per game and almost seven runs. Lee held UTEP's 3, 4 and 5 hitter to no hits and two strikeouts.

UAB
NELSON LEADS UAB
Pitcher Jennifer Nelson threw a two-hitter and also drove in the game winning run in UAB's 2-0 victory over UCF on Saturday. Nelson's pitching and hitting helped the Blazers snap a five-game losing streak and also helped them to their first Conference USA victory of the year.

MORE NELSON
Pitcher Jennifer Nelson is now alone in third on the all-time C-USA strikeout list with 731 career Ks. She has notched 150 strikeouts so far this season and sports a 3.09 ERA. She has tossed 126.2 innings and surrendered just 102 hits and zero triples. Opponents are hitting just .217 off of her in 2008.

UCF
TIFFANY THEFTS
Tiffany Lane helped lead the Knights to a 5-2 record on the week, including a series win over UAB and a 3-0 victory against No. 14 Baylor. In the series with the Blazers, Lane was 3-for-10 with a RBI and two runs scored, including the game-winning run in the fifth inning vs. UAB to clinch the series win. Overall on the week, Lane recorded a hit in every game, while scoring six of the Knights' 15 overall runs. The freshman also swiped five bases through seven games, four of which led to her scoring a run. Her eight-game hitting streak ties for the longest this season by a Knight, while her 31 runs scored and 18 stolen bases are almost double that of her closest teammate. Lane leads C-USA in stolen bases.

KIME SOLID AGAIN
UCF pitcher Allison Kime posted a 3-1 record last week, recording a pair of wins over UAB to help the Knights to the series win. The senior struck out 30 batters in 30.1 innings pitched, while allowing only three earned runs for a 0.68 ERA in four appearance. Kime posted two one-hit shutouts last week.

UTEP
MINERS FALL TO HURRICANE
The Miners fell to 19-9, 3-3 in league action after getting swept by Tulsa over the weekend. On Sunday, Kelly Curran who came in relief for the second time this weekend, took her second loss in as many days. Andi Zolton went 2-for-3 in the outing and Shea Lodes blasted her second home run of the weekend. The Miners opened the top of the first with three doubles and Lodes' two run long ball to give UTEP the quick 3-0 start, before falling 6-4.

UTEP HOSTS DEFENDING CHAMPS
UTEP returns home on Tuesday to face No. 8 Arizona, the defending NCAA Champions. First pitch is slated for 3:00 p.m. The Miners return to league action as they take on Marshall in a three-game home series beginning Friday.

AROUND THE HORN
EAST CAROLINA
East Carolina nearly rallied from a six-run deficit in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Southern Miss escaped the ECU Softball Field with a 7-6 win on Sunday. The Pirates fall to 21-10 on the season and 4-2 in C-USA. ECU staged a two-out rally, scoring five runs on five hits and one error. The Pirates swept both games on Saturday, winning 3-2 and 11-6. Erin St. Ledger started all seven games last week for the Pirates and hit 6-for 16 (.375) with six runs scored, seven RBI, a double, two home runs, five walks and two sacrifice bunts. She was 5-for-8 (.625) against the Golden Eagles and slugged 1.125. Brooke Swann also appeared in all seven games and tossed four complete games. Swann recorded both of the wins against Southern Miss. East Carolina makes the longest trek in program history next weekend as it travels to Palo Alto, Calif. for the Stanford Invitational II, hosted by Stanford. The Pirates face off against BYU and Princeton on Friday at 3 and 5 p.m., respectively.

HOUSTON
Houston (25-3, 3-0) used three home runs to defeat Marshall, 9-1, in the final game of the conference series at Dot Hicks Field in Huntington, W. Va. The win gives Houston its second straight sweep to open conference play and fourth sweep in program history. Junior Laurie Wagner, senior Amanda Grote and junior Haley Valis each turned in home runs for the Cougars. No. 13 Houston moves to 25-3 overall and 3-0 in Conference USA. UH is now 8-2 in the all-time series against the Thundering Herd. Wagner has five home runs on the season and has a team-leading .423 batting average and a .775 slugging percentage. UH out-hit Marshall 35 to eight in the series. Angel Shamblin went 3-0 last week and is now 14-1 on the season. Houston will travel to Blacksburg, Va. for a 7 p.m. contest against No. 24 Virginia Tech on March 18. Following the game on Tuesday, Houston will play No. 19 Ohio State at 1 p. m. on March 19.

MARSHALL
Samantha Rodriguez recorded her fourth home run of the season, but it wasn't enough as No. 13 Houston completed its three-game sweep against Marshall, Sunday afternoon at Dot Hicks Field. Marshall (10-15, 2-3) was swept by the Cougars in the series. On Saturday in the series opener, Marshall unveiled the new Dot Hicks Field. Pregame ceremonies will took place before game one and included the honoring of seven donors. The state-of-the-art facility features a seating capacity of 325, which currently includes three rows of prime chair back seats located directly behind home plate. The rest of the grandstand allows for general admission seating. The more than $2.5 million softball complex includes concessions, rest rooms, press box, warm-up areas, batting cages and a field turf playing surface. Marshall returns to the field for a seven-game road trip, which starts with a three-game series against UTEP, Friday March 21 at 3 p.m.

MEMPHIS
Freshman Kimber Bossom pitched 10 shutout innings on Sunday to help Memphis win its final two games at the Winthrop/adidas Invitational. The Tigers completed a 6-1 victory over Vermont in a game that was suspended due to inclement weather in the top of the fifth inning on Sunday and then closed with a 5-0 blanking of Furman. Memphis improves to 16-11 on the season and finished 3-1 in the tournament's Pool B group. Bossom and senior center fielder Lindsay Kelso were both named to the all-tournament team. Leila Dolfo was also solid last weekend, hitting .417 (10-for-24) with three home runs, four doubles, nine RBI, 10 runs scored and a .958 slugging percentge. Memphis will next host a midweek doubleheader with Wichita State on Wednesday beginning at 2 p.m. at the Tiger Softball Complex. The Tigers will then play a three-game conference series at UAB on Friday and Saturday.

SOUTHERN MISS
Southern Miss (14-14, 2-4) finished the week with a 2-2 record that included a midweek win over in-state rival Ole Miss. Samantha Davis recorded a 2-1 record during the week. She registered her second shutout this season by defeating Ole Miss, while allowing only three hits. Davis also recorded her second conference win of the season with a 7-6 victory over East Carolina. Jennifer Fox led the way last weekend for her team with a .462 batting averaging with six hits. Southern Miss finished the week with five doubles, while batting .299 as a team. The Golden Eagles will play their fourth and fifth nationally ranked teams this season when the Eagles host No. 18 Mississippi State Tuesday, before heading to No. 13 Houston for a three-game series, Mar. 22-23.

TULSA
A pair of solo home runs and three doubles that led to multiple runs helped Tulsa complete the sweep of a three-game series against UTEP on Sunday, 6-4. Tulsa not only improves to 9-0 at the friendly confines of the Donna J. Hardesty Sports Complex this season, but also improves to 14-11 overall on the season and 5-1 during Conference USA action. Kaliey Yarmer led her team in hitting with a .625 batting average, including a 1.125 slugging percentage and a .667 on-base percentage. She went 2-for-2 in the series finale to help TU sweep the series in come-from-behind fashion. Katie Lee opened the series with a dominating win to set the tone for the series. She held the Miners to a .192 batting average and held the heart of UTEP batting order hitless. Tulsa moved into second place in the conference standings with the wins and will be in action again on Tuesday in a game at Stetson at 6:00 p.m.

UAB
UAB dropped the rubber game of its three game series with UCF Sunday at George Ward Park. The Blazers fall to 14-16 with the loss and 1-5 in Conference USA play. UAB was held to just one hit in the final game of the series. Leigh Walker singled to the second baseman in the fourth inning. The Blazers were limited to just three base runners all day. Pitcher Jennifer Nelson threw a two-hitter and also drove in the game winning run in UAB's 2-0 victory over UCF on Saturday. Nelson's pitching and hitting helped the Blazers snap a five-game losing streak and also helped them to their first Conference USA victory of the year. Nelson is now alone in third on the all-time C-USA strikeout list with 731 career Ks. She has notched 150 strikeouts so far this season and sports a 3.09 ERA. The Blazers face South Alabama in a Tuesday doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. in Mobile.

UCF
Senior hurler Allison Kime pitched a one-hit shutout with seven strikeouts to lead UCF (20-14, 3-3) to a 2-0 victory over UAB at George Wade Park Sunday afternoon. With the win, the Knights won the three-game Conference USA series. Kime improved her record to 10-7 on the season and registered her 125th strikeout in her third shutout of the season. Tiffany Lane extended her hitting streak to eight games in the win, tying her with Breanne Javier for the longest stint of 2008. Lane was 3-for 10 in the series against UAB and and swiped five bases that lead to four runs. Her 31 runs scored and 18 stolen bases lead her team, while the 18 steals is a C-USA high. The Knights return to the diamond Wendesday, when the host Jacksonville. UCF will play Iowa at home on Thursday, before hosting Tulsa for league action beginning on Friday with a doubleheader.

UTEP
Tulsa capped off its series sweep of UTEP on Sunday, taking the final game, 6-4, in Tulsa, Okla. The Miners fall to 19-9, 3-3 in league action. Kelly Curran who came in relief for the second time this weekend, took her second loss in as many days. Andi Zolton went 2-for-3 in the outing and Shea Lodes blasted her second home run of the weekend to finish 1-for-3. The Miners, looking to bounce back from Saturday's sweep, opened the top of the first with three doubles and Lodes' two run long ball to give UTEP the quick 3-0 start, before falling 6-4. A sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth, inched the Miners within two but it was not enough to lift the Miners past the Hurricane. UTEP returns home on Tuesday to face No. 8 Arizona, the defending NCAA Champions. First pitch is slated for 3:00 p.m. The Miners return to league action as they take on Marshall in a three-game home series beginning Friday.