Another Early Lead Gets Away, Houston Drops Road Series

For the second straight day, an early 4-0 Houston lead was not enough to find a road win as Cincinnati took game two, and the weekend series, 5-4 on Saturday.

Ace Reese got the offense going with a one out single to center field . . . Reese advanced to second base on a wild pitch during a productive at-bat by Cary Arbolida, who struck out swinging, but saw eight pitches in his plate appearance . . . Jonathan French then drew a two-out walk as did Cameron Nickens, who saw six pitches in his at-bat.

Tre Jones singled on the infield with a bouncing ball behind the Bearcats second baseman that scored Reese and French . . . With Nickens at third base, Jones stole second base and the throw got away from the middle infielders allowing Nickens to scamper home as the fourth run of the inning and 4-0 Houston lead.

CIncinnati got a run back in the bottom of the second inning, their only run through the first four innings . . . As Houston starter Duncan Howard was taking his warmup tosses prior to the bottom of the fourth inning, head coach Todd Whitting saw something in Howard’s delivery, and he was removed from the game and Kyle LaCalameto took the mound in relief protecting a 4-1 lead.

For the second straight game, Houston could not hold on to a four-run lead as the Bearcats continued to chip away with two runs in the sixth inning, one run in the seventh inning, and the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Coby DeJesus and Harold Coll were both 2-for-4 in the game, the only two Cougars with multiple hits in the ballgame and accounting for half of the Houston base hits in the loss.

LaCalameto went 2 1/3 innings and struck out five while pitching in unforeseen circumstances . . . Paul Schmitz pitched for the second day in a row and threw 1 1/3 innings and struck out two batters . . . Justin Murray closed out the bottom of the eighth inning and struck out both batters he faced to prevent further damage.

Houston and Cincinnati will conclude their series Sunday with an 11am first pitch . . . Left-hander Antoine Jean (2-2) will take the mound for the Cougars as they attempt to salvage the final game in the series.

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