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HOUSTON, TEXAS, APRIL 19, 2014 – Another win, another milestone set by USF ace Sara Nevins.
"It was an honor to break coach (Monica) Triner's record being that she's done such an awesome job at the school," Nevins said. "She's been a big role model to me and she's helped teach me since even before college."
The senior from Pinellas Park, Fla., broke Monica Triner's all-time wins record on Saturday in the Bulls' 3-2 win over Houston, picking up the 93rd victory of her historic USF career.
"Congratulations to her. Well deserved, well earned and that's really good stuff," head coach Ken Eriksen said after the game.
Nevins went the distance, allowing two runs on eight hits while striking out eight to pick up her conference-leading 21st win this season.
"What I liked about her is that she attacked the situations and didn't back out of those," Eriksen said. "She gave our team a chance to score some runs on this very offensive field, so I was pretty excited for what she did."
For the second straight game, the Cougars got on the board first as Haley Outon singled home Kendra Cullum from second for a 1-0 lead in the first inning. However, Nevins got Jaime Edwards to pop up for a big out and was able to limit the damage as Houston left the bases loaded to end the frame.
Lee Ann Spivey (Palm Coast, Fla.) came up with a big hit in the top of the third to put the Bulls on top 2-1. Juli Weber (Hegins, Pa.) and Ashli Goff (Tampa) led off the inning with back-to-back singles and advanced to second and third on a sacrifice bunt by Kourtney Salvarola (Arnold, Md.) before Spivey laced a single down the left field line to plate two runs. Spivey went 2-for-4 with two RBI on the day.
USF (33-13, 7-5) added an insurance run in the fourth after some poor fielding by Houston. With Ta'coia Williams (West Palm Beach, Fla.) on first, Weber's third single of the game skirted under Tiffani McKnight's glove allowing Williams to score and give the Bulls a two-run advantage. Weber paced the Bulls at the plate, going 3-for-4 while also scoring a run.
That run would prove to be big as Houston (28-15, 11-4) answered back in the bottom half of the inning with a run of its own. Edwards started the inning off with a triple to left center and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jordan Rains one batter later to make it 3-2.
The Bulls added a pair of runs in the seventh to give Nevins a three-run cushion heading into the final frame. Stephanie Medina (Tampa) drove in her fourth run of the series with a double to right center and Salvarola scored on a perfectly executed squeeze bunt by Karla Claudio (Puerto Rico) to cap off the scoring.
Nevins worked her way out of jams in the sixth and seventh innings as the Bulls held on for the win to complete the series sweep at the Cougar Softball Stadium.
It was a big three wins for the Bulls as Houston entered the series atop the American Athletic Conference with an 11-1 record.
"Anytime that you're going through a whole season you're going to run into some good luck, and some bad luck and I thought we've just had some bad luck the past couple of weeks in all honesty," Eriksen stated. "Even this weekend we were hitting balls at people that weren't falling, but they fell when they counted."
USF will take a lot of momentum and a three-game winning streak to Gainesville for a mid-week showdown with No. 5 Florida on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
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