Category: Cougars Notebook

Cougars Notebook – September 11, 2023

Connor Wong played in four games over the last week and he had a hit in three of those games . . . Wong hit a triple to right field in Tampa Bay against the Rays on September 6 and homered against the Baltimore Orioles on September 8 . . . Wong has hit in each of his last three games, five hits total in that span, and he has one RBI in each of those three games, he carries both streaks into this new week.

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John King made one appearance last week for the Cardinals . . . King tossed a scoreless inning and recorded two of his three outs by strikeout against the Cincinnati Reds . . . King threw 12 total pitches, 9 of them for strikes.

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Jared Triolo was recalled from AAA back to the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 6 . . . Triolo has appeared in two games since being recalled.

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This Thursday two former Cougars baseball players will be inducted into the University if Houston Hall of Honor . . . Michael Bourn and Rick Brewer will be a part of the induction class that includes former quarterback Case Keenum.

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Cougars Notebook – September 4, 2023

John King made three appearances in the last week for the St. Louis Cardinals . . . Two of King’s outings were scoreless, with his appearance September 2 against the Pirates being his strongest . . . King threw 1 1/3 innings against Pittsburgh on just 17 pitches, 11 of them for strikes.

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Catcher Connor Wong played in four games last week, two against the Astros and two against the Royals . . . Wong had hits in three of the of the games and one RBI on two of the games.

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Jake Scheiner carried a one game hit streak into last week before Tacoma took on Sugar Land . . . Scheiner hit in the first five games of the week before his hit streak ended at six games on Sunday . . . Scheiner had eights base hits, three home runs, and 12 RBI against the Space Cowboys.

Scheiner leads the Pacific Coast League with 30 home runs and 105 RBI . . . The 105 RBI leads all of AAA baseball.

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Zach Arnold played in three games last week for Single-A Clearwater . . . Arnold had a hit and an RBI in each of the three games.

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Jared Triolo played in six games last week for AAA Indianapolis . . . Triolo hit in four straight games last week, extending his hit streak to five games . . . Three of the hits were doubles for Triolo.

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Cougars Notebook – August 28, 2023

Connor Wong had himself a week . . . Wong hit in all five games he played in last week and thus takes a five game hitting streak into this week . . . Wong was 4-for-6 at Minute Maid Park against the Astros on August 24, including a two-run home run off of Houston catcher-turned-reliever Martin Maldonado.

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John King made two relief appearances this past week . . . In his first appearance, at Pittsburgh on August 22, King threw 1 2/3 innings striking out one and allowing one hit . . . In Philadelphia on August 27, King threw 2/3 of an inning without allowing a run . . . King has allowed just one run in eight appearances since being traded to the Cardinals on July 30.

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Robert Gasser improved to 9-1 this season with the Nashville Sounds after a six inning outing on August 25 against Gwinnett . . . Gasser threw 91 pitches with 66 of them for strikes.

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Cougars Notebook – August 21, 2023

Two Cougars appeared in the same game although for opposing teams on August 15 . . . Austin Pruitt threw 2/3 of a scoreless inning for the Athletics against the St. Louis Cardinals . . . John King matched Pruitt with his own scoreless 2/3 of an inning for the Cardinals.

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John King then tossed a scoreless 1 1/3 innings on Sunday in a Cardinals victory over the New York Mets . . . King struck out two of his four recorded outs and allowed no hits or walks.

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Connor Wong delivered a two-run home run at Yankee Stadium and scored twice for the Red Sox in a Boston 8-1 victory over the Yankees on Saturday . . . For Wong it was his seventh home run of the season and came off of Yankees ace Gerrit Cole.

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Triolo went 1-for-3 on August 15 at Citi Field against the Mets . . . Triolo picked up an RBI on a bases loaded hit by pitch and he also reached base on a fielding error by Francisco Lindor in the Pirates 7-4 road win.

Triolo was optioned back to AAA Indianapolis on Friday with the Pirates team in Minneapolis.

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Corey Julks was called back up by the Astros from AAA Sugar Land on Saturday and delivered a pinch hit in his only at-bat in a 10-3 Houston loss to Seattle.

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Zach Arnold went 3-for-4 with an RBI on August 15 for the Clearwater Threshers . . . The RBI came when Arnold hit his first home run as a professional.

Through his first eleven games for Clearwater, Arnold has hit in nine of them and has multiple hits in four games . . . He is batting .382.

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Robert Gasser struck out ten batters and allowed no walks on Friday night for the AAA Nashville Sounds . . . Gasser threw six innings allowing just one run on seven hits.

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Jake Scheiner is tied for the home run lead in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and leads the league with 92 RBI.

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Cougars Notebook – August 14, 2023

Jared Triolo did not start in game one of Sunday’s doubleheader with the Cincinnati Reds, but he did finish the game . . . With the Pirates trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the 7th inning, Triolo pinch hit with runners on first and second base and he delivered a three-run go ahead home run, his first home run in the major leagues . . . Pittsburgh went on to win the game 4-2.

Triolo opened the week going 2-for-3 with one RBI against the Atlanta Braves . . . Triolo picked up a hit two days later, but only saw playing time in four/five games last week as the Pirates are trying to figure out playing time and proper rest with their lineup.

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John King scoreless inning against Tampa Bay Rays August 9 in Tampa . . . King did not allow a hit or a walk In his outing as the Cardinals took the 6-4 victory.

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Austin Pruitt got the start in a bullpen game on August 9 against the first place Texas Rangers . . . Pruitt threw two hitless, scoreless innings with two strike outs to open the game before giving way to the rest of the bullpen . . . The Athletics shutout the Rangers 2-0.

Pruitt recorded two outs for the Athletics against the Washington Nationals on Saturday night . . . Pruitt walked one batter and struck out another in his outing to get Oakland out of the sixth inning.

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Connor Wong had a base hit in four of his five games played last week . . . Wong also had an RBI in each of those four games . . . Wong went 2-for-4 Friday night with an RBI in a Red Sox 5-2 win over the Detroit Tigers.

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Former Cougars left-hander Lael Lockhart Jr. pitched 11 innings last week  without allowing an earned run for the Erie SeaWolves, the AA affiliate of the Detroit Tigers . . . Lockhart Jr. threw five scoreless frames on Sunday allowing just two base hits and striking out five batters.

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Cougars Notebook – August 7, 2023

Former Cougars lefty Robert Gasser improved to 6-1 on Friday night for the AAA Nashville Sounds . . .  Gasser tossed six scoreless frames allowing just two hits while striking out ten batters.

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Left-hander John King made his first appearance in a St. Louis Cardinals uniform on August 1 after the Rangers traded King as part of a five player deal just days before . . . King tossed a scoreless inning and gave up one hit against the Minnesota Twins in a 3-2 Cardinals loss.

King also pitched a scoreless inning against the Colorado Rockies on Sunday in a 1-0 Cardinals loss at home.

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Austin Pruitt pitched two scoreless innings for the Athletics against the Dodgers on August 2 in Los Angeles . . . Pruitt did not allow a hit but struck out two Dodgers hitters on a night the National League West leaders scored ten runs against the rest of the Oakland pitching staff.

On August 5, Pruitt tossed a scoreless inning against the San Francisco Giants in a 2-1 Oakland victory.

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Jared Triolo has seen his playing time with the Pittsburgh Pirates somewhat reduced with the return of third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes from the injured list . . . Triolo started at second base for the Pirates in Sunday’s finale in Milwaukee against the Brewers, a contest that the Pirates won 4-1.

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Former Cougars RHP Ben Sears is 3-1 with eight saves in 27 appearances for the Columbus Fireflies, the Single-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals . . . Sears also has a 2.75 ERA.

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After just four games in the Florida Complex League (FCL) recently drafted Zach Arnold was promoted to the Single-A Clearwater Threshers by the Phillies . . . In eleven at-bats Arnold had two doubles and a triple and five RBI.

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The first year in the Big 12 for Houston was going to be an odd one anyway because after the first year, the conference is losing Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC . . . Well, the second year got more interesting with the Friday news that Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah would be joining the Big 12 beginning with the 2024-25 academic year.

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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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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.