Angel Shamblin, Amanda Grote, Barbie Love and Courtney Spittler will be playing their final regular season game at Cougar Softball Stadium.
The ninth-ranked Cougars (45-8, 18-2 C-USA) already have clinched the Conference USA regular season title for the second consecutive season. This weekend, UH looks to make it back-to-back seasons with at least 20 conference wins.
Houston notched its 45th win this season with a game-one win over Louisiana Lafayette on April 30, setting the program record for single-season wins. The previous best was the 44 wins the Cougars recorded in 2007.
As a team, Houston has already set program records for runs (321), home runs (65), RBI (286) and stolen bases (61). The pitching staff has also set a program record for shutouts with 21.
The Cougars are being led by junior Jessica Valis. The C-USA Preseason Player of the Year and reigning league hitter of the week is batting .446. Junior Laurie Wagner is a close second with a .401 batting average and a team-high 16 home runs. She needs one more home run to tie the single-season record for home runs.
Shamblin leads all Cougar pitchers with a 0.59 ERA and holds a 28-2 record. She has a school record 14 shutouts this season.
The Cougars take a 3-3 all-time record against UTEP (29-20, 10-11 C-USA) into this weekend's series. Houston won two of the three games last year in El Paso.
After the series between the Coogs and Miners, Houston will play host to the 2008 Conference USA Softball Tournament on May 8-10 at Cougar Softball Stadium. The first day of the tournament will feature five games beginning at 9 am on Thursday, May 8. The semifinals will start at 2 pm on Friday, May 9. The conference final is slated for 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 10.
For more information, go to uhcougars.cstv.com
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