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Beth McClendon begins her fifth season on the University of Houston softball staff where she concentrates on coaching the Cougar pitching staff. The Houston pitching staff held opponents to a .218 batting average and surrended only 182 runs last season, third best in C-USA. The Cougars also threw the program's first perfect game as Angel Shamblin retired all 15 batters she faced in a 8-0 rout against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Mar. 14. Houston also doubled the number of no-hitters thrown as Cougar arms fired three no-hitters last season. In 2004 McClendon's work with the pitching staff saw Houston turn in the third-best earned run average in Conference USA at 1.84. The Cougars recorded a school-record 13 shutouts and posted the second highest strikeout total in C-USA with 371, a mark that also set a school record in that category. Since arriving at Houston in 2003, her pitching staff has received two All-Conference USA citations, four All-Freshman honors and one C-USA All-Tournament nod. The pitchers have also set 16 school records and in 2004, pitcher Jenny Johnson led the nation with an NCAA-best 10 saves on the year. McClendon came to Houston from Stetson where she was an assistant coach for two seasons. In 2001, she helped coach the Hatters to an Atlantic Sun Conference regular season tri-championship. In 2002, Stetson received national poll votes for the first time in school history. McClendon's pitching staff boasted a 1.15 ERA, which ranked 11th overall in NCAA Division I, including a nation-leading ERA from April 7-21 during the 2002 season. As a whole, her pitchers set school records for wins (45), shutouts (20), strikeouts (385), strikeouts per 7 innings (6.70) and strikeouts in one game (16). Her squad also set the school marks for the longest winning streak (28) and winning percentage (.763). McClendon earned a bachelor's degree in health sciences in occupational therapy from the University of Florida in 2000. She was also a four-year letterwinner in softball, playing under Houston head coach Kyla Holas, who served as the Gators' pitching coach at the time. During her career at Florida, she posted 60 career wins with a 2.41 ERA in over 716 innings of work. The 60 wins and 716 innings pitched are current UF records and are also in the Top 10 of the SEC Record Book. McClendon also is in the Top 10 in both record books when it comes to complete games and career shutouts. McClendon was a member of the 1998 Southeastern Conference regular season championship team, and as UF's No. 1 pitcher, she posted 20-win seasons in each of her last two seasons. McClendon helped lead the Gators to the NCAA Regional Tournament in 2000, where they finished with a No. 20 national ranking. As a student-athlete, McClendon excelled in the classroom where she received numerous academic awards. She was an NFCA Scholar-Athlete (1997-2000), a member of the All-SEC Academic Team (1998-2000), a GTE Academic Third-Team All-American (2000), a two-time SEC Pitcher of the Week and recipient of the SEC's H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Award. She married Matt McClendon, who formerly pitched in the Atlanta Braves organization, in December 2000. Matt is a law student at Texas, and the couple now lives in Pearland, Texas. |
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