The Cougars have struggled on the mound this season, but will have an opportunity to deliver a couple of solid performances and end their five-game losing streak when they play Prairie View A&M at 4 p.m. today at Cougar Softball Stadium. | Kendra Berglund/The Daily Cougar
Coming off of three straight losses to Conference-USA opponent UAB, the Cougars are seeking non-conference wins in a doubleheader that begins today against Prairie View A&M.
The first game of the doubleheader will start at 4 p.m. at Cougar Softball Stadium. This will kick off a five-game homestand for UH.
Coached by Lana Williams, Prairie View posted an 8-32 record last season. The Cougars defeated the Lady Panthers last season 4-0 at the Houston Marriot Invitational.
UH head coach Kyla Holas does not think their opponent should be overlooked.
“At this point in the season, and with the way the team is performing, I’m not sure that we can make any assumptions,” Holas said.
The losses over the weekend dropped the Cougars to 5-7 in C-USA and 18-19 overall.
The problems over the last few weeks have been a lack of hitting, but Holas said that problems with the pitching staff caused the breakdown over the weekend.
“I think in all the games, we put enough runs on the board to win the ball games,” Holas said. “What we have asked this team to do is put runs on the board, and they are doing that.”
The pitching staff has been haunted by the absence of its star pitcher, junior Amanda Crabtree.
She made her debut in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, but she was relieved in the first inning after allowing four runs. The schedule over the past week has given the softball team little time to practice.
“We are going to have to make sure that we take care of business and work really hard this week,” Holas said.
The Lady Panthers have lost five consecutive games. In their last three matchups, they managed only three runs while allowing 35.
On the schedule after the doubleheader is a Conference USA contest against Memphis. If the Cougars want to make a run at the NCAA regionals, they’ll need to pick up some wins from this series.
