Cowan ties all-time shutout mark in Jags’ sweep of USW

Cameron Cowan tied the school's all-time shutout record on Saturday as UHV swept University of the Southwest 2-0 and 10-8 to close out the regular season.

The Jaguars (25-16, 19-9) enter next week's Red River Athletic Conference tournament winners in eight of their last 10 games.

"It's a huge confidence boost playing good defense and hitting the ball well," said senior second baseman Lauren Caka, who had three hits and two RBIs on Saturday. "I would say we're playing our best softball right now. Our pitchers are doing a great job, the defense is backing them up and, every time we're up to bat, we're looking for base hits and runs."

Cowan allowed only five hits while striking out six batters in seven innings of work for the Game 1 win, her 15^th of the year and 36^th of her career.

It was also the 13^th shutout of the Shiner native's career, tying the school's all-time record set by Lauren Garza (2008-09).

"She's so big time," said head coach Lindsey Ortiz. "Going into the tournament, she's such a catalyst for us. I truly believe we can beat anybody when Cam's on the mound. So, for her to go out in the regular season that way is great. But I still have a lot of expectations for her in the postseason."

It was the seventh time in her 20 starts to record six strikeouts or more.

Cowan thanked her defense for working well behind her against the Mustangs (13-28, 8-20) on a day with 25 mph sustained winds.

"I always get a lot of popups, so it was kind of tougher for the defense to track those," Cowan said. "But they did really good and they helped me out a lot."

Caka opened the scoring in Game 1 with an RBI single to score Madysin Leighton. Leighton doubled the Jaguars' lead in the sixth inning with an RBI single to plate Cameron Steen.

With an RBI in Game 2, Caka has now drove in a run in each of the last four games.

"Every time I go up to bat, I tell myself to have fun," Caka said. "I don't think about doing anything big or fancy. I'm just seeing the ball really well right not and, most importantly, have a lot of confidence in myself that I can score that runner."

Claire Blinka opened the scoring in Game 2 with an RBI double to spark a four-run first inning. Allison Snedeker and Alexis Gonzalez followed with RBIs of their own, including a two run single by Gonzalez.

Blinka has now reached base safely in 15 straight games with hits in nine of the last 10.

"Our goal is to produce throughout our lineup," Ortiz said. "We had been leaning heavily on the top of our lineup. I think seeing some of these kids in the middle or bottom do some big things today gives us even more momentum going into next week."

Gonzalez finished Game 2 2-for-3 with three RBIs while Snedeker was 2-for-4. Gonzalez's three RBIs were a season-high.

Cameron Steen picked up the win in Game 2 after pitching four innings in relief of Neech Mendoza.

The Jaguars will now await their opponent for the opening round of the RRAC tournament, which begins May 4 at Our Lady of the Lake University.