Only one more game stands between the UH softball team and what it has been playing for all season.
The top-seeded Cougars defeated the fifth-seeded East Carolina Pirates 5-1 Friday at Cougar Softball Stadium in the semifinals of the Conference USA tournament.
Houston, the C-USA regular-season champion and defending tournament champion, will face UCF at 1:36 p.m. Saturday in the title game, which will be broadcast by CBS College Sports.
"(Reaching the finals is) definitely one of our goals, and hopefully we’ll come out on top tomorrow," senior pitcher Angel Shamblin said.
Houston (50-8) has outscored its opponents 14-2 in the tournament and was the first to score against ECU (36-28) with two home runs in the top of the third inning.
Junior infielder Laurie Wagner blasted her 19th home run of the season to bring home freshman first baseman Jennifer Klinkert, who reached first on a walk, and put the score at 2-0.
Wagner set the UH single-season record for home runs against Memphis on Thursday, but today’s homer also earned her the C-USA record and moved her to fourth place on the UH career list.
"It was kind of frustrating, them taking the bat out of (my) hands like that (by walking me earlier in the game)," Wagner said, "so you have to capitalize when they give you the chance. I just wanted to get a good pitch to hit."
Junior infielder Haley Valis reached first on a walk and Shamblin homered to left field to drive Valis in and extend the Cougar lead to 4-0 later in the third.
"Angel (Shamblin) is one of those really streaky hitters…and I think right now she’s getting hot and swinging well at the right time," UH head coach Kyla Holas said.
Shamblin is also continuing her dominance on the mound, allowing seven hits and one earned run in seven innings against ECU. She has 32 wins on the season, a UH record, going into tomorrow’s game against second-seed Central Florida.
"We knew that when it got to the end (of the season) here she would be the one we go to," Holas said.
"Tomorrow’s going to be a really big battle. (UH and UCF) split in the regular season. I think you have the number one and number two pitching in the conference right here."
ECU senior second baseman Erin St. Ledger hit a homer in the bottom of the third to give the Pirates their only run of the game. Houston answered when junior infielder Christa Raley hit a double in the top of the sixth and brought in freshman pitcher Baillie Lott, who reached second on a double, to put the score at 5-1.
East Carolina fought to come back, but with bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the seventh, ECU junior infielder Vanessa Moreno flied out to end the game and give the Cougars their ticket to the C-USA finals.
