The UH softball team earned its biggest win of the season when it knocked off USA Softball No. 6 Michigan, 3-2, in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Leadoff Classic on Saturday in Columbus, Ga.
With the game scoreless after two innings, UH infielder Melissa Gregson hit her fourth homer of the year in the bottom of the third inning to give Houston (8-8) a 1-0 advantage.
Gregson also led the offensive charge in the Cougars’ two-run fifth inning. She reached base on a walk and advanced to second when outfielder Katy Beth Sherman bunted to reach first.
Michigan pitcher Nikki Nemitz walked UH catcher Elaina Nordstrom to load the bases, and outfielder Laurie Wagner hit a two-run single with two outs to score Gregson and Sherman and extend the Cougars’ lead to 3-0.
The Wolverines (13-5) started to stage a comeback by loading the bases in the seventh, but UH pitcher Amanda Crabtree worked the team out of trouble, earning her first save of the season to give teh Cougars the win.
Crabtree scored Wolverine third baseman Maggie Viefhaus on a walk and Michigan outfielder Bree Evans drove catcher Roya St. Clair home on a groundout to give Michigan its final run of the game. Crabtree struck out the final batter.
Pitcher Baillie Lott improved to 4-4 after giving up three hits and striking out one batter in six innings.
Houston dropped a 2-1 loss to South Carolina (12-2) in its opening game Friday. Crabtree fell to 4-4 on the season despite a solid effort, allowing two earned runs on six hits and striking out eight Gamecocks.
The Gamecocks put up two runs in the bottom of the third to build a 2-0 advantage and never looked back.
The Cougars’ games against No. 1 Alabama and No. 24 Ohio State, scheduled for Saturday, were cancelled because of rain.
Houston was scheduled to round out the weekend with a rescheduled matchup against Ohio State and a contest with No. 18 Northwestern on Sunday, but those games were snowed out, giving Houston a 1-1 record for the weekend.’
The Cougars return to action against Texas A&M on Wednesday at Cougar Softball Stadium in the third annual Striking Out Breast Cancer game.
