Senior Kailey Yarmer and the Golden Hurricane travel to play Houston in a Conference USA series this weekend.

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Softball Begins 9-Game Road Trip at Houston

Golden Hurricane plays doubleheader at 3 p.m. Saturday and single at noon Sunday; note times are adjusted for Saturday

March 13, 2009

TULSA, Okla. - The University of Tulsa softball team embarks on a nine-game road trip, beginning with a Conference USA series at Houston this weekend at the Cougar Softball Complex.

The series begins with a doubleheader Saturday at 3 p.m., and the third game of the series is scheduled for noon Sunday. It should be noted that the game times for Saturday have been adjusted from the original start time of 1 p.m. because of heavy rains in Southeast Texas on Friday. Live stats of all three games will be available via Gametracker.

Tulsa enters the game at 15-6 and 3-0 in C-USA play, having won three last weekend six of its last eight games. The Hurricane went 3-1 last week, beating UCF 7-6 in 11 innings, 7-2 and 8-2, and losing at Oklahoma State, 3-0, Tuesday.

The Hurricane enters the series against Houston with a team .288 batting average, with 97 runs scored, 157 hits, 90 RBI and 14 home runs. The team also carries a .372 on-base percentage and a .425 slugging percentage. The pitching staff has put together a 2.61 ERA with five shutouts and has given up 107 hits, 58 runs - 52 earned - 54 walks and 142 strikeouts in 139.1 innings.

Houston (9-11, 1-2 C-USA) is hitting .270 as a team, with 89 runs scored, 143 hits, 78 RBI and 14 home runs. The Cougars carry a .363 team OBP and a .399 team slugging percentage. The pitching staff has a 3.63 ERA with two shutouts and has allowed 112 hits, 86 runs - 70 earned - 66 walks and 81 strikeouts in 135.0 innings.

Individually, Tulsa is led by junior right fielder Lauren Lindsay with a .415 batting average (27-for-65) with 18 RBI, 16 runs scored, five home runs, six doubles, a .738 slugging percentage and a .506 on-base percentage. Senior left fielder Brooke Smart hits .368 (21-for-57) with 13 RBI, 13 runs scored, three doubles and two homers. Senior shortstop Kailey Yarmer has a .357 BA (25-for-70) with 12 RBI, 13 runs scored, five doubles and three homers.

In the circle, Junior Jackie Lawrence is 7-2 with a 1.93 ERA and five shutouts, allowing 45 hits and 22 runs - 18 earned - with 30 walks and 64 strikeouts in 65.1 innings with a .187 opp. batting average. Sophomore Jordan Kinard is 4-2 with a 2.95 ERA with two shutouts, and has allowed 28 hits, 18 runs - 17 earned - walked 17 and struck out 51 in 40.1 innings. Senior Katie Lee is 4-2 with a 3.53 ERA and she threw a pair of no-hitters. She has allowed 34 hits, 18 runs - 17 earned - with seven walks and 27 strikeouts in 33.2 innings.

UH is led by catcher Elaina Nordstrom who has a .386 batting average with 12 RBI and eight runs scored, plus two homers and two doubles. Shortstop Jessica Valis is hitting .310 with three RBI, 13 runs scored, a triple and two doubles. Pitcher Baillie Lott is 4-5 with a 3.02 ERA, and has allowed 52 hits, 36 runs - 27 earned - 23 walks and has 23 strikeouts in 62.2 innings. Amanda Crabtree is 5-6 with a 4.16 ERA and has allowed 60 hits, 50 runs - 43 earned - 43 walks and has 58 strikeouts in 72.1 innings.

Tulsa and Houston have played 10 times, all since Tulsa joined Conference USA prior to the 2006 season; UH leads the series 6-4. Tulsa took two of three at home in 2006 and beat the Cougars 1-0 in the C-USA Championship semifinals in Tulsa. Houston won the next four games in the series, sweeping TU in Houston in 2007 and winning the first of the three-game series in 2008. Houston won two of three last season in Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane is 0-3 against UH in Houston and 4-3 against the Cougars in Tulsa.

Tickets for Tulsa softball games are $6 for adults and $4 for youth high school aged and younger. Tickets can be purchased by visiting the Tulsa Athletics Ticket Office in person, by calling (918) 631-GoTU or on the web by visiting www.TulsaHurricane.com.