Aug. 30, 2007

HOUSTON -- Junior Elaina Nordstrom hit a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat Texas 5-1 in the second game of a double-header on Wednesday night.

Houston (16-2) earned their first wins against Texas in the all-time series to move to 2-12 against the Longhorns. The double-header was also the Longhorn's first trip to Cougar Softball Stadium.

It would take six innings before either team would score in the second game and Texas got their first when Desiree Williams hit a single to shortstop and junior Jessica Valis overthrew third and MicKayla Padilla would score to give the Longhorns a 1-0 lead with no outs. With no strike-outs and only one hit given up by freshman Baillie Lott, senior Angel Shamblin was brought into the game, and the Cougars retired the next three batters.

In the bottom of the sixth, senior Amanda Grote and junior Haley Valis would reach first on a fielder's choice. Shamblin knocked in Grote with a single to centerfield tying the score at 1-1. With two outs, junior Christa Raley was walked and junior Jessica Valis would strike out, leaving three runners stranded on base. The Longhorns battled back in the top of the seventh when Crystal Saenz hit a single, with two outs, over Jessica Valis' head, but the next batter would foul-out to junior Laurie Wagner to end the inning.

The Cougars had one final chance to win the game in the bottom of the seventh, but after batting out 11 fouls at the plate, Nordstrom hit a line-drive to third base for one out. Klinkert and Wagner hit back-to-back outs to end the inning. With the score tied at 1-1, the Cougars and Longhorns would continue in extra innings. In the bottom of the ninth inning, with no outs on the board, Raley was walked and Jessica Valis reached first on a single down the left field line. Junior Katie Bush hit a single to load the bases and Nordstrom hit a walk-off grand-slam over centerfield to end the game, 5-1.

The grand-slam was Nordstrom's first this season and the Cougars' second team grand slam, which was hit by Klinkert in a game against Texas A&M- Corpus Chirsti on Feb. 17.

Lott gave up only one hit, one run, and struck out zero batters in five innings of work. Shamblin got the win, giving up only two hits, one run and striking out two batters.

Game One- Houston 6, Texas 0

The Cougars earned their first win over the Longhorns in a 6-0 shutout victory in game one of the double-header. Senior Angel Shamblin struck out 15 batters on her way to tying her single game and program record.

The Cougars started scoring early in the first inning when freshman Jennifer Klinkert hit a fly-out to right field and Jessica Valis scored on an overthrown ball to home. With two outs, junior Laurie Wagner hit a single to left field to knock junior Katie Bush in to give Houston a 2-0 lead.

The Cougars continued hitting in the bottom of the third inning when senior Amanda Grote was walked and Shamblin hit a double. With no outs, junior Christa Raley hit a double to left center to hit Grote and Shamblin home. After two outs, Nordstrom hit a single to score Raley. Klinkert struck out leaving one batter on to end the second inning.

No runs would be scored for either team until the bottom of the sixth, when Shamblin hit a sac-fly to knock in junior Haley Valis to give the Cougars six runs. Shamblin gave up only five hits and no runs in addition to her 15 strikeouts.

The Cougar softball team also helped raise money in the fight for breast cancer at Wednesday night's "Striking out Breast Cancer" double-header against the Longhorns. During the games, there was a silent auction to raise money for the Houston affiliate of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation. Included in the auction were the players' pink jerseys and helmets worn during the two games. Throwing out the first pitch was breast cancer survivor and mother of Elaina Nordstrom, Veronica Nordstrom, as well as Dr. Rakhi Dimino, a local Houston doctor.