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James Madison University
Oregon State
COUGARS DOWN DUKES 10-3
2/7/2009 5:00:00 AM | Softball
PALM SPRINGS, Calif., Feb. 7, 2009 ? The James Madison softball team dropped a rain-soaked game to the University of Houston on Saturday, falling 10-3 in day two of the Cathedral City Kickoff.
The Cougars improved to 2-1 on the season while dropping Madison to 1-2.
UH jumped out to a big lead early, scoring five first-inning runs to take control of the game. The Cougars added three runs in the third, sandwiched around single runs in the second and fourth innings.
Sophomore right-hander Heather Widner (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Ready) recorded two quick out in the first inning before running into trouble. A walk and a hit by pitch put runners on first and second before right fielder Laurie Wagner hit a ground-rule double to plate the game's first run. Second baseman Haley Valis followed with a single to left field tp plate two runs, before the inning was capped with a two-run home run by third baseman Christa Raley.
Five different Cougars drove in two runs apiece as Valis, Raley, Wagner, first baseman Jennifer Klinkert and left fielder Katy Beth Sherman finished with two RBIs. Sherman was the only Cougar with more than one hit, finishing the day 2-for-3 with a run and two RBIs.
The Dukes built a small rally in the top of the fifth, scoring three runs of UH starter Ballie Lott. The inning started with junior center fielder Brittney Dyson (Waldorf, Md/Thomas Stone) being hit by a pitch, and she stole second one out later. Freshman infielder Michelle Clohan (Ashburn, Va./Broad Run) then pinch hit and drove a double down the left-field line to score Dyson. The double was the second with an RBI in as many career at
