UH softball improved to 15-16 on the season after sweeping Memphis over the weekend. | Oscar Herrera/The Cougar
In its first American Athletic Conference series of 2023, the UH softball team ended the weekend sweeping Memphis to advance to 15-16 on the season.
Game 1
The Cougars dominated in the first game of the series.
UH’s dominance began in the third inning when sophomore infielders Brooke Lorenzo and Ja’Naiya Thomas scored on a fly-out and a Bree Cantu right-field double, respectively.
In the fourth inning, UH brought home two more runs, this time on a home run from sophomore Emma Robertson and a single from sophomore Turiya Coleman.
Entering the fifth inning, UH led 4-0, proceeding to score six more runs in what proved to be the game’s convincing final inning.
Coleman crushed a grand slam to center in the fifth to put the exclamation point on the Cougars 10-0 victory on Saturday afternoon.
Game 2
The game’s first run came in the sixth inning when Cantu was brought home thanks to a right-side single by Amanda Carden.
On the same play, redshirt sophomore infielder LA Matthews was able to advance to third; a Lorenzo center-field single was able to bring Matthews home on the very next at-bat to give UH a 2-0 lead.
UH put one more run on the board before the end of their second win, an unearned score from senior infielder Paige Hulsey thanks to a hit from Cantu.
The Cougars won 3-0.
Game 3
UH had plenty of momentum entering the series finale on Sunday afternoon.
Memphis, though, finally showed some signs of life.
The first run of the game was scored by the Tigers in the first inning, giving Memphis its first lead of the series.
The Cougars leveled the score in the third inning as Coleman was brought home on a Matthews fly-out.
After a pair of scoreless innings for both teams, UH was able to take command of the game in the sixth and seventh innings.
A single run in the sixth inning gave UH the momentum to take command, bringing home six runs in the seventh (and final) inning. A pair of doubles from Thomas and Cantu brought three of the six runs home, while a Matthews single, Carden double, and fly-out from freshman infielder Ayden Allen brought home the final three.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Tigers made one final push, scoring two runs to cut into UH’s lead, though trailed 8-3 at the final out to hand UH its third dominant victory of the weekend.
