After losing three of four in Mexico, the softball team has racked off nine straight wins, the latest being junior Savannah Heebner’s sixth complete game of the year. | Thomas Dwyer/The Cougar
The softball team used a dominant pitching performance from junior Savannah Heebner to push their string of consecutive victories to nine games with a 2-0 win against the Texas Southern Tigers Wednesday in Memorial Park.
Heebner pitched a complete game shutout, giving up only one hit over the seven innings and striking out 12 batters. The Cougars are now 13-4 on the season, with seven of those wins coming by way of shutout.
The softball team has also outscored their opponents 74-27 over the course of their 17 games.
The win improves Heebner’s record to 7-1, and the shutout lowers her earned run average to 0.92 for the season. Heebner has thrown six complete games in seven starts and has almost six times as many strikeouts (38) as she does earned runs (7).
No matter how great the pitching is, the Cougars cannot win if they find themselves unable to produce runs on their own.
It was the younger members of the team who stepped up to the plate against the Tigers. Sophomore infielder Sarah Queen hit a solo home run, and freshman utility player Tierrah Williams drove in an RBI in the sixth inning to give the Cougars their definitive 2-0 victory over the Tigers.
The homerun hit by Queen was her second of the year, second most on the team behind senior infielder Mariah Garcia (3). It upped her RBI total to 10 for the season — again, second only to Garcia (11). Queen is currently leading the team in batting average, hitting .431 and totaling 22 hits in 51 at-bats.
The sophomore has also garnered four doubles and three walks while only striking out five times. Queen has started all 17 games for the Cougars.
The team returns to Cougar Softball Stadium for four more games as they play host to the Houston Hilton Plaza Classic. The Cougars will host the likes of Lipscomb, Northwestern, Iowa State and Penn State. First pitch for their game against Lipscomb is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Friday.
