The Cougars will host Conference-USA foe Memphis for a three-game series starting Saturday at Cougar Softball Stadium.
UH (20-19, 5-7 C-USA) is coming off a sweep of non-conference opponent Prairie View A&M, which the Cougars outscored 30-0 in two games. The Cougars snapped their five-game losing streak with Tuesday’s breakout performance.
Now as UH jumps back into league play, head coach Kyla Holas knows this series is crucial to improving their seeding for the conference tournament. The Cougars enter the series in seventh place in C-USA and has limited opportunities to climb the ladder.
“We can keep continuing on this downward spiral or we can find a way to win at home,” Holas said, “which is what we have been able to do so far this season.”
Memphis sits one spot ahead of the Cougars with a C-USA record of 6-5 and 19-13 overall, which is their second best start in school history. Tigers’ pitcher Carly Hummel (11-6) leads the pitching staff with 145 strikeouts.
“Memphis is a program that has been at the bottom of this conference for a really long time, and people kind of look past them a little bit,” Holas said. “They have done nothing but get better and better.”
The Cougars hold an 8-5 advantage over the Tigers in the all-time series, but will have a score to settle after being swept in a three-game series in Memphis, Tenn., last season.
“Sometimes we have a tendency to think of them like they are still at the bottom,” Holas said. “That is how they can cause problems.”
During practice this week, the Cougars have been focusing on two areas of concern — situational hitting and pitching. Holas said that she wants to see the team producing runs when players are in scoring position and for the pitchers to get ahead of batters.
“We have to make sure that every time we are playing that we play to the best of our ability,” she said.
Saturday’s opener will begin at 1 p.m., and the second game is scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday’s finale will start at noon.
