Houston split its pair of games with Baylor over the weekend, with stellar pitching highlighting the 3-1 win on Saturday, while a comeback effort fell just short on Saturday, falling 2-1.
Here is a closer look at how each game went down:
Game 1
Junior pitcher Rachel Hertenberger led UH to victory after tossing a complete game while only allowing one run and two walks to secure the program’s second win over a Big 12 team this season.
With two Cougars on base in the bottom of the first, senior third baseman Sarah Queen notched a double for two runs. The Cougars led the Bears 2-0.
Baylor responded with a run of their own in the second inning to cut the deficit in half.
With two outs in the fourth, the Bears had a runner on third and hoped to tie the score, but Hertenberger stepped up to retire the final batter of the inning and kept Baylor at just one run.
Junior right fielder Bethany Busch drove in an insurance run in the top of the seventh on a sacrifice fly to help seal a 3-1 victory.
Game 2
The Cougars got within one in the final inning, but it wasn’t enough to sweep the Bears as the UH softball team fell 2-1.
Baylor struck first in the opening inning, but sophomore pitcher Logan Hulon came into the game out of relief and kept the blows to a minimum.
Despite the Cougars’ bats going quiet, Hulon, who pitched 5 2/3 innings of one-run baseball, continued to keep UH in the game with a strong performance from the circle.
Down 1-0 in the seventh, junior catcher Kati Ray Brown launched a home run to tie the game up at one.
But Baylor responded in the bottom half of the inning with a walk-off single to take the game 2-1.