Softball

Climbing to the top

Holly Anderson earned C-USA Hitter of the Week honors, batting .562 to go with six runs and five steals.  |  Hendrick Rosemond/The Daily Cougar

Holly Anderson earned C-USA Hitter of the Week honors, batting .562 to go with six runs and five steals. | Hendrick Rosemond/The Daily Cougar

The battle for first place in Conference USA continues as the Cougars play first-place Tulsa.

UH (26-16, 11-4 C-USA) is tied with UAB for second place in C-USA and are just one game behind Tulsa in what has become a logjam at the top of the standings.

The weekend series features the top two hitting teams in conference play and the only two teams with a combined average higher than .300.

The teams are also on top for scoring. Tulsa averages 5.34 runs per game and UH averages 5.25.

The Cougars pitching staff will need to keep junior outfielder Caitlin Everett off of the base paths in order to stop the Hurricane’s attack. Everett bats .387 and has an on-base percentage of .431. Once on base, she wreaks havoc with her speed. Everett has stolen 30 bases in 34 tries, which is good for sixth best in the nation. She also has scored a team-high 42 runs.

Anderson earns weekly honor

For UH, infielder Holly Anderson has gotten hot at the right time. The Conference USA Hitter of the Week has a 10-game hitting streak and had three multiple-hit games, while scoring six runs and stealing five bases.

UH has struggled on the road this season posting a record of 4-7 away from Cougar Softball Stadium. Tulsa is 11-2 at home.

Not only would wins against Tulsa (30-9, 12-3) move UH up the conference ladder, the Cougars would also gain more notoriety nationally.

Tulsa is ranked 34th in RPI while Houston are just behind at 46th.

The series kicks off at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, with the game being televised on Fox Sports Net. Game two is set to play at 5:30 p.m. with the last game of the series coming Sunday at noon.

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