After splitting Saturday’s doubleheader against UTEP, the Cougars capped off the three-game series with an 8-5 win over the Miners on Sunday at Cougar Softball Stadium.
UH’s offense came up short in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader. Junior Amanda Crabtree (6-7) allowed two runs with three hits, but the Cougars lost 2-1.
In the second game, the Cougars dismantled the Miner’s defense with five runs in the first five innings. Freshman pitcher Bailey Watts (9-5) held the Miners offense to only two runs and struck out nine batters in a 5-2 victory.
UH righthander Baillie Lott (3-2) started Sunday’s game in aggressive fashion, striking out two in the first inning.
UTEP led off the second with a single, but miscommunication in the infield led to an error that put a Miner on third. Lott’s next pitch dove into the dirt and failed to meet the glove of catcher Melissa Gregson, allowing the runner to score and give UTEP a 1-0 lead.
Miners pitcher Stacie Townsend kept the Cougars hitless through two inning.
Meanwhile, UTEP took advantage of more Cougar errors in the top of the third to move into scoring position again. The Miners capitalized off the opportunity, expanding the lead to 3-0.
Two more errors in the fifth allowed the Miners to push the lead to 5-0.
The game shifted in the bottom of the fifth, when UH’s Brooke Lathan delivered a solo shot to give the Cougars their first run of the game.
Then, UH’s offense exploded in the sixth. Holly Anderson provided the spark, beginning the inning with a single.
A rain of singles that brought in Anderson and six other Cougars followed that at-bat, allowing UH to offset the Miners’ early offensive success.
Lott struck out nine batters in six innings before Bailey Watts closed out the game with one inning of relief.
The rubber-game victory improved UH to 6-4 in Conference USA and 19-14 overall.
