Month: July 2023

Cougars Notebook – July 31, 2023

Former Cougars catcher Connor Wong has had hit streaks of three games and five games in the second half of July . . . Between July 15 and July 28 hit safely in eight of nine games with multiple hits in three of those games.

Wong has caught 626 1/3 innings this season and has a .988 fielding percentage with the Boston Red Sox.

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Former Cougars LHP John King was part of a five player trade on Sunday ahead of the MLB trade deadline . . . King, drafted by the Texas Rangers in 2017, was sent to the St. Louis Cardinals with two other Rangers prospects in exchange for two players.

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Jake Scheiner is tied with three other players for the AAA home run lead with 25 . . . Scheiner leads AAA in RBI with 85 RBI, six more than the next closest hitter.

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Former Cougars slugger Ryan Hernandez was released from his contract with the Los Angeles Angels organization on July 26 . . . Hernandez was quickly picked up by the Cleburne Railroaders, an independent league team where he opened the season before the Angels signed him to a free agent contract.

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On July 27 Malachi Lott who had entered the transfer portal early, announced he is transferring to Sam Houston.

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Cougars Notebook – July 24, 2023

Jared Triolo pushed his hit streak to 13 games, a streak which began before the All-Star break . . . On July 21, Triolo picked up his base hit with a 4th inning single to right field off of Shohei Ohtani in Anaheim.

The hit streak ended at 13 games on Saturday night.

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Connor Wong was 3-for-4 with three RBI for Boston on Monday night at Oakland in a Red Sox 7-0 victory . . . At that point Wong had hit safely in three straight games.

Wong closed out the week with another 3-for-4 performance, this time against the New York Mets in a 6-1 win at Fenway Park.

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Jake Scheiner hit his 24th home run of the season for Tacoma on Tuesday night . . . Scheiner led all of AAA in home runs at that point and closed the week tied for lead.

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Cougars Notebook – July 17, 2023

Jared Triolo begins the week having hit in nine straight games, a streak which began before the All-Star break.

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Jaxon Jelkin, a Cougars commit who was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers, announced on Monday that he would be attending the University of Houston in 2024 and he thanked the Dodgers for giving him the opportunity of being drafted . . . Jelkin, a pitcher, is a portal transfer with previous college experience, it would not be a stretch to see him be “one and done” if he has a solid season with the Cougars and improves his draft stock.

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The Cougars had two commits taken in the draft, Jelkin who opted to come to Houston, and Nehomar Ochoa from Galena Park who signed a contract with the Houston Astros and will not be a Houston Cougar.

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Brandon Burckel announced his new landing spot on July 14, he is headed to Indiana.

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2023 MLB Draft Recap

Five players with some sort of a connection to the University of Houston baseball program heard they name called over the three days of 2023 MLB Draft which started Sunday evening and ended Tuesday afternoon.

Two Cougars from the 2023 Cougars roster were drafted on Tuesday.

Josh Ekness was drafted by the Miami Marlins in the 12th Round, with the 353rd overall pick.

Zach Arnold was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 14th Round, with the 433rd overall pick.

Two incoming Houston Cougars were also chosen on Tuesday.

Nehomar Ochoa from Galena Park High School, was chosen in the 11th Round by the Houston Astros with the 344th pick.

Jaxon Jelkin, a pitcher from South Mountain CC in Arizona was chosen by the Los Angeles Dodgers with the 430th overall pick in the 14th Round.

Former Cougar Craig Yoho, who played at Houston in 2019 and 2020 before transferring to Indiana, was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 8th Round on Monday with the 242nd overall pick . . . Prior to the 2023 season, after having missed two seasons with injuries, Yoho’s last appearance in college baseball was in a Houston uniform on March 6, 2020 at Arizona . . . Yoho played nine games as a position player while with the Cougars.

Cougars Notebook – July 10, 2023

Former Cougar and current Houston Astros outfielder Corey Julks got hot on July 4 and went on a nice run over three games . . . Julks went 4-for-5 and 2-for-3 against the Colorado Rockies and continued to swing a hot bat by going 3-for-3 against the Seattle Mariners . . . The offensive output by Julks was part of a string in which he had a base hit in 8 of his previous 10 games.

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Former Cougars left-hander John King was brought up to the Texas Rangers for a few days while Andrew Heaney was on paternity leave . . . King appeared in two games, both against the Boston Red Sox and former teammate Connor Wong . . . King did not allow a run in either of his two outings, his longest outing was two innings on July 5 in which he allowed just one hit . . . King threw 18 pitches, 14 of them strikes and got four ground ball outs and there were no outs recorded on fly balls . . . King threw 1/3 of an inning on July 6 in a Rangers loss.

King has returned to AAA Round Rock for the time being.

Cougars Notebook – July 3, 2023

As the clock changed from 11:59pm to 12:00am late on Friday, June 30 to early on Saturday, July 1, the University of Houston became a member of the Big 12.

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Former Cougars third baseman Jared Triolo was promoted to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night . . . On Wednesday night, June 28, Triolo made his MLB debut at third base against the San Diego Padres . . . Triolo picked up his first base hit in the eighth inning as part of a 1-for-3 effort, including a hit-by-pitch to reach base as part of a five-run seventh inning.

Triolo then picked up his first RBI in the big leagues on Saturday, July 1 when he doubled off the wall in right field in PNC Park against the Milwaukee Brewers.

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Last week it was announced that the Cougars would participate in the 2024 Astros Foundation College Classic, which was formerly called the Shriners College Classic . . . The Astros Classic will take place at Minute Maid Park March 1-3, 2024 . . . The Cougars will play Texas, Vanderbilt, and Louisiana  . . . Texas, LSU will also be in town for the Classic, but they will not face Houston.

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Jake Scheiner hit his 20th home run of the season on Friday night for AAA Tacoma . . . Scheiner also had 76 total hits, 66 RBI, and 47 walks to close out June.

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Former Cougars RHP Fred Villarreal was released by the Seattle Mariners organization on June 28 . . . On June 30, Villarreal signed with the Toros de Tijuana of the Mexican Baseball League.