Category: Cougars Notebook

Cougars Notebook – April 8, 2024

Houston went 1-3 last week . . . The Cougars are now 16-15 overall and 4-11 in Big 12 play.

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Houston beat Rice 4-3 last Tuesday night to sweep the 2024 Silver Glove Series.

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The Cougars were swept in Lubbock over the weekend despite scoring 9, 12, and 8 runs.

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Harold Coll had five hits over the weekend, three of them home runs, including two on Friday night . . . Cary Arbolida and Jonathan French each scattered five hits over the weekend and hit two home runs apiece.

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Cade Citelli turned in quite possibly the best outing on the mound over the weekend . . . Citelli pitched 3 1/3 innings perfect innings striking out six Red Raiders along the way . . . When Citelli took the mound in the bottom of the fifth inning, not only were the bases loaded, but there was an 0-2 count on the batter that Cade inherited . . . Citelli not only came from way behind to get the strikeout, but he struck out the first four batters he faced . . . When he inherited the 0-2 count, Citelli needed four pitches to get the strikeout, all four were strikes (one was fouled off).

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Houston will welcome the Texas Longhorns to town this weekend for the one and only Big 12 matchup between the two teams . . . Texas is coming off a Big 12 series loss in Austin against BYU.

The series will run Friday to Sunday and will have the usual start times, 6:30pm Friday and Saturday and 1pm on Sunday at Schroeder Park.

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Right-hander Duncan Hunter made his return to the rotation on Sunday having not appeared in a game in exactly three weeks and one day . . . Hunter struggled through three innings, to be expected after such a long layoff, and it is tough to make a return to action in Lubbock of all places . . . Either way, it was good to see Hunter back out there for the Cougars, if Houston is going to rally and make a go of it the rest of the way, having Hunter in the rotation will be key.

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Jared Triolo has a base hit in six-straight games and in seven of his eight games played so far this season . . . Triolo hit a home run against the Baltimore Orioles on Friday afternoon at PNC Park, it was his first home run of the season.

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Left-handed John King made his second appearance of the season on Sunday in St. Louis against the Miami Marlins . . . King tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings and struck out two Marlins batters.

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Cougars Notebook – April 1, 2024

Houston was 1-3 last week and is now 15-12 overall and 4-8 in the Big 12.

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The Cougars topped Lamar 6-4 in their only midweek game last week . . . The victory was the 2,000th in the history of the Houston baseball program and also ended Lamar’s nation-leading 12 game winning streak.

Lamar then traveled north to Oklahoma and swept the Sooners in Norman to start a new streak.

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Houston then traveled to Ft. Worth to face TCU in Big 12 play . . . The Horned Frogs swept the weekend series thanks in part to dominant pitching efforts of 8 innings and 8 2/3 innings in the first two games . . . The Cougars got a great outing from Jaxon Jelkin in the final game, and TCU only had two base hits in the game, but Houston errors led to a late four-run inning in which the Horned Frogs took the lead and held on for the win.

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Houston will take on Rice at Schroeder Park on Tuesday to conclude the 2024 Silver Glove Series, which the Cougars have already claimed by winning the first two matchups last month . . . First pitch is set for 6:30pm as the Cougars look to sweep the Series this year.

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The Cougars will be in Lubbock this weekend to take on Texas Tech in Big 12 action . . . The Red Raiders are coming off a series loss on the road against UCF.

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The MLB season got underway on Thursday with Jared Triolo and Connor Wong the only two former Cougars on opening day rosters, with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Boston Red Sox, respectively.

Triolo was 1-for-6 on opening day in Miami and drove in the winning run in the top of the 12th inning on a single into right-center field for a 6-5 Pirates victory . . . Triolo went 2-for-3 in Sunday’s finale with the Marlins.

Wong was 2-for-4 with one RBI in Thursday’s opener in Seattle, a 6-4 Red Sox win, and he was 1-for-3 in Saturday’s third of four games in the series . . . Wong is batting .429 and has hit in both games played in to open the season.

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Cougars Notebook – March 25, 2024

Houston went 2-3 last week and played five games in six days . . . The Cougars are now 14-9 overall and 4-5 in the Big 12.

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Houston defeated Rice in back-to-back midweek games on Tuesday and Wednesday to retain the Silver Glove trophy for another year . . . Houston won 4-1 Tuesday at Schroeder Park and 4-2 Wednesday at Reckling Park . . . Though the series is decided for 2024, the two teams will play one more midweek game at Schroeder Park on Tuesday, April 2.

The Cougars then hosted the Kansas State Wildcats in Big 12 action . . . The Wildcats swept the series, with two closely played games Friday and Saturday (5-3 and 4-3), and then one that got away from on Sunday, 9-3.

Jaxon Jelkin had originally been scheduled to pitch Friday but was scratched mid-week, but was said to possibly be available for the weekend . . . Antoine Jean moved from his usual Saturday role to the Friday start, and Kyle LaCalameto made the Saturday start . . . Jelkin returned Sunday to pitch four innings in a week when the Cougars needed pitchers to eat innings.

Duncan Hunter did not make a start this weekend as he is dealing with an injury.

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The Cougars will play one midweek game this week when they host the Lamar Cardinals at Schroeder Park on Tuesday . . . First pitch is set for 6:30pm.

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Houston will hit the road again for another Big 12 series after the game with Lamar . . . The Cougars will be in Ft. Worth to play TCU for a weekend series which begins on Thursday and runs through Saturday so that everyone involved is off on Easter Sunday . . . Thursday’s first pitch is slated for 6pm, with Friday getting underway at 6:30pm, and first pitch Saturday set for 1pm.

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Many local professional scouts were at the ballpark this weekend, many of them wanted to watch the team from out of town to get a read on some players they have not seen before . . . One scout told Cougars Beat he was glad to be able to get a good look at Jelkin and did not know until the last minute that Jelkin would actually be pitching on Sunday.

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The Pittsburgh Pirates announced their opening day roster on Monday, and former Cougars third baseman is breaking camp with the big club for opening day.

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Pittsburgh Pirates beat writer Kevin Gorman, writing for TRIBLIVE, formerly the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, was previewing the projected Pirates infield for this season as spring training nears its conclusion . . . Gorman wrote in his March 24 piece about former Cougars third baseman Jared Triolo and his likely place on the opening day roster and his overall place in the Pittsburgh infield . . . Gorman quoted Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes on Triolo:

“Last year, when I went down, he fit right in at third base. Whenever I came back, he was able to go to second and to first and still play Gold Glove defense,” Hayes said in the piece. “And he always gives you a good at-bat and was really clutch at the end of games last year. He’s great. He’s a lot like me: not always the loudest one in the room, but he plays the game the right way, and you need guys like that. It was great for him to be able to debut last year and build on that confidence going into this year because he’s going to be a guy that can help us win.”

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If there is any solace to be taken from a sweep in conference play, it is that with the sweep, Kansas State (17-6, 5-1)

moved into the new College Baseball Nation Top 25 at No. 23 . . . Sweeping the series against what is considered to be a quality opponent in Houston, was good enough to move the Wildcats out of the unranked.

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Cougars Notebook – March 18, 2024

Houston went 1-2 last week and the Cougars record is now 12-6 overall and 4-2 in the Big 12.

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After two weekends of Big 12 action . . .

Oklahoma sits atop the Conference at 6-0 having swept TCU in Ft. Worth this weekend, and UCF in Norman the previous weekend.

Houston is alone in second place at 4-2 . . . Cincinnati, Kansas, and BYU are next at 3-3.

There are 13 baseball teams in the Big 12 this season and the top 10 teams go to the Conference Championship in Arlington toward the end of May.

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Houston and Rice renew the Silver Glove Series this week in a big way . . . The Cougars and the Owls will play on back-to-back days this week, in both ballparks . . . Houston will host Rice on Tuesday at 6:30pm at Schroeder Park, and Rice will host Houston on Wednesday at 6:30pm at Reckling Park.

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Houston will then return to Big 12 play on Friday when they open a weekend series with Kansas State at Schroeder Park . . . The Wildcats did not play a Big 12 opponent last weekend but instead hosted Missouri State in Manhattan . . . Kansas State is 13-6 overall and 2-1 in Big 12 play and they will play a midweek at Wichita State this week before traveling to Houston . . . In their only Big 12 action this season, the Wildcats hosted Cincinnati and took 2-of-3 from the Bearcats, including a combined (two pitchers) no-hitter to open the series on Friday, March 6.

Houston and Kansas State are scheduled for first pitches at 6:30pm on Friday, 6:30pm on Saturday, and 1pm on Sunday.

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Jaxon Jelkin had a career-high 13 strikeouts in his start on Friday . . . Jelkin pitched six innings, which means he recorded 18 outs, 13 of them via strikeout . . . Unfortunately, Jelkin did not factor in the decision as the game was decided after he departed . . . Jelkin also walked just one batter, continuing to impress in the strikeout to walk ratio.

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Freshman catcher Conner Bennett picked up his first collegiate base hit on Friday in Provo in a pinch-hit appearance.

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Head coach Todd Whitting was doing an in-game interview on ESPN+ during Thursday’s opener in Provo . . . With runners on the corners, a play unfolded that looked like it may have been a double steal . . . Cameron Nickens was thrown out at second base and the runner on third base did not advance . . . Whitting told the broadcast duo, “I didn’t put that play on, by the way,” to the delight of the broadcast team, who both said they assumed as much.

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College Baseball Nation has a Dashboard with an interesting collection of data, stats, and metrics . . . The data is sortable and interesting to follow.

Houston ranks No. 1 in the Big 12 in FIP, and No. 11 nationally.

You may ask, “what is FIP?” . . . It is Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) . . . FIP is similar to an ERA, but it focuses solely on the events a pitcher has the most control over, such as strikeouts, home runs, walks, and hit-by-pitch(es).

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Cougars Notebook – March 11, 2024

Houston is now 11-4 overall and 3-0 in the Big 12 after this past week . . . The Cougars have won five games in a row.

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Houston celebrates Tuesday night after a walk-off victory

4-0 last week with a 2-1 walk-off win over Sam Houston and a sweep of Baylor to open Big 12 conference play. After Sunday’s victory, head coach Todd Whitting noted that each week he stresses to the team to go week to week, to go 4-0 or 3-1 each week.

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Continuing to track the strikeout to walk ration of the Houston pitching staff, this weekend in the three games against Baylor, the staff racked up 32 strikeouts and walked just 7 batters.

Antoine Jean struck out 11 in his start on Saturday when he pitched 5 1/3 innings.

Duncan Hunter was perfect through 4 1/3 innings on Sunday, retiring the first 13 batters he faced . . . Hunter induced ground outs for 8 of his first 12 recorded outs and did not strike out a batter until the fifth inning . . . In the fifth and sixth innings, Hunter struck out 5 batters . . . Hunter did not allow a walk in his six innings pitched.

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Ryan Dollar and Michael Benzor were both clutch on Sunday afternoon in getting out of a jam while Houston protected a one-run lead in the top of the eighth inning.

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After catcher Jonathan French hit a home run on Saturday night, he had four home runs on the year, and seven total base hits . . . French singled on Sunday for his eighth hit of the season, half of his hits have been home runs.

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After Friday night’s series opening loss, Baylor head coach Mitch Thompson talked about the 4-3 loss, and referenced Houston starter Jaxon Jelkin while talking about life in the Big 12 on Friday nights:

“It’s a Friday night in the Big 12, a well-pitched ballgame. Their guy was really good early and Mason [Marriott] matched him early and we just came up a run short.”

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There will not be a midweek game this week as the Cougars open their next Big 12 series on Thursday, in Provo, Utah, instead of the customary Friday opener.

The series against BYU begins on Thursday at 7pm CT, with game two on Friday again at 7pm, and the weekend finale on Saturday at 12:30pm CT.

BYU (7-7, 1-2) opened Big 12 conference play all the way across the country in West Virginia where they lost 2 of 3 games to the Mountaineers and this will be their first conference home series . . . BYU will play a midweek game this week against Utah in Salt Lake City on Tuesday before facing Houston on Thursday.

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After the win on Sunday, Coach Whitting offered some thoughts on the matchup with BYU.

“It’s going to be kind of tough conditions up there, it’s not going to be hot,” Whitting said, “so we’ve got to be really ready to go in there and keep chasing this Big 12 title.”

To Whtting’s point about the weather, the forecast in Provo this weekend calls for highs/lows of 48/25, 54/29, and 54/30.

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The atmosphere at Schroeder Park this weekend was great, especially on Sunday afternoon, and Cougars fans significantly outnumbered Bears fans . . . Coach Whitting thanked the fans in his postgame remarks on Sunday, “Our crowds this weekend were awesome. The environment out here today was second to none, so I appreciate all of our fans coming out here and all of our supporters.”

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Cougars Notebook – March 4, 2024

Houston went 1-3 over the last week and is 7-4 this season.

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Houston got some work in at Minute Maid Park on Thursday

The Cougars lost to Texas State on Friday in 10 innings . . . The Bobcats followed that by defeating then No. 12 Texas 11-10 on Saturday in the day’s middle game . . . Texas State scored 11 runs against the Longhorns pitching staff and took a late-inning 11-10 victory on a home run in the top of the ninth inning . . . Texas State ran out of gas on Sunday though and lost to No. 2 LSU 10-3.

Houston lost to No. 11 Vanderbilt 3-1 on Saturday in a well played contest . . . Cameron Nickens provided all of the offense for the Cougars with a solo home run into the Crawford Boxes . . . Vanderbilt went on to defeat Texas on Sunday 14-11 after trailing 11-3.

The Cougars picked up their sole victory of the weekend with a 13-10 win over the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns in a game that lasted 11 innings and actually ended early Monday morning . . . The game lasted 4:28 after starting late at 8:05pm . . . The win over Louisiana snapped a four-game losing skid by the Cougars after they started the season 6-0.

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Harold Coll stole three bases on Sunday and set a new stolen base record for a single game in the Astros Foundation College Classic.

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Right-hander Jaxon Jelkin was the only Houston player named to the All-Tournament Team for his Friday outing against Texas State . . . Jelkin pitched 5 1/3 innings and struck out a career-high eight batters while allowing just four hits and two earned runs before exiting.

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This week the Cougars host Sam Houston, which will see the return of former Cougar Malachi Lott for the first time since he transferred after last season . . . This will be the first of three games this season against the Bearkats as part of the Don Sanders Cup series . . . The first pitch on Tuesday at Schroeder Park is set for 6:30pm.

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Houston will host Baylor for their first Big 12 series ever . . . The Bears are coming off a weekend sweep of Oral Roberts in Waco to improve to 4-7 this season . . . Baylor will only play one game during their midweek, against No. 17 Dallas Baptist.

The Friday and Saturday games will begin at 6:30pm and the Sunday game will open at 1pm.

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The Cougars will play a Big 12 team every weekend for the rest of the season, with the exception of April 26-28 when Houston will host UT Arlington.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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Cougars Notebook – October 2, 2023

Jared Triolo played in six games the final week of the season . . . Triolo had hits in four straight games, he had two hits in three of the four games before going hitless in the season finale on Sunday . . . Triolo finished the season with a .298 batting average, a .786 OPS, three home runs, and 21 RBI over two stints with the Pirates . . . Defensively, Triolo played games at at first base, second base, and third base.

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Connor Wong completed the 2023 season having been on the Boston Red Sox active roster the entire season, never making a trip to the injured list or missing any time . . . Wong played in 121 games, four of them at second base, Wong started at catcher in 105 games . . . Defensively, Wong finished in the top 10 in catching 18 runners trying to steal . . . Offensively, Wong finished with nine home runs on the season.

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Former Cougars left-hander John King finished his 2023 campaign with two scoreless outings of one inning each, September 30 and October 1, both against the Cincinnati Reds in St. Louis . . . In Sunday’s outing, King recorded three outs, two of them by strikeout . . . King ended the season with a 3.62 ERA and compiled 20 strike outs in 37 1/3 innings pitched . . . It is worth mentioning once again that King’s numbers reflect part of his season with the Texas Rangers before being traded near the trade deadline in late July.

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Cougars Notebook – September 25, 2023

As the season winds down, and the minor leagues have completed their regular seasons, there are fewer and fewer things to report.

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Jared Triolo played in four games for the Pirates last week . . . In the last three games of the week, Triolo was 2-for-3 with a solo home run, 4-for-5 with a double, and 2-for-3 with another double . . . Triolo enters this week with a three game hitting streak.

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John King tossed a scoreless frame in San Diego against the Padres on September 23 . . . King lowered his ERA this season to 3.82, split between his time with Rangers and Cardinals.

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Cougars Notebook – September 18, 2023

Former Cougars right-hander Nick Hernandez was promoted to the San Diego Padres on September 11 . . . Hernandez made his MLB debut on September 12 in Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium where he pitched two innings in relief.

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Jared Triolo played in three games last week, and he made appearances at various positions in addition to third base . . . Triolo spent time at first base and second base defensively . . Triolo went 2-for-3 Sunday against the Yankees in a 3-2 Pirates victory.

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John King made three relief appearances last week, all of them one inning . . . The September 12 and September 13 outings were scoreless.

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Former Cougars Jake Scheiner and Austin Pruitt both remain sidelined with injuries.

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