April 11, 2009

Box Score

Box Score

For Immediate Release
Contact: Brandon Kolditz
wkolditz@memphis.edu, (901) 871-5475

Houston (18-19, 7-7)   100 100 00  -  2  1  1
Memphis (19-21, 5-10)  010 001 01  -  3  5  1
W: Bossom (6-4) L: Lott (9-8)
HR: MEM- Gross (4)

MEMPHIS - Memphis freshman Jessica Phillips delivered a bases loaded RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the University of Memphis softball team a 3-2 victory over Houston on Saturday to complete a three-game sweep.

Louisville in 2005 was the last team to earn a three-game Conference USA sweep against Houston, who began the season ranked nationally in the top 15. The Tigers last league sweep came at home against UTEP last season.

Sophomores Janelle Valle and Kimber Bossom held Houston to just one hit in eight innings. The only hit in the game for the Cougars came on the very first at bat when Jessica Valis led off with a triple and later scored the first run. The last time Houston only had one hit in a game came against Louisiana Lafayette in 2007.

Valle (7-9) pitched six innings in a no decision start and allowed one earned run on one hit with five strikeouts. Bossom (6-4) earned the victory after pitching two no hit innings in relief with one strikeout.

Phillips went 2-for-2 in the game with a pair of walks, an RBI and a run scored. The first baseman went 4-for-6 in the three-games with three RBI and three runs scored to help Memphis win its first conference series since 2008.

Memphis tied the game at one in the bottom of the second inning on a RBI single by freshman Nikki Moreno, who finished 5-for-7 with five RBI and two runs scored in the series. Phillips scored from second on the hit down the left field line.

The Cougars scored an unearned run in the fourth after Katie Bush led off the inning reaching on a fielding error at second base. Bush advanced to third on a stolen bases and a wild pitch and then scored on a RBI groundout by Melissa Gregson.

Senior second baseman Tori Gross knotted the game at two in the bottom of the sixth inning on a leadoff solo home run to left. Up until that point, both teams each had one hit. The Tigers recorded three hits in the inning.

Houston threatened in the eighth inning with back-to-back runners reaching on a hit batter and a walk with one out. But Bossom got UH pitcher Baillie Lott to hit into a 4-3 double play to end the inning.

Memphis led off the bottom of the eighth with Bernardino reaching on a fielding error at second base. Gross then walked and both batters advanced on a sac bunt from sophomore Kim Sirman. After sophomore Maddie McKinley was hit by the pitch to load the bases, Phillips delivered the game-winning run with a single to left field.

Lott (9-8) pitched seven and a third innings in a losing effort for Houston. She allowed three runs on five hits with seven strikeouts and six walks.

Memphis will next play a midweek doubleheader on Wednesday at Samford in Birmingham, Ala., before competing in the team's final league road series at East Carolina on Saturday and Sunday, April 18-19.