Cougars Fall Behind Early, Defeat Huskies 13-7

Houston hosted Houston Christian on Tuesday before a weekend road trip

Houston fell behind early to Houston Christian on Tuesday night at Schroeder Park but eventually took a 13-7 victory before hitting the road for a weekend of conference play.

Kyle Ayers took the mound in the first inning with the bases loaded and no outs and the Cougars already trailing 1-0 . . . A single scored two more runs, but a double-play and a fly out ended the inning with the Huskies staked to a 3-0 lead.

Houston wasted no time getting right back in the game . . . Malachi Lott was walked to lead off the bottom of the first inning and then stole second base . . . Zach Arnold (2-for-2) singled to drive in Lott . . . One out later, Anthony Tulimero (2-for-5) doubled into the left-field corner to drive in Lott and the Cougars were within a run going to the second inning, 3-2.

Ian McMillan led off the bottom of the second inning with a home run to left field to tie the game at three.

In the bottom of the third inning, two quick outs were followed by three consecutive walks and a hit-by-pitch which walked in a run . . . Brandon Uhse then hit a grand slam over the wall in left-center field to give Houston a 8-4 lead.

Ayers was replaced after four innings of really solid relief work in which he only allowed a run and struck out four Huskies batters.

Drew Bianco (2-for-3) led off the bottom of the fifth inning by hitting the first offering over the wall in left-center field, his fourth home run of the season, and Houston led 9-4.

Braedyn Cunningham followed Ayers on the mound and tossed three quality innings allowing just one run to get the game into the eighth inning . . . Braden Forsyth delivered another solid outing as well, throwing two scoreless frames allowing just a single base hit but facing the minimum by inducing a double-play ball.

Justin Murray extended his reached-base streak to 33 games with a RBI single in the seventh inning, and the single also pushed his hitting streak to 15 games.

Houston (21-16, 6-3) hits the road now for a conference series at Memphis this weekend . . . The Cougars do not play at Schroeder Park again until next Tuesday when they will host Lamar for a midweek before another weekend road series . . . First pitch this Friday in Memphis is scheduled for 6:00pm.

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 Top Bulls 16-10, Capture Series

Malachi Lott made the Saturday start for Houston on Saturday afternoon

Houston captured their third straight weekend series win with a 16-10 victory over South Florida on Saturday afternoon at Schroeder Park giving the Cougars a chance to sweep on Sunday.

In the bottom of the first inning, Zach Arnold (4-for-4) laced a one-out double to the wall in deep right-center field and extended his reached base streak to 31 games . . . Alex Lopez followed with a towering home run to right field for a 2-0 Houston lead.

Tied at two in the bottom of the second inning, the Cougars loaded the bases with one out on a walk to Brandon Burckel, a single by Ian McMillan (3-for-5), and a walk to Drew Bianco (2-for-4) . . . Malachi Lott (4-for-6) then lined a single between shortstop and third base to drive in two runs . . . Arnold followed with a mammoth, 428 foot home run to center field, a three-run blast to cap the scoring in the five-run inning, and the Cougars took a 7-2 lead.

In the bottom of the third inning, Justin Murray singled for the second time in as many innings . . . One out later, McMillan dropped a singled into right-center field, a ball that fell between players fighting the sun . . . Bianco singled to right field to drive in Murray and a throwing error by the right-fielder allowed McMillan to cross the plate . . . An infield single by Arnold scored Bianco as the third run of the inning and Houston led 10-2.

Lott added a solo home run in the fifth inning which traveled 431 feet to right field . . . Lott singled again to lead off the bottom of the eighth inning . . . Arnold followed with a double before Lopez grounded out to plate Lott . . . Tulimero then drove a ball off the Houston Baseball billboard in left-center field gap for a two-run home run with two outs and the Cougars increased their lead to 16-8.

The Houston offense scored a run in six of eight frames in the game with nineteen hits . . . Lott and Arnold both finished the game a triple shy of hitting for the cycle . . . Defensively, the Cougars turned three double plays and did not commit an error in the field.

The Cougars and the Bull conclude their conference series on Sunday at Schroeder Park . . . Cade Citelli will be on the mond for Houston in the finale . . First pitch will take place at 1pm.

Houston Takes Opener Against Bulls 6-5

Houston opened a weekend series with South Florida Friday at Schroeder Park

The Cougars took the first game of their weekend series with conference foe South Florida on Friday night with a 6-5 victory at Schroeder Park.

South Florida jumped out to a 3-0 first inning lead against Houston.

Brandon Uhse led off the top of the second inning with a single, the first hit of the game for the Cougars . . . One out later, Justin Murray (3-for-4) tripled to the wall in right-center field to score Uhse . . . Brandon Burckel followed with a two-out single into left-center field bringing Murray across the plate . . . After an errant throw on a pick-off attempt at first base allowed Burckel to reach second base, Ian McMillan (2-for-3) singled into center field to tie the game at three.

Trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the third inning, the Houston offense got churning once again . . . Zach Arnold singled to lead off the inning and extend his reached-base streak to 30 games . . . Alex Lopez followed with a walk . . . Two outs later Murray doubled off the wall in right field to give Houston a one-run lead, driving in his third run of the game . . . Cameron Nickens followed with a single into right field to drive home Murray and the Cougars led 6-4.

Right-hander Owen Woodward took the mound in the third inning with two outs . . . Woodward proceeded to throw five innings when the Cougars needed someone to eat up some innings after the short outing by the Friday starter . . . Woodward allowed just one run and struck out four while not walking any batters . . . Brendan O’Donnell got the final out of the top of the eighth inning, striking out the only batter he faced.

Murray took the mound in the top of the ninth inning to protect the 6-5 lead . . . Murray allowed a one-out infield single on a slow-roller to shortstop but he worked around it to retire the next two batters and earn the save, his fifth of the season . . . Woodward picked up the win for his effort, he improves to 3-0 this season.

The Cougars (19-15, 5-2) and the Bulls will continue their series on Saturday afternoon at Schroeder Park . . . Due to the potential for weather issues later in the night, Saturday’s first pitch has been moved up to 2pm . . . Paul Schmitz will be on the mound for Houston as they look to capture the series.

Cougars Win 14-3 Over Sam Houston, Even Sanders Cup

Houston hosted Sam Houston at Schroeder Park Tuesday night

The Houston Cougars evened the Don Sanders Cup series on Tuesday night with a dominant 14-3 victory over Sam Houston at Schroeder Park . . . The win was also the 400th career win for head coach Todd Whitting.

Houston went to the bullpen in the first inning already trailing 2-0 . . . Right-hander Braden Forsyth took the ball with two on base and one out and induced a double-play ground ball to end the inning without further damage.

The Cougars wasted no time changing the score . . . Zach Arnold (3-for-4) singled into right-center field to extend his reached-base streak to 29 games with one out . . . Alex Lopez followed with a double to the wall in right field to drive in Arnold all the way from first base . . . Brandon Uhse (3-for-4) tied the game with a single to right field before a RBI single by Justin Murray (3-for-4) gave Houston a 3-2 lead going to the second inning.

Forsyth was replaced on the mound with two out in the top of the fifth inning having pitched 4 1/3 quality innings, his longest out of the season, at a time when Houston needed to stop the hemorrhaging in the first inning.

With the game tied at three in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Cougars mounted another big rally . . . Drew Bianco led off the frame with a walk . . . One out later, Arnold singled for the second time on the night . . . After a walk to Lopez to load the bases, Uhse doubled down the right field line to drive in two runs . . . A sacrifice fly RBI to left field off the bat of Anthony Tulimero (2-for-3) was followed by Murray’s second RBI single to right field in the game and Houston grabbed a 7-3 lead heading to the sixth inning.

With two runners on base and no outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, Malachi Lott doubled off the wall in right field to drive in one run . . . Arnold followed with his third single of the game to drive in two runs . . . Lopez and Uhse both followed with two RBI doubles . . . Murray, as the eighth batter of the frame, flew out to right field for the first out of the inning, but his sacrifice fly RBI made it 13-3 in favor of Houston.

The Cougars added a run in the bottom of the seventh inning on a sacrifice fly to left field by Uhse to score Lott from third base and Houston led 14-3.

The Houston bullpen held the Bearkats offense to no runs and just one hit over the final five frames . . . Brendan O’Donnell, Maddux Miller, Malachi Lott, and Dan Wright all limited the potent Sam Houston lineup to preserve the victory . . . O’Donnell (2-0) retired all four batters he faced and earned the win . . . Miller retired the side in order in his frame and Lott struck out two Bearkats in his inning of work . . . Wright struck out the side in the top of the ninth inning.

The Houston win sets up a decisive third game to determine the winner of the 2023 Don Sanders Cup . . . The Cougars and the Bearkats will determine the winner of the Cup on May 16 at Constellation Field in Sugar Land.

Asked about his 400th win of his career, Whitting was gracious and directed credit for it to everyone but himself.

“400 wins come by being surrounded by great players, assistant coaches, fans, donors and an administration that has the same vision. I truly appreciate everyone that has the same passion that I have for University of Houston Baseball,” Whitting said.

Houston is off until they welcome South Florida to town for a conference series beginning on Friday . . . . The Cougars have won the first two conference series, first against East Carolina and then against Wichita State . . . First pitch at Schroeder Park will take place at 6:30pm.

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.

Houston Run-Rules Wichita State 17-3, Takes Road Series

Houston took the series win on Saturday at Wichita State

Houston clinched a series win on the road against Wichita State on Saturday in a decisive 17-3 run-rule victory.

Zach Arnold was bit by a pitch with one out in the top of the first inning . . . Arnold then moved to third base on a two-out single to left field by Brandon Uhse (2-for-3) . . . After a steal of second base by Uhse, Anthony Tulimero (3-for-5) doubled to left field to drive in both runners on base . . . Justin Murray followed with a single to right-center field to score Tulimero and give Houston a 3-0 lead in the opening frame.

The score remained 3-0 until the top of the fifth inning when Ian McMillan led off the inning with a single before he stole second base to reach scoring position with one out . . . Malachi Lott (3-for-5) then drove a single the opposite way into left field to plate McMillan and extend the Cougars lead.

Cade Citelli made the Saturday start for Houston and was really good in his outing . . . Citelli pitched five complete innings before being removed in the top of the sixth inning . . . Citelli allowed just one earned run on four hits while striking out eight and was in line for the win if the Cougars held on the rest of the way.

Leading 4-3 in the top of the seventh inning, Brandon Burckel was hit by a pitch to reach base before he stole second base ahead of a Drew Bianco infield single to put runners on the corners with no one out, forcing Wichita State to their bullpen once again . . . Arnold then drove a ball to the wall in left field for a two-run double . . . Alex Lopez immediately followed with a single into right field to score Arnold, but Houston was not done in the inning.

A walk to Uhse was followed by a RBI single by Tulimero setting the stage for a Murray three-run home run deep to left field . . . Burckel was hit by a pitch for the second time in the same inning ahead of walks to McMillan and Bianco to load the bases . . . Lott then drove a ball deep the opposite way off the top of the wall just about a foot or two from the foul pole for a bases clearing double.

Still in the top of the seventh inning, Arnold was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game . . . Cary Arbolida pinch-hit for Lopez and promptly drove the third pitch of his at-bat over the wall in center field for a three-run home run and a 17-3 Cougars lead heading to the seventh inning stretch.

The Cougars scored 13 runs in the seventh inning, all of them with two outs . . . Houston also sent 17 batters to the plate in the inning.

Owen Woodward took the mound for the bottom of the seventh inning and struck out all three batters that he faced to close out the victory.

After some travel woes caused the delay of the start of the weekend series and forced a doubleheader to be played on Saturday, Cougars head coach Todd Whitting had good reason to wonder what his team would do with three games to play in just over 24 hours.

“I thought the team was tough and grinded all weekend,” Whitting said. “After delays, we didn’t get to the hotel until 6am on Thursday, I thought fatigue caught up with us in game two [Friday] but we came out today ready to play from the first pitch.”

In all three games this weekend, the Cougars got five or more innings from their starting pitchers and had minimal need for the bullpen in what could have been a difficult short-term situation with both fatigue and over-use real possibilities.

“I have said all along we have a talented pitching staff and it would take us some time to get roles established,” Whitting said after Saturday’s win. “With LaCalameto and Phelps out, and Torrealba out until this past weekend . . . it took a little longer than we wanted.”

Lott and Murray each had four RBI in the Saturday win, while Tulimero and Arbolida each had three RBI.

Houston (17-15, 4-2) returns home after the Saturday contest and will next be in action on Tuesday night at Schroeder Park when the Cougars will host Sam Houston State . . . Houston will be trying to even the three-game Don Sanders Cup series after dropping the first game in Huntsville last month . . . First pitch on Tuesday night is scheduled for 6:30pm.

Cougars Split Two with Shockers, Deciding Game Saturday

Josh Ekness got the start in game one Friday at Wichita State

The Cougars and the Wichita State Shockers split a doubleheader on Friday with Houston taking game one 8-6 and losing game two 6-1 at Eck Stadium in Wichita.

Josh Ekness got the start for Houston in game one and was outstanding over 5 1/3 innings.

Ian McMillan hit a two-run home run to left field in the top of the eighth inning to increase the Houston advantage to 8-5.

Justin Murray closed out the win for the Cougars tossing the final two innings and allowing just two hits and striking out three in earning the save, his fourth of the season.

Paul Schmitz took the mound in game two and was quite good, though the result went against him as his defense let him down a couple of times and the Houston offense was stymied all evening . . . Schmitz tossed 6 1/3 innings allowing the potent Shockers offense five hits and four earned runs.

As alluded to, the defense behind Schmitz was lacking at times in Friday’s second game . . . A potential inning-ending fly ball was dropped on the warning track in deep left-center field allowing the hitter to wind up on third base with a triple while two runs scored.

The Shockers did not score another run until the seventh inning after Schmitz had handed the ball to the Houston bullpen.

A sacrifice fly RBI off the bat of Murray in the top of the eighth inning was the extent of the Houston offense in game two.

The Cougars (16-15, 3-2) and the Shockers (18-12, 3-2) will conclude their Easter weekend series on Saturday at noon in Wichita.

Cougars Walk-Off Rice in 14-13 Midweek Slugfest

Graysen Drezek got the start against Rice on Tuesday at Schroeder Park

Houston scored a run in every inning except the first on their way to a 14-13 win over Rice in game one of the 2023 Silver Glove Series Tuesday night at Schroeder Park.

With no score in the game, Anthony Tulimero led off the bottom of the second inning with a line-drive home run to left field . . . One out later, Brandon Uhse doubled off the wall in deep left-center field . . . Ian McMillan then drove a two-out ground ball down the left field line just inside the third base line to plate Uhse and give Houston an early 2-0 lead.

Trailing 4-2, Zach Arnold clobbered a ball 444 feet to lead off the bottom of the third inning to close the deficit by a run.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Alex Lopez was walked to get the inning started . . . Tulimero lined his fourth hit of the game into left-center field for a single . . . Justin Murray then drove a double into left-center scoring both Lopez and Tulimero and giving Houston a 13-12 advantage.

Rice tied the game at 13 in the top of the ninth inning setting up for a dramatic finish.

Houston has a short week for the Easter holiday . . . The Cougars are on their way to Wichita on Wednesday morning to face Wichita State in a series that opens on Thursday . . . First pitch from Eck Stadium is slated for 6pm.

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.