Month: May 2024

Houston Season Ends in Doubleheader Loss Saturday

Kyle LaCalameto started Friday’s game, which was postponed until Saturday

There was a bevy of odd numbers on Saturday at Schroeder Park, but none of them favored Houston as Oklahoma State took both games of a doubleheader by scores of 20-3 and 9-2.

The first game of the day started under ominous skies on Friday night and lasted all of three outs . . . After Kyle LaCalameto pitched the top of the first inning, lightning in the area triggered a series of delays and ultimately pushed the postponement of the rest of the game to Saturday.

Saturday afternoon, roughly 18 hours after the delay began, the first pitch was thrown to Alex Lopez to lead off the bottom of the first inning.

Trailing 6-0 in the bottom of the third inning, Lopez drove a two-run home run over the right field wall, that would account for most of Houston’s run-scoring in the game.

There was a 12-minute delay just as the fourth inning was about to begin . . . The home plate umpire was suffering from signs of heat exhaustion over the previous couple of half innings under the unrelenting heat and humidity . . . The umpire was advised by the two training staffs to leave the game, thus causing a delay.

Oklahoma State scored 10 runs in the sixth inning and the game was all but over.

Houston had only four base hits in the game with Justin Murray driving in the only other Cougars run . . . Houston pitching walked 14 Cowboys batters . . . Left-hander Brendan O’Donnell retired seven batters over parts of three different frames, five of them were strikeouts.

Oklahoma State scored two runs in the first and third inning of game two and led 4-0 very quickly.

Houston started the bottom of the fourth inning with three straight singles, breaking up a perfect game to that point . . . Kenneth Jimenez picked up the first single and Murray followed with one of his own . . . Anthony Tulimero (2-for-4) singled to right field to score Jimenez, it was the only run the Cougars would score until the eighth inning . . . Tulimero accounted for two of Houston’s six base hits in the game, the only Cougars hitter with multiple hits.

Jacob Schoenvogel led off the bottom of the eighth with a double . . . Three-straight groundouts followed, one by Murray to third base brought Schoenvogel across the plate for the second and final Cougars run of the game, and the final run of the season.

Trailing by seven runs, Harold Coll doubled to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning, but the next three Cougars batters went in order to close out the season.

Houston finished the season 26-28 overall and 7-21 in their first season in the Big 12 . . . Thirteen Cougars seniors were recognized throughout Saturday’s first game, their departures from the program, along with possible transfer portal action, and an incoming transfer class mean a lot of changes ahead for next year’s roster.

Tulimero and Murray departed at the same point in Saturday’s second game, marking the end of their Houston careers . . . Murray took the mound to open the ninth inning and fittingly struck out the only two batters he faced before head coach Todd Whitting made the trip to the mound to let both Murray and Tulimero have their one final moment together as Cougars teammates.

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Roman, Drezek Stifle Bearkats; Arbolida’s 17th Leads to Don Sanders Cup Victory

Houston used two home runs and a wild pitch to win their final midweek game of the season 4-3 over Sam Houston Tuesday night in Sugar Land and retained the Don Sanders Cup in the process.

Harold Coll led off the top of the second inning by getting ahead in the count 2-0 before reaching base on a single . . . Cary Arbolida hit the next pitch the opposite way over the right field wall for his 17th home run of the season and his third-straight game with a home run.

Richie Roman tossed four scoreless innings as Houston’s starter, he struck out six and stranded seven Sam Houston runners on base, all of them in scoring position.

Still 2-0 in the top of the sixth inning, Justin Murray found himself in a favorable 2-0 count with two outs before driving a ball over the wall in right-center field, a solo home run good for a 3-0 Houston lead.

Anthony Avalos singled to center field with two outs on the first pitch he saw in the top eighth inning . . . A wild pitch allowed Avalos to take second base easily and he took the opportunity to advance to third base on the play as well . . . A throw to third base was off, winding up on the ground, allowing Avalos to scamper home on the throwing error for a 4-0 Cougars advantage.

Graysen Drezek took the mound in relief of Roman after his four scoreless innings pitched and delivered three scoreless innings of his own, striking out five batters.

The Bearkats got to the Cougars bullpen for three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, but Murray was eventually able to get out the inning while retaining the Houston lead, 4-3 . . . Murray pitched a scoreless bottom of the ninth inning retiring the three batters he faced to preserve the win and secure the Don Sanders Cup for Houston for another year.

Houston only had five base hits in the victory, all coming from five different batters . . . Cougars pitching stranded 11 Sam Houston runners on base . . . Drezek got the win for his effort and improved to 2-0 this season . . . Murray recorded his fifth save of the season.

The Cougars are off for a day before the final Big 12 weekend series of the season gets underway on Thursday night at Schroeder Park against Oklahoma State . . . The first game of the weekend is set to get underway at 6:30pm.

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Arbolida Hits 16th Homer; Cougars Drop Road Series

Justin Murray bats in the 3rd inning Sunday with runners on the corners

Houston fell 9-6 in Lawrence on Sunday afternoon as Kansas rallied after the game one loss on Friday to win the Big 12 series on their home turf.

Anthony Avaolos (2-for-4) singled to center field with two outs in the top of the third inning to get the Houston offense started . . . A single to left field by Kenneth Jimenez moved Avalos to third base . . . Justin Murray then bounced a ball through the infield and into center field to score Avalos and tie the game at one . . . Murray’s single was the third-straight base hit with two outs.

Cary Arbolida (2-for-3) walked on six pitches to lead off the top of the fourth inning and one out later Jonathan French followed with a single to center field . . . Jacob Schoenvogel then walked on 10 pitches as he fouled off four of them in a great at-bat with Avalos on deck and Kansas’ starter tiring around the 80 pitch mark.

Avalos then drove an 0-2 pitch into the left field corner to tie the game as Arbolida and French both crossed the plate . . . Jimenez singled into center field and Schoenvogel scored to give Houston the 4-3 lead.

The lead evaporated quickly as the Jayhawks plated five runs in the bottom half of the inning to take an 8-4 lead.

Arbolida led off the top of the eighth inning by hitting his team-leading 16th home run of the season to center field 

Anthony Tulimero doubled home a run in the top of the ninth inning to get the Cougars to within three runs, but Houston fell 9-6 when the smoke settled.

Avalos, Tulimero, Jimenez, and Arbolida each had two base hits in the game, accounting for eight of the ten Houston hits.

The Cougars got some solid relief work out of the bullpen with Michael Benzor throwing 1 1/3 scoreless innings without allowing a hit, though he walked three batters . . . Chris Stuart closed out the game with two scoreless innings allowing just one base hit.

The Cougars will return home on Sunday and will have Monday off . . . Houston will return to action on Tuesday when they travel to Sugar Land to decide the 2024 Don Sanders Cup series with Sam Houston at Constellation Field . . . First pitch is set for 6:30pm.

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Arbolida Homers Twice; Cougars Early Lead Falls Short

A seven-run Houston lead in the third inning was not enough to claim victory on Saturday in Lawrence as Kansas battled back to win 11-9 to even the Big 12 series.

Cary Arbolida (3-for-4) hit the first pitch of his first inning at-bat over the left field wall for a three-run home run and a 4-0 Houston lead.

Arbolida delivered again in the third inning, hitting a one-out home run over the left field wall, the start of a second four-run inning in the first three innings of the game on the way to an 8-1 Houston lead . . . The home run was the 15th of the season for Arbolida and his fourth multi-home run game of the season.

Leadoff hitter Kenneth Jimenez hit a home run in the fifth inning, it was the final run the Cougars scored on Saturday.

Left-hander Kyle LaCalameto was pretty solid out of the bullpen after the lead had been surrendered, throwing four innings and allowing just one run while striking out four Jayhawks batters.

Despite picking up 14 hits in the ballgame, the Cougars did not score another run after the fifth inning.

Houston and Kansas will settle the weekend Big 12 series on Sunday at noon . . . As of now, neither team has announced a starting pitcher for the game.

. . .

Memories Abound as Robert Gasser Makes His MLB Debut

Robert Gasser Made His MLB Debut Friday in Milwaukee

By Steve Parkhurst

Life comes full circle sometimes; we all know that.

Baseball life often sees those circles form a lot sooner, just by the nature of the sport.

Just over three years ago, March 5, 2021, to be exact, I watched in person from the press box, what I consider to be the finest pitcher’s duel I have ever seen in person in all my baseball days at any level of baseball.

Power versus power, lefty versus righty, experienced veteran versus relative newcomer.

I was there on the campus of the University of Houston on that Friday night when the Texas Longhorns came to town sporting a No. 19 national ranking on their way to a College World Series appearance in Omaha.

Texas ace Ty Madden was on the mound that night and he was opposed by Houston left-hander Robert Gasser in his only full season with the Cougars, he was on the 2020 roster when the season was brought to an end in early March because of the pandemic.

Madden pitched a complete game two-hit shutout and Texas won the game 1-0. Madden also added 14 strikeouts. Gasser pitched seven scoreless innings for Houston and struck out five batters. The game was lost the inning after Gasser departed, the sole run in the game scored on a bases loaded walk in the eighth inning.

That summer, Madden was drafted by the Detroit Tigers at the end of the first round with the 32nd overall pick. Gasser was drafted the next day by the San Diego Padres in the second round of the draft with the 71st overall pick.

On August 1, 2022, Gasser was traded to Milwaukee as part of the deal that sent All-Star pitcher Josh Hader to the Padres. Gasser fundamentally did nothing but impress in the Brewers minor league system and his promotion to the big club seemed imminent. An injury sidelined Gasser for the beginning of the 2024 season, but he started in three games with the first coming on April 24.

Friday night in Milwaukee, nearly three years since he threw his last pitch for Houston on May 25, 2021, Gasser made his Major League Baseball debut for the Brewers against the St. Louis Cardinals.

The memories came flooding back last night. Not just of that Friday night in 2021, but of that season overall with all the challenges of the pandemic precautions and the long season that was the 2021 season.

Gasser pitched six scoreless innings and allowed just two hits and struck out four Cardinals batters while not allowing any walks. Gasser threw 79 pitches, 55 of them for strikes. And perhaps the best stat of all, Gasser is 1-0 on the year as a result of the Brewers 11-2 victory.

After the game, Gasser was asked about preparing for his debut and how he handled the day leading up to the game. His response was as cool as six innings of work on the mound.

“Early in the day it was tough. A lot of sitting around, not doing a whole lot, just thinking, but once I was in my routine and finding the flow it came natural, Gasser said. “I don’t want to say it was another game, but that was the mindset I was trying to have: get the first couple of pitches out of the way and just get going from there.”

“That was pretty impressive how he just went out there and executed what he wanted to do. Seemed like he had his emotions and everything under control,” Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich said after the game. “It was six really big innings for us.”

“He’s a big strike thrower, he goes right after every batter,” Brewers teammate Sal Frelick said after the game when asked about Gasser’s makeup as a pitcher. “When he was out there he didn’t see names on the back of jerseys as maybe a lot of guys would. It was just another game for him, I think, and that’s just how he goes about his business. So to see him execute out there was really cool.”

Madden has not appeared in a MLB game as of yet, and this is not a fair comparison of these two pitchers as different teams have different needs and whatnot.

This whole event has me wondering about the status of the Houston players drafted in the last couple of years, or what players might I be watching play their final games with Houston this weekend and next that might be making their own MLB debut in three years, or maybe four or five.

I cannot stop and think about that right now though, the next full circle is taking shape.

. . .

Houston Thumps Kansas 13-5; Murray Homers Twice

Cade Citelli pitches with a Kansas runner on first base Friday in Lawrence

Houston opened their next-to-last Big 12 series of the season in Kansas on Friday night with a 13-5 victory in a game that was not as close as the final score indicates.

Justin Murray (4-for-6) led off the bottom of the third inning with a home run to right-center field, his fifth home run of the season, for the first score of the game.

The Cougars offense added five more runs in the top of the fourth inning . . . Coby DeJesus walked to lead off the frame . . . With one out, Jacob Schoenvogel lined a ball all the way to the wall in left-center field to score DeJesus from first base.

Murray launched his second home run in as many innings with a towering blast to right-center field, his sixth homer of the season was good for two more Houston runs . . . Anthony Tulimero then reached base on an error at third base . . . Harold Coll made the Jayhawks pay for the defensive mistake by hitting a towering home run that just cleared the left field wall and Houston led 6-0.

Kansas went to the bullpen to start the fifth inning and Tre Jones (2-for-4) met the new pitcher with a seven-pitch at-bat which ended in a leadoff single . . . Walks to DeJesus and Jonathan French loaded the bases with no outs . . . Schoenvogel walked, and after another Jayhawks pitching change, Kenneth Jimenez was hit by a pitch, each drove in a run and the bases continued to be loaded with no outs.

Murray grounded into a fielder’s choice which drove in the third run of the inning and his fourth of the game and the Cougars led 9-0.

A second consecutive three-run inning, aided by Murray’s fifth RBI of the game, gave Houston a 12-0 lead halfway through the sixth inning.

Houston starter Cade Citelli pitched six innings before his day was complete, he allowed three runs in his final frame but struck out seven in his outing . . . The Cougars bullpen gave up two more runs in the seventh inning before Graysen Drezek took the mound and pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings.

DeJesus added a run to the Houston ledger with a groundout RBI in the top of the ninth inning to give Houston a 13-5 lead, which stood as the final score.

Citelli improved to 4-2 this season with the win . . . Nine Houston batters had a hit in the Friday contest with Murray and Jones the only two Cougars with multiple hits . . . Jones also walked twice in the game and reached base four times . . . Cary Arbolida tripled off the batter’s eyes in center field and was hit by a pitch twice to reach base three times.

The Cougars and the Jayhawks return to action Saturday afternoon at 2pm . . . Antoine Jean will make the start on Saturday with a chance for Houston to claim the series.

. . .

Bennett, Reese Homer; Arbolida Delivers Walk-off Winner

For the second time in less than a week in a row some midweek magic late in the game helped Houston to a 5-4 walk-off win over Nicholls on Tuesday night at Schroder Park.

The Cougars were trailing 3-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning before getting their first hit of the game . . . Catcher Conner Bennett (2-for-4), making just his sixth start of the season, hit a solo home run over the left field wall to lead off the frame for Houston’s first hit of the night.

The Houston half of the bottom of the sixth inning started with Anthony Tulimero (2-for-3) being hit by a pitch and Harold Coll followed suit, being hit by the eighth pitch of his at-bat . . . Ace Reese followed with a home run to center field off the batter’s eye and Houston led for the first time in the game, 4-3.

A solo home run for the Colonels tied the game at four in the top of the ninth inning.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Houston offense put together a rally . . . Tulimero doubled down the right field line and Coll followed with a walk . . . Jonathan French made a pinch-hit appearance and was walked to load the bases and the Colonels went to the bullpen.

Cary Arbolida (2-for-3) hit a towering fly ball to shallow center field . . . The center fielder raced in toward the infield at full speed to attempt a catch . . . The ball hit the fielder’s glove and fell to the ground allowing Houston to walk-off 5-4 winners.

Houston walked-off McNeese last Wednesday in 10 innings on a wild pitch.

The Cougars had seven runs in the ballgame and only four players accounted for them.

Diego Luzardo and Jose Torrealba each pitched two scoreless innings and Ryan Dollar contributed one inning of his own.

Houston has the next two days off before opening a Big 12 weekend series in Lawrence, Kansas against the Jayhawks . . . First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 6:30pm.

. . .

Cougars Slowed By Knights Pitching; Arbolida Delivers Again

Houston’s offense was completely stymied by great UCF pitching in a 4-1 loss Friday night at Schroeder Park to open the Big 12 weekend series.

After being retired in order over the first three innings, the Cougars got their first base hit and base runners in the bottom of the fourth inning but could not turn them into runs.

Meanwhile, a run in the first inning off of Houston starter Cade Citelli was followed by a two-run third inning in which an error at shortstop was brought home on a two-out home run to center field.

Still trailing 3-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning, Cary Arbolida hit the first pitch of the frame over the left field wall for his 13th home run of the season.

The Knights added a run in the top of the seventh inning while the Cougars could muster almost nothing after the Arbolida home run . . . Anthony Tulimero was hit by a pitch in the sixth inning but stranded at first base, and Kenneth Jimenez was walked in an eighth inning pinch-hit appearance, replaced with a pinch-runner, who was promptly doubled-off on a line-out to first base to end the inning.

Houston’s offense could only collect two base hits in the game.

The lack of offense resulted in a hard luck loss for Citelli whose quality start over six innings with six strikeouts was nearly unimaginable after a 32-pitch first inning . . . Citelli faced the minimum in two innings, the second and the fourth, and low pitch counts in both allowed him some longevity into the latter stages of the game . . . Two of the three runs against Citelli were unearned due to the error at shortstop.

The Cougars then turned to left-hander Kyle LaCalameto out of the bullpen, he was the second and final pitcher for Houston in the game . . . LaCalameto pitched the final three innings of the game and struck out three UCF batters . . . Citelli’s effort spared the Houston bullpen from being taxed early in the first game of the weekend conference series.

The Cougars and the Knights will continue the weekend series on Saturday night . . . Antoine Jean will be on the mound for Houston, starting a day earlier in the weekend after pitching on Sunday the last three weeks . . . The game will get underway at 6:30pm.

. . .

Houston Walks-Off McNeese in 10 Innings in Comeback Fashion

Diego Luzardo takes a moment while throwing two scoreless innings Tuesday night.

The Houston offense started slowly on Wednesday night at Schroeder Park, but it arrived in time to walk-off McNeese 9-8 in 10 innings.

McNeese took a 5-0 lead in the second inning, getting runs off of two different Cougars pitchers.
Right-hander Diego Luzardo then took the mound for the third and fourth innings and stopped the Cowboys offense, allowing just one hit and striking out three batters while keeping the deficit from getting bigger.

Anthony Tulimero got the Houston offense started in the bottom of the fourth inning reaching base on a single into right field, just the Cougars second hit of the ballgame to reach base with one out . . . Ace Reese (2-for-4) then sliced an 0-2 pitch into left-center field for a double to score Tulimero from first base  . . . .Cary Arbolida doubled into right-center field, scoring Reese . . . Tre Jones singled home Arbolida and Houston was only down by two runs, 5-3.

Houston was trailing 8-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning when Jonathan French doubled down the right field line to get a rally started in the bottom of the inning with one out . . . Coby DeJesus singled to move French over to third base before Justin Murray walked to load the bases . . . Tulimero sent a fly ball deep to left field, but it was caught on the warning track with French scoring on the sacrifice fly, while DeJesus and Murray both tagged up as well.

With two outs, Harold Coll (3-for-5) dropped singled into shallow left field just out of reach of the retreating shortstop and with the base runners moving with two outs, DeJesus and Murray scored and Houston only trailed by two . . . Coll was attempting to steal second base when Reese singled into right field and put runners on the corners . . . After falling behind 0-1, Arbolida walked when the next four pitches missed the strike zone and the bases were loaded.

Jones hit a ground ball to second base and it was fielded cleanly, but the second baseman seemed to want to go for the force out at second base, but he hesitated and then threw to first base for what should have been the third out . . . The throw to first was wild and went into the McNeese dugout, allowing two Cougars to score and the game was tied at eight going to the eighth inning.

The game went to the bottom of the tenth inning still tied at eight . . . Jacob Schoenvogel, playing in his first game since April 12 against Texas due to back issues, was 0-for-2 at the plate after making a pinch-hit appearance, but drew a walk to lead off the inning . . . French bunted Schoenvogel to second base before DeJesus grounded out to shortstop allowing Schoenvogel to move to third base.

Murray was at the plate with two outs when a wild pitch went to the wall behind the plate and Schoevogel crossed the plate easily as the winning run.

As is typical of midweek games, many pitchers are used in the games, and Wednesday was no exception . . . The Cougars and the Cowboys combined to use 18 pitchers, and the fact they played 10 innings is hardly relevant to that fact.

Jose Torrealba was outstanding out of the bullpen once again, going 2 2/3 scoreless innings before handing the ball off to Alex Solis who pitched a scoreless tenth inning, even working around a little traffic . . . Solis earned his first career win when Schoenvogel crossed the plate in the bottom of the tenth inning.

Coll and Reese were the only two Houston hitters with multiple hits in the ballgame . . . The walk-off was the second this season to happen against a former Houston player . . . Evan Maldonado, with the Cougars in 2021 before transferring to Navarro, was on the mound Wednesday night and threw the wild pitch that allowed the winning run . . . Malachi Lott was the other player, who Reese singled off of in the bottom of the ninth inning on March 5, also at Schroeder Park.

Houston has one day off now before opening a Big 12 series with the UCF Knights on Friday . . . The game is set to begin at 6:30pm at Schroeder Park.

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