Houston coach Kristin Vesely taps utility Brooke Wells (3) on the head as they celebrate her run to third base during an NCAA softball game, Tuesday, March 26, 2025, in Houston, Texas. | Raphael Fernandez/The Cougar
In the press room Wednesday, following Houston softball’s 4-0 Big 12 Tournament loss to No. 6 seed BYU, coach Kristin Vesely held up two fingers barely apart, the universal sign for ‘so close.’
“I think if we had been able to challenge ourselves early in the year with the mental capacity, then we would have been in a different spot today,” Vesely said. “I am proud of where we are at, but as a coach, you know this, we are always pushing for more.”
Houston, which finished the season 22-25 overall and 4-18 in conference play, recorded just two singles in the game. Freshman catcher Isabel Cintron extended her hitting streak to 10 games with a single in the fifth inning, and freshman outfielder Ariel Redmond added one in the seventh at Devon Park in Oklahoma City.
BYU got on the board when freshman utility Ilove’a Brittingham hit a two-run home run in the third inning, followed by graduate utility Aleia Agbayani adding two more with a home run of her own in the sixth. Junior pitcher Nicole Bodeux suffered the loss for the Cougars after five innings of work.
The Cougars drew seven walks in the contest, setting a new program record with 248 on the season. Despite showing patience at the plate, they struggled to turn opportunities into runs.
After closing March with back-to-back wins over Iowa State and a victory against Utah, the Cougars won just three more games for the remainder of the season.
Vesely’s contract expires this offseason, and the Cougars face tough decisions after failing to reach the NCAA Tournament since 2019 and recording only eight Big 12 wins in their first two seasons in the league.
The Cougars’ pitching ranks last in the conference, and their fielding is just one spot above the bottom. Despite these struggles, the team remains one of the youngest in the country, with only one senior graduating. Houston must now find a way to keep its young core intact while pushing for better results.
“We are all just energetic and so excited to be here, like always,” said freshman two-way player Brooke Wells, who hit a team-leading .341. “Today, we really challenged ourselves to be there for each other, help each other, and encourage each other, and we succeeded in that.”
With a locker room on seemingly stable footing, Houston faces a critical offseason to determine the future of the young program and whether a new voice is needed to lead it forward.
