Junior pitcher Rachel Hertenberger winds up in the circle for UH softball against UCF over the weekend. | Courtesy of UH athletics
Despite leading in every game, Houston softball dropped all four of its games over the weekend to No. 22 UCF to open up American Athletic Conference play.
Here’s a look at how each game went:
Friday (Doubleheader)
UH struck first in Friday’s opening game in the top of the third, as senior outfielder Lindsey Stewart-Vaughn hit a sacrifice fly to drive in sophomore catcher Kati Ray Brown and give the Cougars a 1-0.
Junior pitcher Rachel Hertenberger cruised through her first four innings of work, keeping the UCF bats quiet. Hertenberger got into a jam in the fifth but was able to work out of it, keeping it a 1-0 game.
The Knights finally broke through in the sixth on an RBI single to tie the game up.
The Cougars offense, who had not scored since the third, remained quiet in the seventh, giving the Knights a chance to walk it off. UCF had a runner on third with two outs when senior outfielder Aspen Howie made a diving catch in center field to send the game into extra innings.
After holding UH scoreless in the top of the eighth, UCF’s Jada Cody sent the second pitch she saw in the bottom half of the inning over the left-center wall to deliver the Knights a 2-1 walk-off victory.
Right off the bat in the second game of the day, two Cougars made it on base and senior designated player Charese Wyatt hit a single to bring home a runner to give UH a quick 1-0 lead.
But similar to the first game, this proved to be the Cougars’ only run of the contest.
Sophomore pitcher Megan Lee kept the Knights off the board through the first two innings until UCF responded with a two-run home run in the bottom of the third.
From there, the Knights only added on to its advantage, notching a run in the fourth as well as two more runs in the sixth to cruise to a 5-1 victory, handing UH its second loss of the day.
Saturday
Both teams were rather quiet on the offense to begin the game, until sophomore infielder Britaney Shaw blasted a home run through left field to give the Cougars a one-run lead.
In the circle for UH, Lee mowed down the Knights hitters through the first three innings but hit a road bump in the fourth as UCF recorded four runs.
UCF’s four-run fourth proved to be enough as the Knights took the third game 4-1.
Sunday
UCF struck first with a solo home run in the third inning, but the Cougars responded at the top of the fourth as Brown was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, bringing senior third baseman Sarah Queen home.
UH didn’t let up in the fifth, securing two more runs after back-to-back doubles from senior utility player Tierrah Williams and Shaw to lead 3-1.
The Knights got a run back in the sixth to cut their deficit to one before a UH error in the bottom of the seventh brought two UCF runners home to deliver a 4-3 victory in walk-off fashion.
