With the series sweep to Wichita State, the UH softball team has now fallen 16 games under .500 on the season. | Gerald Sastra/The Cougar
The Houston softball team has now lost six straight games after dropping each of its matchups against Wichita State over the weekend.
With the skid, the Cougars fall to 1-11 against the American Athletic Conference and 10-26 on the season.
Here are how the matchups went down:
Friday
The UH softball team came out strong against the Shockers in the first meeting. Senior left fielder Lindsey Stewart-Vaughn got things going with a walk and steal to second base, while senior third baseman Sarah Queen added an RBI to take the first lead of the day.
Wichita State responded with one run of its own, but the Cougars picked up the pace in the second inning.
A single from senior designated player Tierrah Williams brought home a Cougars player. Sophomore catcher Kati Ray Brown walked, and senior center fielder Aspen Howie added a double for two RBI’s for a UH advantage of 4-1.
Still at-bat, the Cougars struck again when Stewart-Vaughn scored Howie, but the Shockers fought back, crossing the plate four times in the inning to knot the game at five.
While the Cougars struggled to put any more runs on the board, Wichita State kept the runs rolling in, highlighted by a grand slam in the sixth inning to take the game 13-5.
Saturday
In the first face-off of the doubleheader, the UH softball team got into a hole early. After junior right fielder Bethany Busch tripled, Howie blasted one down left field for a two-run home run in the second inning.
The Cougars took the lead after another home run from Williams, but the Shockers bounced back with two more runs in the fourth.
Wichita State added four more runs before the game ended and UH couldn’t keep up. The Shockers won the first game of the day 8-3.
In the final game of the day, things were looking up for the Cougars when Queen launched her eighth home run of the season, also scoring Busch for a 2-1 lead, but the feeling didn’t last for long. At the bottom of the third, the Shockers added six runs to reclaim the lead 7-2.
Two back-to-back two-run home runs from Wichita State sealed its 11-2 victory.
Sunday
In the last game of the series, the Shockers had a hot start thanks to a grand slam in the first inning.
After senior designated player Charese Wyatt walked, Brown added another RBI to put UH on the board.
Junior pitcher Rachel Hertenberger kept Wichita State scoreless in the third inning to head into the fourth down 4-1.
Stewart-Vaughn singled to score two more Cougars, while the Shockers struggled to generate any runs.
The game was all tied up at four at the top of the fifth after Queen took advantage of Wichita State errors. But the Shockers cleaned things up quickly, scoring four more times in the inning.
The UH softball team answered when sophomore second baseman Paige Hulsey came around thanks to more mistakes from the Shockers. The Cougars kept the momentum rolling as Queen hit another two-run home run to trail 8-7.
Wichita State notched two more runs in the sixth inning, while UH was quiet in the seventh. The Cougars fell 10-7.
