Month: February 2024

UTSA Rallies, Takes Midweek From Houston 8-7

Dan Wright got the midweek start against UTSA Tuesday

Houston dropped its second straight game on Tuesday afternoon as UTSA came to town and took an 8-7 midweek victory.

Dan Wright made the midweek start for the second consecutive week, and as he did last Tuesday against Prairie View A&M, he threw two scoreless frames to open the game and gave way to the bullpen.

A two-out walk put Ace Reese on first base in the bottom of the second inning . . . Harold Coll hit a laser to straight away center field that just cleared the wall and gave the Cougars a 2-0 lead.

The lead did not last long as the Roadrunners quickly tied the game on a two-run home run with one out in the top of the third inning.

Jake Rainess led off the bottom of the third inning with a solid single to left field and he moved to second base on a balk . . . Alex Lopez was then walked for the second time in as many trips to the plate . . . Justin Murray loaded the bases with no one out when he was hit by a pitch.

One out later, Anthony Tulimero grounded to the third baseman who stepped on third for one out but his throw to first was late allowing Rainess to be the go ahead run when he crossed the plate . . . A wild pitch moved Murray to third base and Tulimero to second base . . . A balk plated the second run of the inning and Houston once again led by two, 4-2, going to the fourth inning.

Rainess doubled off the wall in left-center field to get the bottom of the fifth inning started . . . Lopez singled into right-center field and while Rainess stopped at third base, the high throw to the plate allowed Lopez to advance to second base . . . Murray then picked up an RBI on a groundout to third base.

Lopez was at second base when Tre Jones (2-for-4) put down a bunt in the direction of third base, about 20-25 feet away from the plate . . . As the UTSA pitcher ran toward the ball near the third base line, Jones was flying down the line and beat the throw to first base for a single . . . With two runners in scoring position Ace Reese drove a single into right field to score both runners and extend the Houston lead to 7-2.

Three consecutive UTSA solo home runs in the top of the sixth inning quickly got the Roadrunners back into the game and they trailed only 7-5 . . . Owen Woodward entered the game and retired the first three batters he faced to keep the Cougars in the lead by two runs.

UTSA mounted a two-out rally in the top of the seventh inning and eventually took a 8-7 lead after back-to-back three-run innings.

The Houston offense was held in check over the final four frames . . . The Cougars were limited to seven hits in the game, with Rainess and Jones the only two Houston batters with multiple hits, they each had two . . . Murray pitched the final 2 1/3 innings and did not allow a run, giving his offense a chance to rally.

Houston is now 6-2 and has a couple of days off before they open play this Friday in The Astros Foundation College Classic at Minute Maid Park . . . The Cougars will first face Texas State on Friday morning, first pitch is set for 11am.

. . .

Cougars Notebook – February 26, 2024

Houston opens the week 6-1 having gone 3-1 last week, only dropping their first game of the season on Sunday afternoon in the finale with St. John’s.

. . .

The UTSA Roadrunners will visit Schroeder Park on Tuesday afternoon for Houston’s only midweek game of the week . . . Originally scheduled for 6:30pm, first pitch was changed to 3pm prior to the beginning of the season.

. . . 

The Cougars scored 27 runs against Prairie View A&M on Tuesday night at Schroeder Park in a game that was over after Houston sent 13 batters to the plate in the first inning . . . All nine batters in the order reached base and scored in the first inning when the Cougars took a 9-0 lead . . . The blowout gave Houston the opportunity to get some guys some first at-bats of the season and some pitchers threw for the first time this season.

. . .

Justin Murray has a base hit in 22 straight games . . . Murray is batting .500 (13-for-26) after the first seven games of the season; he has scored ten runs, has eight RBI, and has homered twice.

. . .

Cleanup hitter Tre Jones has a hit in six of the seven games he has played in to begin the season and is currently batting .458 . . . Jones has 10 RBI and has three games with multiple RBI . . . Jones has shown great speed in moving around the bases, he has eight stolen bases; four games with two steals in each.

. . .

Ace Reese has looked great at the plate in his first seven games, his approach has looked very mature, which is probably why as a freshman has been in the lineup from the start . . . Reese is batting .381 and has hit safely in six of the seven games played and he has a least one RBI in five of the seven games, including three multiple RBI games . . . His patience at the plate has also earned him five walks.

. . .

After the completion of the second weekend of action, it is interesting to note where the entire Houston pitching staff ranks in strikeout to walk ratio after seven games.

82/20, 63 innings pitched by Houston pitchers.

47/43, 57 innings pitched by all Houston opponents this season, against the Houston offense.

This difference in strikeouts to walks, 82 to 47 and 20 to 43, can be counted among the reasons for the Cougars 6-1 start.

Looking at this weeks midweek opponent:

62/20, 67 innings pitched by UTSA.

44/15, 67 2/3 innings pitched by UTSA’s opponents, against the UTSA offense.

Looking at other staffs around the Big 12:

66/28, 65 innings pitched by Texas.

70/37, 61 innings pitched by Baylor.

69/31, 60 innings pitched by TCU.

. . .

Jose Torrealba is a mark of consistency right now through his first two appearances.

vs. Binghamton – 2 innings pitched 3 strikeouts

vs. St. John’s – 2 innings pitched 3 strikeouts

The left-hander has recorded 12 total outs, 6 of them by strikeout.

. . .

The starting rotation through their first two starts has been incredibly consistent with keeping strikeouts high and walks low:

Jaxon Jelkin 13/1

Antoine Jean 11/4

Duncan Howard 8/0

. . .

This weekend the Cougars will be in town, but they will be playing at Minute Maid Park as they take part in the Astros Foundation College Classic . . . Houston faces Texas State on Friday at 11am, No. 11 Vanderbilt on Saturday at 11am, and Louisiana on Sunday at 7pm.

. . .

Houston Drops Sunday Finale to St. John’s

Justin Murray bats against St. John’s on Sunday afternoon at Schroeder Park

A promising start was not enough for Houston on Sunday afternoon at Schroeder Park as they lost their first game of the season 11-6 to St. John’s.

With two outs in the bottom of the first inning, Justin Murray hit a solo home run over the wall in left field . . . Tre Jones then worked a full count before being walked to reach base . . . Catcher Anthony Tulimero singled which moved Jones to third base . . . Ace Reese then delivered an RBI single up the middle on the shortstop side of second base into center field to score Jones for a 2-0 Cougars lead.

Houston starter Duncan Howard retired the first eight batters he faced before a two-out single in the top of the third inning ended the string, though Howard would get out of the inning with no damage.

Murray singled on the infield to lead off the bottom of the third inning and then stole second base . . . Jones followed with a single into right field to score Murray . . . Jones proceeded to steal second base before advancing on a sacrifice fly ball to the left field warning track off the bat of Anthony Tulimero . . . Moments later the speedy Jones scored on a wild pitch to give Houston a 4-0 lead.

Things unraveled on Howard in the top of the fourth inning, he was not hit hard, but some soft contact gave the Red Storm several baserunners and before the frame was done, Chris Stuart had taken the mound in relief of Howard and the game was tied at four.

A three run eighth inning for the Red Storm provided them a six run lead, 11-5.

Harold Coll in the sixth inning and Coby DeJesus in the eighth inning each provided RBI singles and that was the extent of the run scoring for the Cougars on Sunday . . . After leading 4-0 in the third inning, the Cougars were outscored 11-2 over the final six innings.

Houston used eight pitchers in the game and allowed 17 base hits to a hungry St. John’s offense . . . The Cougars staff allowed three walks, two of them intentional, and struck out nine Red Storm batters.

Houston (6-1) is off on Monday and will welcome UTSA to Schroeder Park on Tuesday afternoon for their only midweek game this week . . . The Cougars and the Roadrunners will get underway at 3pm on Tuesday.

. . .

Houston Claims Series Against St. John’s Led By Jean, Jones

Tre Jones bats against St. John’s on Saturday night at Schroeder Park

Houston took the middle game of the weekend series from St. John’s on Saturday night at Schroeder Park 7-2 to notch the series win and open the season 6-0.

Left-hander Antoine Jean (1-0) took the mound for his second straight Saturday night and led the way for the Cougars.

Tre Jones (3-for-3) led off the bottom of the second inning with a home run blast to center field, a ball that landed to the left of the batter’s eye and the television camera tower and traveled 407 feet.

Still leading 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning, Anthony Tulimero walked to lead off the frame . . . Justin Murray singled on the infield to put two runners on base with no outs . . . For Murray, the single extended his hitting streak to 21 straight games . . . Jones then slapped a single the opposite way into left field to score Tulimero and move Murray to third base . . . Cameron Nickens then smashed a single into left field to plate Murray and Houston had a 3-0 advantage.

With one out in the bottom of the fifth inning, Jonathan French singled through the right side to reach base . . . Ace Reese singled to right-center field in a pinch-hitting appearance to put two runners on base . . . Shortstop Jake Rainess followed with a one out RBI single to center field.

Still leading 4-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Murray was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame . . . Jones then singled to left field for his third hit of the game . . . A walk to Nickens loaded the bases with no outs and the Red Storm went to the bullpen . . . Alex Lopez (2-for-3) was hit by a pitch after the pitching change to bring home the fifth run for Houston . . . Harold Coll lifted a sacrifice fly ball to deep right field and the RBI extended the Cougars lead to 6-0.

Jean pitched out of a couple of jams, but also faced the minimum of three batters in three of his six innings pitched on his way to his first win of the season . . . Jean allowed just four hits in six scoreless innings to go with six strikeouts.

Graysen Drezek relieved Jean to start the top of the seventh inning . . . A batter hit by a pitch and a fielding error led to two runs for St. John’s heading to the seventh inning stretch . . . Left-hander Jose Torrealba was next out of the bullpen for Houston and pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth inning retiring all six batters he faced, striking out three of them.

With runners on second and third base with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, Reese was intentionally walked to load the bases, a significant show of respect for the freshman . . . Rainess was then hit by a pitch to allow the final Houston run of the night to cross the plate.

Jones reached base in all four trips to the plate and following Saturday’s win, head coach Todd Whitting reiterated what he said on opening weekend about Jones, “Tre has emerged as a force in the four hole. He can get you with speed and power.”

Whitting was also pleased with his pitching trio on Saturday night, “Another great performance by the pitching staff,” he said. “Jean with a quality start, pounded the zone. Drezek overcame an error to get out of a jam, proud of him for working through that. And Torrealba is a strike-throwing machine out of the pen again.”

The Cougars and the Red Storm close out the weekend with a series finale on Sunday at Schroeder Park . . . The game is scheduled to get underway at 1pm.

. . .

Cougars Score Early, Often in 12-6 Win Over St. John’s

Jaxon Jelkin made his second start of the season against St. John’s on Friday night.

The Houston Cougars built an early lead and continually added to it on Friday night at Schroeder Park as they welcomed the St. John’s Red Storm to town for a weekend set with a 12-6 win.

Jaxon Jelkin gave up a leadoff single was the first of two singles in the frame, but three strikeouts in the same frame made the singles a moot point . . . Jelkin would then retire twelve straight batters before an infield single in the top of the fifth inning would break up the string.

Shotstop Jake Rainess led off the Cougars half of the first inning with a walk before stealing second base . . . Alex Lopez then walked . . . Justin Murray lined a single into center field to plate Rainess . . . Tre Jones (2-for-4) then tripled to the wall in the right field corner driving in two more Houston runs . . . With Jones on third base, Tulimero grounded out on the infield but the RBI made it 4-0 Houston going to the second inning.

Ace Reese drew a two-out walk in the bottom of the third inning . . . Reese stole second base, his first collegiate stolen base, and then advanced to third base on a wild pitch . . . Harold Coll followed with a walk on a pitch clock violation, awarding him first base on ball four . . . Cameron Nickens then hit a ball to the third baseman that was fielded cleanly but the throw to first base was in the ground and the error allowed Reese to be the fifth run for the Cougars.

Leading 5-0, Jelkin had things unravel on him when a weakly hit infield single ended his streak of twelves straight batters retired . . . A bases loaded double cut the Cougars lead to 5-2 and Houston went to the bullpen with runners on first and second base . . . Owen Woodward’s first pitch was bounced over the mound to second base where Coll fielded the ball, stepped on second base, and fired to first base to complete the inning-ending one pitch double play.

St. John’s went to the bullpen to open the bottom of the fifth inning . . . A single, a walk, and a hit by pitch loaded the bases with no outs . . . Thomas Lyssy hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score Anthony Tulimero , , , Rainess was then hit by a pitch to load the bases once again, this time with two outs . . . Kenneth Jiminez got his first at-bat of the game as a pinch hitter and lined a single up the middle, fielded in deep short and the throw to first base was late while two runners crossed the plate.

After Rainess and Jiminez stole third base and second base respectively, Murray hit a deep fly to right field that cleared the wall for a three-run blast and an 11-2 Houston lead.

Reese led off the bottom of the sixth inning by clobbering a 2-1 pitch over the wall in right-center field that measured 436 feet when it landed.

Freshman Diego Luzardo entered the game in the top of the eighth inning, inheriting runners at second and third base with no outs . . . Luzardo induced a liner to Rainess at shortstop, confusing the runners . . . Rainess fired to first base for one out, and Murray alertly threw back to Rainess at second base to catch a retreating runner for an inning-ending double play.

Two runs for the Red Storm in the top of the ninth inning were not enough to make the game close again as Luzardo closed things out and secured the 12-6 win and pushing the Cougars to 5-0 to start the season . . . Woodward (1-0) earned the win for his work in the middle innings.

“Jelkin and Woodward were outstanding tonight,” head coach Todd Whitting said after the win. “Both had great command of multiple pitches and executed at big moments to get us back in the dugout.”

Whitting added, “The offense was stellar tonight. I thought we did a great job of pressure offense on the bases. We scored with team at-bats and power from start to finish.”

Murray is off to a great start to open 2024, he was 4-for-5 with four RBI on Friday night and is now batting .474 . . . Reese was 2-for-3 in the game and is batting .429.

Houston and St. John’s will play the middle game of the series on Saturday at Schroeder Park with first pitch scheduled for 6:30pm.

. . .

Houston Shuts Out Binghamton, Completes Opening Weekend Sweep

Duncan Howard got the start Sunday against Binghamton at Schroeder Park

The Houston Cougars completed a sweep of the Binghamton Bearcats on Sunday at Schroeder Park as four pitchers combined on a 7-0 shutout to open the season 3-0.

Shortstop Jake Rainess, batting leadoff for the third straight game, led off the bottom of the first inning getting hit by a pitch . . . After stealing second base, a wild pitch put Rainess at third base with one out . . . Justin Murray then powered a double to the wall in right-center field to extend his hitting streak to eighteen games and giving the Cougars an early 1-0 lead.

Cary Arbolida led off the bottom of the third inning with a walk and advanced to second base on a balk . . . With two outs, Murray drove a sharp single to left field, scoring Arbolida and giving Houston a 2-0 with his second RBI of the game.

Still leading by two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, Alex Lopez hit a towering one-out home run that just cleared the wall in right field . . . One out later, Tre Jones scorched a ball on the ground toward the Bearcats shortstop and reached base on a fielding error.

Freshman Ace Reese stepped to the plate with two outs for his first at-bat of the game in a pinch hit appearance . . . Reese hammered the first pitch he saw over the wall in right-center field, the two-run home run traveled 395 feet, his first collegiate home run.

Cameron Nickens followed with a single into right field . . . Harold Coll then delivered the third Houston home run of the inning, this one to left field, and pushed the Cougars lead to 7-0 . . . The Cougars sent ten batters to the plate and scored five runs in the inning.

Right-hander Duncan Howard got the start on the mound for the Cougars and was impressive over five innings . . . Howard allowed only three hits and struck out six Bearcats batters while walking none . . . In fact, the Houston staff did not allow a walk in the game, bookending the weekend in games without allowing a walk.

Brendan O’Donnell pitched the sixth and seventh innings and retired all six batters he faced, striking out two . . . Cade Citelli then joined O’Donnell in making their 2024 debuts, pitching a scoreless inning of his own . . . Freshman Diego Luzardo entered the game in the top of the ninth inning and promptly struck out all three batters he faced to close out the 7-0 win and the opening weekend sweep.

Howard’s five inning outing was the longest of the weekend, where the two previous starters pitched just four innings.

“Great effort by Coach Kenny’s staff this weekend,” head coach Todd Whitting said after the game. “Two games allowing no walks and a shutout in game three was a tremendous start for us.”

“I thought we performed well all weekend in pressure situations by making plays or executing pitches,” Whitting added.

The Cougars are off for a day before playing host to Prairie View A&M on Tuesday for Houston’s only midweek game next week . . . First pitch at Schroeder Park on Tuesday is scheduled for 6:30pm.

. . .

Cougars Plate Eight Again, Open Season 2-0

Antoine Jean started against Binghamton Saturday afternoon at Schroeder Park

With temperatures in the upper 40s most of the afternoon, the Houston Cougars kept warm by running the bases in an 8-2 victory over the Binghamton Bearcats on Saturday at Schroeder Park.

Binghamton took a 1-0 in the second inning after a leadoff triple led to a run on a groundout by the next batter in the frame.

Second baseman Harold Coll led off the bottom of the third inning with a double to the left field wall and he advanced to third base on a wild pitch . . . Ace Reese then tied the game at one with a sacrifice fly to left field.

Tied 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning, Justin Murray lined a double into left field . . . Tre Jones followed with a RBI single into right-center field, Jones then proceeded to steal second and third base before being thrown out at home plate on a fielder’s choice . . . With Cameron Nickens on first base with two outs, Coll lifted a high fly ball into shallow right-center field which eventually fell in for a single that scored Nickens from first base to give the Cougars a 3-1 lead.

Graysen Drezek took the mound in relief of starter Antoine Jean to start the top of the fifth inning . . . After retiring all three batters he faced in the fifth inning, Drezek worked around two base hits and a hit batter to strike out the side in the sixth inning while protecting the two-run Houston lead.

The Bearcats got a run back in the top of the seventh inning to close the Houston lead to a run at 3-2.

After the seventh inning stretch, Jake Rainess lifted a fly ball the opposite way to right field and the ball eventually drifted over the right field wall just inside the foul pole for a two-run home run to extend the Houston lead to 5-2.

Things unraveled further for the Bearcats pitching staff in the bottom of the eighth inning as three walks, a hit batter, and three wild pitches allowed the Cougars to add three runs to tally.

Jose Torrealba handled the eighth and ninth innings for the Cougars in dominant fashion . . . Torrealba retired all six batters he faced, striking out three of them and earning the save with the 8-2 victory.

The Cougars scored eight runs for the second straight game to open the season . . . With his fourth inning double, Murray extended his hitting streak to 17 games . . . Jones has two stolen bases in each of the first two games and is a perfect 4-for-4 in stolen base attempts to begin the season . . . Drezek earned his first win of the season with his two scoreless innings of work.

Houston and Binghamton close out the opening weekend series with an 11am first pitch on Sunday at Schroeder Park.

. . .

Cougars Open 2024 Campaign with 8-4 Victory

Jaxon Jelkin opened 2024 against Binghamton Friday night at Schroeder Park

It did not take long for the feeling of baseball season to begin anew on Friday night at Schroeder Park as the Houston Cougars opened the 2024 season with an 8-4 victory over Binghamton.

Jaxon Jelkin worked around a two-out single and struck out the side in the opening frame . . . Then newcomer Jake Rainess led off the bottom of the first inning with a triple and things were underway.

Alex Lopez grounded out to first base to plate Rainess and the Cougars took a first inning 1-0 lead.

The Bearcats used the next two innings to claw back and take a 3-1 lead.

Houston responded with a run in the bottom of the fourth inning when a wild pick-off throw to first base plated Justin Murrary from third base.

Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning, freshman Ace Reese singled and Cary Arbolida doubled in the eighth and ninth spots respectively to lead off the inning . . . Rainess brought home the tying run on a sacrifice fly before Alex Lopez popped a fly ball into shallow left-center that fell to the ground for an error allowing the go-ahead run to score . . . Lopez scored on a wild pitch and Houston led 5-3.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Cougars sent eight men to the plate with three of them eventually scoring en route to a 8-3 Cougars lead . . . Cameron Nickens provided the big blow with a two RBI single through the left side of the infield with two outs.

Binghamton got a run back in the top of the eighth inning after a leadoff triple was followed by a RBI single . . . But right-hander Owen Woodward induced a double play to short stop on his way to finishing off the eighth inning without further damage.

Justin Murray took the mound in the top of the ninth inning to protect an 8-4 lead . . . Murray promptly struck out all three batters he faced and made Houston opening night winners.

Newcomer Tre Jones was 3-for-4 in his Cougars debut with two singles, a double, and a stolen base . . . Jones was the only Houston batter with multiple hits, despite the Cougars picking up eleven hits in the game.

“Tre jones had a great night,” said head coach Todd Whitting after the game. “He can change games with speed and power.”

Chris Stuart, also making his Houston debut, threw two scoreless innings in relief of Jelkin before Woodward took the mound for the seventh inning . . . Stuart earned the win for his efforts.

The Houston offense scored eight runs in the game and on many nights that would be the story.

After the game, Coach Whitting was quick to look at the pitching and defense, “Pitching was lights out,” Whitting said, simply adding “fifteen strikeouts and zero bases in balls.”

“Woodward getting that 6-4-3 double play was huge. That was a big play,” said Whitting.

The Cougars and the Bearcats pick things up again on Saturday when they will play the middle game of the series . . . Weather altered the schedule prior to the beginning of the series and first pitch Saturday is now scheduled for 3pm at Schroeder Park.