Houston P, Paris Lehman, 6, winding up a pitch, Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in Houston, Texas. |Wyatt Chastain/The Cougar
The 16-10 Houston Cougars softball team decimated the 11-14 Lamar Cardinals, winning 5-0 at Cougar Softball Stadium on March 10.
In the latest game of this series, in which the Cougars hold a dominant 15-5 all-time advantage over the Cardinals, the Cougars were looking to extend their streak against the Cards.
Having won four out of the last five meetings, it seems as though they were able to do just that on Tuesday night, thanks to strong performances by the team on both sides of the ball.
The pitching staff performed extremely well and maintained a shutout against Lamar under the combined efforts of sophomore Nevaeh Brown and redshirt senior Paris Lehman. Lehman earned her second save of the year with this stellar performance.
The scoring began early with sophomore outfielder Ariel Redmond finally snapping her eight-game homerless streak, launching a leadoff bomb in the bottom of the first, her eighth one of this season.
This is in stark contrast to her freshman year, in which Redmond recorded the longest hitting streak on the team at the time, making hits in seven consecutive games.
Sophomore infielder Madox Mitchael had a spectacular performance with 2 RBIs in the first inning, adding to the lead early.
With runners on second and third and only one out, Mitchael launched a ball to left center, allowing her teammates to score. Mitchael also nearly hit for the cycle, posting 3-for-4 with a single, double, and a triple.
In the bottom of the second, junior infielder Makenna Mitchell launched a dinger of her own, scoring on a solo homer.
This marks Mitchell’s ninth home run of the season, matching her total for the entirety of the 2025 season, in which she had nine home runs in forty-five games. This growth is a positive sign for Mitchell as the season moves forward.
In the fifth inning, Mitchael hit a triple to left center. After a five-pitch walk to freshman infielder Ronnie Esparza, senior infielder Mandy Esman added a pop single for an RBI, allowing Mitchael to walk across home plate, ending the scoring for the night in the fifth inning of play.
Graduate infielder Kylei Griffin came back for the first time in 18 games, with her last appearance being on Feb.13 against Penn State. Griffin entered the game in the fifth inning as a pinch hitter, substituting for freshman infielder Leilani Garcia. The game ended with Houston on top, winning 5-0.
Next up, the UH Cougars must prepare for a second Big 12 weekend against the Kansas Jayhawks for a three-game series from March 13-15. The first pitch of the opener is set for 6 p.m. on Friday the 13.
Though this game saw the Cougars extend their winning streak against the Cardinals to five games, the Cougars have lost the last five games against the Jayhawks, including a three-game sweep in their first Big 12 series last year. Overall, Kansas leads the Cougars 5-2, but Houston will look to snap the streak.
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