The Billiken softball team suffered three tough losses against Houston this past weekend. In three games, the Billikens were only able to score one run, and two games were shut-outs.
The first game was the fourth no-hitter of the season for the Cougars, who defeated SLU 8-0.
Cougar pitcher Angel Shamblin walked the first SLU batter, Adrienne May, and then May stole second. May was the only SLU batter to reach a base in the game, since Shamblin retired the next 14 SLU batters.
When the Cougars came up to bat in the first inning, they scored five runs to take the lead.
Jenilee Skender hit a deep single into left field that drove in freshmen Dru Daniels and Kristen Glowacz, who had reached home plate on a fielder's choice and a walk, respectively. Then, with two runners on, Brandi Clark put the ball over the right field fence, giving Houston a 5-0 lead.
Houston then added to its lead in the third inning with a double down the left-field line, again driving in two runs.
In the bottom of the fifth, Glowacz shut the door on the Billikens with a double to left field that brought home the game winning run giving the Cougars the 8-0 victory.
The second game of the day proved only slightly better for the Bills. The Bills were able to at least score one run, but that wouldn't be enough.
The Bills lost 7-1. In the bottom of the first inning it looked as if the Cougars would score when the bases were loaded, but SLU pitcher Ashley Levan was able to get out of the inning without a run when the batter grounded out.
Clark got the Cougars rolling with her second home run on the day, this time firing the ball over the left-field fence for a solo shot in the second inning.
Later in the inning, another Cougar run was scored on an error from the SLU shortstop. The Billikens scored their lone run on the day in the fourth inning off a solo home run by Beth Schomaker, to bring SLU to within one at 2-1.
However, the Cougars ran off three runs in the fifth, and added two more in the sixth to end the game with the 7-1 win. The Bills only had three hits in the second game of the day.
The next day the Bills tried to do better, but still came up short, losing the last game of the series, 13-0. Allowing just one hit in five innings, Houston pitcher Barbie Love recorded the one-hitter win for Houston as she threw four hitless innings, before allowing the only Billiken to reach base in the fifth.
The scoring for Houston began in the first inning when, with two outs, Davis doubled to right center, bringing home Shamblin and Glowacz. In the second inning, with the bases loaded and one out, Daniels hit a deep double to left field that brought home all of the base runners. The Cougars then had two more runs in the inning, to finish two innings with a 7-0 lead.
In the third inning, the Cougars had six more runs to bring the lead up to 13.
The Bills were finally able to get a hit of their own in the fifth inning, when Jenna Renner singled and kept the Cougars from another no-hitter. The Billikens fell to 13-20 overall, 4-11 in Conference USA.
