Category: Cougars Notebook

Cougars Notebook – July 3, 2023

As the clock changed from 11:59pm to 12:00am late on Friday, June 30 to early on Saturday, July 1, the University of Houston became a member of the Big 12.

. . .

Former Cougars third baseman Jared Triolo was promoted to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night . . . On Wednesday night, June 28, Triolo made his MLB debut at third base against the San Diego Padres . . . Triolo picked up his first base hit in the eighth inning as part of a 1-for-3 effort, including a hit-by-pitch to reach base as part of a five-run seventh inning.

Triolo then picked up his first RBI in the big leagues on Saturday, July 1 when he doubled off the wall in right field in PNC Park against the Milwaukee Brewers.

. . .

Last week it was announced that the Cougars would participate in the 2024 Astros Foundation College Classic, which was formerly called the Shriners College Classic . . . The Astros Classic will take place at Minute Maid Park March 1-3, 2024 . . . The Cougars will play Texas, Vanderbilt, and Louisiana  . . . Texas, LSU will also be in town for the Classic, but they will not face Houston.

. . .

Jake Scheiner hit his 20th home run of the season on Friday night for AAA Tacoma . . . Scheiner also had 76 total hits, 66 RBI, and 47 walks to close out June.

. . .

Former Cougars RHP Fred Villarreal was released by the Seattle Mariners organization on June 28 . . . On June 30, Villarreal signed with the Toros de Tijuana of the Mexican Baseball League.

Cougars Notebook – May 29, 2023

Houston’s 2023 season came to an end Saturday night in Clearwater as they bowed out of the conference Championship having gone 3-2.

. . .

After the completion of the Championship, the All-Tournament team was named and Justin Murray and Brandon Uhse were both named to the team . . . The list featured players by position, but there were no names listed for third base for some reason . . . It is reasonable to think that Zach Arnold could have been named to the All-Tournament team as well.

. . .

The end of the college baseball regular and tournament season saw Houston finish at the 100 spot in the RPI+ ranking created by College Baseball Nation . . . The RPI+ is not new this season, but it correctly chose 62 of the 64 teams that made the NCAA tournament field this year.

. . .

Pitching Coach Kyle Bunn will not be returning to Houston next season

. . .

Jake Scheiner hit his 15th home run of the season for AAA Tacoma on May 27.

. . .

Former Houston slugger Ryan Hernandez finally has a shot with a big league organization . . . Hernandez signed with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim this week.

. . .

Former Cougars pitcher Logan Clayton was promoted to the Hillsboro Hops, the High-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 23 . . . Clayton opened the season with the Single-A Visalia Rawhide.

Clayton made six appearances out of the bullpen for Visalia and allowed just one run over 10 1/3 innings pitched while he struck out eleven batters.

. . .

Cougars Notebook – May 15, 2023

Justin Murray has been named Player of the Week in The American for last week . . . From The Americans press release:

Murray aided the Cougars to a 3-1 week and maintained first place in The American’s standings by hitting .556 (10-18) with six runs scored, one double, one home run and seven RBI for the week. He also earned a win and a save from the mound in two relief outings during a sweep over Tulane.

. . .

Former Cougars first baseman Ryan Hernandez hit his first home run as a professional on Thursday for the Cleburne Railroaders of the American Association of Professional Baseball.

. . .

Connor Wong hit his fourth home run of the season on May 12 in a game against the Cardinals.

. . .

Cougars Notebook – May 1, 2023

Zach Arnold named to the Honor Roll in the American for the third straight week . . . Per the conference press release: Arnold hit .500 (8-16) with four runs scored, two home runs and five RBI in four games for the Cougars, including a series win at UCF.

. . .

Houston was 2-2 last week with a 4-2 loss at home to Lamar and a conference series win at UCF.

. . .

The Cougars finished April with a record of 12-6.

. . .

Houston will play at Rice on Wednesday for game two of this years Silver Glove Series . . . Houston leads the series 1-0 after a 14-13 win over the Owls on April 4 at Schroeder Park . . . The two teams face each other twice in a week to decide the winner this year, May 3 and May 10, both games at Reckling Park and both games set to begin at 6:30pm.

Houston will then host Wichita State this weekend . . . The Cougars and the Shockers are tied atop the conference standings, so this weekend will separate the two teams . . . The forecast for this weekend looks sketchy, right now, so stay tuned for potential schedule updates as Friday gets closer . . . As of right now, first pitch Friday at Schroeder Park is scheduled for 6:30pm.

. . .

Former Cougars catcher Connor Wong hit his first home run of the season in a 7-1 win against Cleveland on Sunday . . . For Wong the home run was part of a 2-for-4 effort.

. . .

RPI+

After all the action this weekend, with the exception of today’s Texas at TCU game, this is where teams stand according to RPI+ by College Baseball Nation.

This is just a sampling of teams Houston has played or will play, and some Big 12 teams are in there to show where those teams compare to Houston at the moment, but obviously the conference standings would be much different if Houston and UCF were already in the Big 12.

15 West Virginia

20 Oklahoma State

29 East Carolina

47 UTSA

48 Kansas State

53 Texas A&M

69 TCU

78 UT Arlington

81 Wichita State

*99 Houston

106 Sam Houston

118 McNeese

120 Lamar

128 Incarnate Word

143 UCF

146 Cincinnati

150 Rice

Cougars Notebook – April 24, 2023

Zach Arnold and Josh Ekness both made the Honor Roll in The American for their efforts last week.

Per The American:

Arnold hit .500 (8-16) with six runs, two doubles and a pair of runs driven in as the Cougars went 3-1, including a series win at Memphis.

Ekness threw six scoreless innings with six strikeouts and only one hit allowed in an 8-0 victory at Memphis on Friday night. Ekness and teammate Maddux Miller combined for a one-hit shutout.

. . .

The Cougars will host Lamar Tuesday at Schroeder Park before traveling to Orlando to play UCF this weekend.

. . .

RPI+

Cougars Notebook – April 17, 2023

Zach Arnold was named Player of the Week in The American for his performance last week.

Per The American:

Arnold aided the Cougars to a series win against South Florida by hitting .667 (10-15) with eight runs scored and eight RBI. He recorded a hit in every game this week and extended his streak of reaching base to 32 games. The junior third baseman went 4-for-4 in the second game of the series with the Bulls with four runs scored and two doubles.

. . .

Corey Julks hit his first home run in the big leagues last Wednesday in Pittsburgh against the Pirates. As of right now Julks, who made his MLB debut on March 31, is batting .289 with eleven hits thru his first ten games with the Astros.

. . .

RPI+ by College Baseball Nation looks like this right now:

14 East Carolina

26 UTSA

48 Texas A&M

89 California

95 Sam Houston (Houston plays Sam Houston on May 16 at Constellation Field in Sugar Land)

100 UT Arlington

116 South Florida

119 Incarnate Word

123 Rice (Houston plays Rice two more times this season, both times at Rice)

125 McNeese

135 Wichita State

Future Opponents:

136 UCF

RPI+ is a modified RPI statistic that factors in conference RPI, conference record, and other factors. RPI+ has been more accurate than RPI in picking at-large teams in each of the last four years. In 2021, RPI+ correctly picked the top eight seeds and 14 of the 16 Regional hosts. Like the RPI, RPI+ becomes more accurate as the season progresses.

Additional notes: The weights for each component of RPI+ were trained using the NCAA Selection Committee’s picks from the 2018, 2019, and 2022 seasons. RPI+ was formerly known as CBR.

Cougars Notebook – April 10, 2023

Cougars catcher Anthony Tulimero was named to the Honor Roll in The America for his play last week.

The American stated in its weekly press release announcing the honor:

Tulimero hit .556 (10-18) with seven runs scored, two home runs and eight RBI. He hit both home runs and drove in four against Rice on Tuesday.

. . .

The Cougars now stand at 117 in RPI+, a ranking method created by College Baseball Nation (see description of RPI+ below). Houston was at 149 at the beginning of last week. Here is where Houston’s opponents they have faced this season fall within the ranking system:

19 East Carolina

39 Texas A&M

43 UTSA

82 Oklahoma

85 Rice (Houston and Rice play two more times this season)

92 Sam Houston (Houston and Sam Houston play two more times this season, including one game this week)

99 California

RPI+ is a modified RPI statistic that factors in conference RPI, conference record, and other factors. RPI+ has been more accurate than RPI in picking at-large teams in each of the last four years. In 2021, RPI+ correctly picked the top eight seeds and 14 of the 16 Regional hosts. Like the RPI, RPI+ becomes more accurate as the season progresses.

Additional notes: The weights for each component of RPI+ were trained using the NCAA Selection Committee’s picks from the 2018, 2019, and 2022 seasons. RPI+ was formerly known as CBR.

Cougars Notebook – April 3, 2023

Alex Lopez and Justin Murray have been named to the Honor Roll in The American’s weekly awards.

The American had this to say about both players in its weekly press release:

Murray saw action in three contests last week, throwing 6 2/3 scoreless innings. He earned the win against East Carolina on Friday night and picked up the save in Sunday’s victory.

Lopez hit .375 with three runs, a double, a triple, a home run and four RBI. He had the go-ahead 3-run home run in the seventh inning of a series clincher against East Carolina.

. . .

Houston sits at #149 in RPI+ from College Baseball Nation.

Houston opponents that they have already played this season:

96 California

98 Sam Houston State (Houston and Sam Houston play two more games this season)

Upcoming Houston opponents are also ranked:

70 Rice (Houston will face Rice three times this season)

94 South Florida

118 Wichita State

148 Lamar

RPI+ is a modified RPI statistic that factors in conference RPI, conference record, and other factors. RPI+ has been more accurate than RPI in picking at-large teams in each of the last four years. In 2021, RPI+ correctly picked the top eight seeds and 14 of the 16 Regional hosts. Like the RPI, RPI+ becomes more accurate as the season progresses.

​Additional notes: The weights for each component of RPI+ were trained using the NCAA Selection Committee’s picks from the 2018, 2019, and 2022 seasons. RPI+ was formerly known as CBR.

Cougars Notebook – March 27, 2023

Cameron Nickens has been named Player of the Week in The American.

By the numbers:

.375 average

9 runs scored

2 doubles

5 home runs

9 RBI

“The sophomore had at least one home run in each of Houston’s victories last week. He also had hits in every game and multiple hits in three contests,” added The American via their press release.