Explosive first inning pushes Houston softball past Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

A six-run first inning created early separation, and it was enough to give Houston softball the 6-1 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to end their season-high 11-game losing streak at Chapman Field on Tuesday.

The Cougars’ bats came out hot in the top of the first, with six hits and five RBIs.

Junior infielder Makenna Mitchell got the scoring started with an RBI double to the right side of the infield, before a single from senior infielder Mandy Esman drove her home.

Esman herself then scored off a single to center field from sophomore outfielder Ariel Redmond. Redmond reached home off a throwing error from sophomore infielder Taylor Reyes.

Mitchell got her second RBI of the game with a left infield single to achieve the crooked six for the team, after sophomore outfielder Madox Mitchael drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 5-0.

Despite the Cougars having only three more hits for the rest of the game, the pitching and defense limited the Islanders to only two hits on 22 at-bats, with one of them being an RBI single from senior infielder Skylar Hegar in the bottom of the first for Corpus Christi’s only run of the game.

Even when the Islanders had opportunities to score, Houston shut them down, limiting Corpus Christi to one hit on eight at-bats when runners were in scoring positions.

Senior pitcher Nicole Bodeux got the win for the Cougars to improve to 3-4. In three innings, she allowed four walks but allowed no hits or runs while striking out two batters and forcing two flyouts and four groundouts.

Junior pitcher Gigi Solis got her first save of the season, allowing only one hit, a walk and no runs while forcing four flyouts and groundouts each.

For the Islanders, senior pitcher Holly Ayala was handed the loss as she remains winless on the season. In ⅓ innings, she allowed four hits, four earned walks and two extra-base hits with no strikeouts.

Now sitting at 18-21, Houston will look to achieve consecutive wins for the first time since Friday, March 13th, when they go to Getterman Stadium in Waco for their three-game series against the Baylor Bears from April 2-4.