Redshirt senior Sarah Queen finished the series against Memphis with four hits, three RBIs and a run scored. Barker leads the Cougars with a .381 batting average in her 36 games played. | Andres Chio/The Cougar
Houston softball extended its win streak to six games with a pair of wins in its Saturday double-header against Memphis.
The sweep comes after last week’s sweep against UConn built some momentum ahead of the planned seven-game road trip.
After game one of the series was cancelled due to weather, Houston won 8-4 and 6-3, respectively, in the following games.
Memphis jumped out to an early lead, but sophomore Aspen Howie answered back with a two-run home run in the second inning.
With a 4-2 lead in the fourth inning, redshirt senior Sarah Barker snatched the game-winning runs for Houston with a two-RBI single to center field.
Memphis scored another pair of runs, but Barker and Howie each earned the Cougars a run with a single and a walk to make it 8-4 in the end.
After the strong offensive showing in game one, the Cougars leaned on the dominant pitching of senior Savannah Heebner in game two.
In one of her best games of the year, Heebner pitched seven innings, faced 32 batters and threw eight strikeouts with only three runs allowed.
While Heebner controlled the mound, junior Kelli Montgomery led the way in the batter’s box. Montgomery logged two RBIs in four at-bats for the Cougars.
Houston now sits at No. 4 in the American Athletic Conference with a record of 8-6, and Memphis slid to No. 7.
Houston will have a chance to solidify its spot in the standings in its next conference series against No. 5 UCF, which has a conference record of 7-8 and is currently on an eight-game losing streak.
Before heading to Florida, Houston will travel to San Marcos for a non-conference face off against Texas State.
This will be the third and final game between the two teams this season. In its previous matchups, Houston defeated Texas State 10-0 and 8-3.
The game will be at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Bobcat Softball Stadium.
