The battle at the top of the AAC heated up last weekend as UH was swept by USF.
Saturday kicked off with a 6-5 loss, followed by a 4-2 loss to wrap up the day. Sunday wasn’t much better, as UH fell once again 5-2.
“Some of things we did this weekend were things that we’ve been doing all year, and they’ve finally caught up to us,” said head coach Kyla Holas. “Defensively, it was costly errors and key pitches in key situations, and offensively, it was not making adjustments at the right time.”
Senior catcher Haley Outon said the team had the opportunity to win in each game but didn’t start strong enough to outlast the competition.
“I feel that we didn’t start early enough,” Outon said. “In the last couple of games we tried to fix it all at the end, and it was too late by then.”
Previously sitting atop the standings at 11-1 in conference play, the Cougars dropped to second place, falling to 11-4 and one game behind UCF with only six conference games left in the regular season.
The Cougars will try and clear their heads of the rough weekend with a little break.
“We’re giving them a couple of days off,” Holas said. “Anytime you can have a fresh body this late in the season and let your mind catch up, it’s good.”
UH takes the field again on Wednesday for a double-header against Houston Baptist. The next conference games are April 26 and 27 on the road at UCF in a three-game series, possibly determining the regular season title.
As close as the race toward the AAC tournament is, sophomore outfielder Katie St. Pierre said she understands what will help them go where they want to be in the postseason.
“Just coming together as a team,” St. Pierre said. “Along with starting strong and finishing strong.”
