University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
15-24, 4-8
University of Houston
29-15, 6-6
Huskies compete in thrilling finale at Houston
4/14/2019 3:44:00 PM | Softball
HOUSTON, Texas—The UConn (15-24, 4-8 AAC) softball team took on Houston (29-15, 6-6 AAC) in an American Athletic Conference series finale on Sunday afternoon.
The Huskies cracked open the seal in the top of the fourth with Olivia Sappington as the leadoff, knocking a single to right field. Kelli Bates entered the game to pinch run for Sappington. Kiwi McDaniel doubled to right center pushing Bates to third. Ashley Esty's single to the pitcher brought home Bates. The pair would be left stranded on a ground out to third base.
Esty scores BATES! pic.twitter.com/cgTinXFwe9
— UConn Softball (@UConnSoftball) April 14, 2019
The Cougars responded in the bottom of the fifth on a single up the middle and a sacrifice fly to center field. Houston would take the lead and ultimately the game at 2-1.
UConn put up six hits with one of them coming in the top of the second, when the Huskies reached base initially in the contest. McDaniel took up real estate at first via an error by the second baseman. Alexis Lemus singled to second base and allowed McDaniel to move to second. Keeping the hitting alive, Esty nailed the sacrifice bunt to shift the pair into prime scoring position. A strikeout and a ground out would close the inning before the runners could make it home.
Marybeth Olson started in the circle for UConn and faced 18 of Houston's batters, striking out seven of them. She allowed no walks during her 4.1 innings pitched before being relieved by Katie Koshes (4-7) who tossed the remaining 1.2 innings. The duo led the Husky defense to a clean fielding series versus the Cougars, as no errors were committed under their watch this weekend.
UConn is back in action on Tuesday, April 16th in a single nonconference game versus Central Connecticut State at 4:00 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: HERTENBERGER (5-1)
L: Olson, Marybeth (9-11)
Batting:
2B: McDaniel, Kiwi 1
RBI: Esty, Ashley 1
SH: Esty, Ashley 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bates, Kelli 1
Batting:
RBI: STEWART, L. 1 ; VANNOY, B. 1
SF: STEWART, L. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: THOMAS, M. 1 ; BUSCH, B. 1
