HOUSTON - The University of Houston softball team lost a pair of close ones to the No. 24 ranked Texas Longhorns (5-4) on Wednesday evening at Baseball USA. With these losses, the Cougars fall to 3-5 on the season and the Longhorns move to 4-4.

In game one, the Longhorns built a 3-0 lead with three early hits in the top of the second. Houston would rally in the bottom of the fourth when sophomore Brandy Sanders' base hit drove in a run, but offensive struggles in the second half of the game kept the Cougars from ever claiming the lead.

Texas also got off to a fast start in game two of the evening, scoring two runs in their first at bat, but Houston responded with four hits and two runs in three innings of play to make the score 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth. UH tried again to rally in the bottom of the seventh, but left a runner stranded to end the game.

The Cougars will now host the UH Invitational Tournament on the south campus of San Jacinto College Friday, Feb. 16 through Sunday, Feb. 18. Teams scheduled to participate include East Tennessee State, Illinois-Chicago, Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin.

College Softball Linescore
Game #1
Texas      030  000 3     --      3       5       2
Houston    000  100 0     --      1       4       2

Moore and Martin; Johnson and Cote.

WP- Moore (2-3).
LP - Johnson (0-3).
Save- none.
2B- UT: Hanks.
UH: none;
3B- UT: none;
UH: Cote.
HR- none.
Time- 1:46.
Att- 311

Team Records-
Texas 4-4, Houston 3-4
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College Softball Linescore
Game #2
Texas       200  100 0     --      3       5       1
Houston     001  010 0     --      2       5       3

King and Hanks; Falco and Ferreris.

WP- King (3-1).
LP - Falco (2-1).
Save- none.
2B- UT: Richter; Hanks.
UH: none;
3B- none.
HR- none.
Time- 1:59.
Att- 311

Team Records-
Texas 5-4, Houston 3-5