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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2023 MLB Draft Recap

Five players with some sort of a connection to the University of Houston baseball program heard they name called over the three days of 2023 MLB Draft which started Sunday evening and ended Tuesday afternoon.

Two Cougars from the 2023 Cougars roster were drafted on Tuesday.

Josh Ekness was drafted by the Miami Marlins in the 12th Round, with the 353rd overall pick.

Zach Arnold was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 14th Round, with the 433rd overall pick.

Two incoming Houston Cougars were also chosen on Tuesday.

Nehomar Ochoa from Galena Park High School, was chosen in the 11th Round by the Houston Astros with the 344th pick.

Jaxon Jelkin, a pitcher from South Mountain CC in Arizona was chosen by the Los Angeles Dodgers with the 430th overall pick in the 14th Round.

Former Cougar Craig Yoho, who played at Houston in 2019 and 2020 before transferring to Indiana, was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 8th Round on Monday with the 242nd overall pick . . . Prior to the 2023 season, after having missed two seasons with injuries, Yoho’s last appearance in college baseball was in a Houston uniform on March 6, 2020 at Arizona . . . Yoho played nine games as a position player while with the Cougars.

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.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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

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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.

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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.

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