By Steve Parkhurst

The Houston Cougars will leave Frisco and head home having salvaged the final game of the weekend, an 8-2 victory over Alabama to conclude the Frisco Classic on Sunday.

Right-hander Kendall Hoffman made the finest start of his collegiate career, pitching into the eighth inning and departing with a four-run lead.

After one time through the batting order, leadoff hitter McClane Helton led off the top of the third inning by earning a walk, he saw eight pitches in the at-bat . . . Blake Fields (4-for-5) then singled through the left side on a 1-2 pitch . . . Xavier Perez sacrificed to move both Helton and Fields into scoring position, where they were when Dylan Maxcey (2-for-4) singled through the left side to give Houston a 2-0 lead, it was the first time Alabama trailed in the entire three day event in Frisco.

The Cougars greeted Crimson Tide pitching with three straight singles to open the fifth inning, the first by Fields, his third hit of the game, the second by Perez, and then one by Maxcey to drive in Fields for a 3-0 lead . . . With one out, Carsten Sabathia III hit a ball to second base and an error on the play allowed a run to score and put two Cougars in scoring position . . . Antonelli Savattere followed with a sacrifice fly ball to left field, Maxcey tagged and scored, Houston took a 5-0 lead, and the Crimson Tide went to the bullpen to get out of the inning.

Sabathia was once again in the mix when he was hit by a pitch to lead off the eighth inning . . . Peyton Dickens pinch-ran for Sabathia and he moved to second base on a groundout and to third base on a wild pitch before Irvin Weems (2-for-4) singled up the middle to extend the Houston advantage to 6-1.

Hoffman took his exit after 7 2/3 innings with five strikeouts and one walk, which came in the first inning, and he allowed just the two earned runs . . . Hoffman threw 109 total pitches before handing the ball to Tyler Bryan.

The Cougars wanted more in the top of the ninth inning, and they got it . . . Fields singled to left field with one out to get things started, his fourth hit of the ballgame . . .

Perez (2-for-4) then doubled to left-center field and Alabama went to the bullpen for their fifth arm of the game . . . After an intentional walk to Maxcey loaded the bases, Cade Climie singled to right field to score Fields . . . Dickens then grounded out to the pitcher but Perez crossed the plate and Houston took an 8-2 lead on the first career RBI by Dickens.

Bryan recorded the final four outs of the game for the Cougars, allowing just one hit and striking out one batter . . . Hoffman recorded his first win of the season and is now 1-0.

“Kendall was outstanding tonight,” head coach Todd Whitting said emphatically after the game. “His presence and composure was at a very high level against a very talented SEC team. He has been a relentless worker all spring so I’m happy it paid off today.”

The Cougars return to Schroeder Park and will host Sam Houston on Tuesday for game two of the 2026 Don Sanders Cup . . . First pitch is scheduled for 6:30pm.

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