French Off the Bench Powers Houston to Road Win

Houston worked through chilly weather and a sunless afternoon to salvage a road win in Cincinnati on Sunday with an 8-5 victory.

A three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning gave Cincinnati an early 3-0 lead, reversing course from the previous two games when the Bearcats fell behind 4-0 in each game.

Ace Reese drew a two-out walk in the top of the fourth inning to reach base . . . Cary Arbolida drove a 1-0 pitch over the left field wall, clearing a line of trees beyond the wall, the two-run blast cut the deficit to 3-2. 

The Bearcats went to their bullpen after five innings and Anthony Tulimero greeted the new pitcher by lining a single past the Cincinnati third baseman and into center field to lead off the top of the sixth inning . . . Harold Coll walked and both runners moved into scoring position on a wild pitch . . . Tre Jones (2-for-3) was hit by a pitch with two outs to load the bases for the Cougars.

Jonathan French came off the bench to pinch-hit and he lined the very first pitch he saw up the middle into center field, scoring Tulimero and Coll and giving Houston a 4-3 lead.

Antoine Jean settled in after the first inning home run to toss 5 1/3 innings to the benefit of the pitching staff depleted by injuries and long outings . . . Jean struck out six Cincinnati batters . . . Jean departed with two runners on base, both scored after he left the game, so his final line looks worse than his outing would actually indicate. 

The Bearcats got the lead right back in the bottom of the inning, plating two runs to take a 5-4 lead.

Back-to-back walks to Tulimero and Coll in the top of the seventh inning were followed by a Reese single that dropped into left field to load the bases with one out . . . Arbolida then blooped a ball into shallow center field, with the possibility of the ball being caught, the runners had to hold up, Tulimero scampered home as the tying run when the ball hit the ground, but Coll was out on the RBI fielder’s choice force play at third base.

After hitting the first pitch he saw for a pinch-hit two RBI single, French hit the second pitch he saw in the game over the left field wall, close to where Arbolida’s home run cleared, to lead off the top of the eighth inning for a 6-5 lead.

Coll hit a home run to lead off the top of the ninth inning and to give the Cougars a two-run advantage . . . Two outs later, Thomas Lyssy drew a two-out walk and proceeded to steal second base . . . French worked a seven pitch at-bat before knocking a single into left-center field to drive in Lyssy and Houston led 8-5 going to the bottom of the ninth . . . French was 3-for-3 on Sunday with four RBI.

Justin Murray took the mound to begin the bottom of the eighth inning and he promptly struck out the side . . . Murray picked up another strikeout in the bottom of the ninth inning and retired six of the seven batters he faced to close the road win and earn his fourth save of the season.

Graysen Drezek, Brendan O’Donnell, and Richie Roman all contributed parts of a scoreless inning to get the game from Jean to Murray . . . Roman earned the win and improved to 2-0 this season.

“French was great today,” head coach Todd Whitting said after the game. “We had planned to give him a day off and he came off the bench with three huge hits.”

“With the injury early [in the season] to Tulimero, he was a huge pickup for us to solidify the catching position,” Whitting added.

Houston returns home today and has Monday off before traveling to College Station to take on the No. 1 Texas A&M Aggies in a Tuesday midweek matchup . . . First pitch is set for 6pm.

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