Few things went right for Houston in San Antonio on Wednesday as UTSA run-ruled the Cougars in seven innings, 12-2.
Among the positive takeaways against the Roadrunners is the fact that many Cougars pitchers got their first action of the season, and many pitchers made their debut in Houston uniforms . . . Eleven pitchers were used in the midweek contest.
The Cougars now head south to Corpus Christi to take part in the Kleberg Bank Classis where they will be opposed by Utah, Texas A&M Corpus Christi, and Incarnate Word . . . First pitch against Utah from Whataburger Field on Friday will be at 2pm.
Tommy Egan delivers the first pitch of Sunday’s game at Schroeder Park
Houston picked up its first win of the 2023 season with an 8-6 victory over the Cal Golden Bears at Schroeder Park on Sunday afternoon.Cal got in on the act immediately when their first two batters hit their way on base to open up the contest, and both scored quickly as the Golden Bears took a 2-0 lead.
Brandon Burckel (3-for-3) got the Cougars on the board in the second inning with a two-run double to the wall in left-center which tied the game at two . . . Batting with two outs in the fourth inning, Burkel drove his second double in as many at-bats down the left field line to score Justin Murray all the way from first base to tie the game at three . . . Cameron Nickens (2-for-4) drove home Burckel with a single to center to put the Cougars in front for the first time on the weekend, 4-3.
Alex Lopez (2-for-3) singled to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning . . . Brandon Uhse doubled into the left field corner to score Lopez from first base . . . A sacrifice fly to center field by Murray plated Uhse from third base and the Cougars took a 6-5 lead.
Tied at six in the bottom of the eighth inning, Malachi Lott walked and stole second before Burckel followed with an infield single, his third hit of the game, putting runners on the corners with no one out . . . One out later, Zach Arnold dropped a looping single into shallow right-field to give the Cougars a one run lead . . . Lopez gave Houston an 8-6 lead on a sacrifice fly to left field.
Left-hander Jose Torrealba closed out the win in the ninth by retiring the Golden Bears in order . . . Torrealba struck out two in the ninth inning and picked up the win for his effort over 1 1/3 innings.
Houston is off for two days before hitting the road for the next four games . . . The Cougars will play UTSA in San Antonio on Wednesday at 6:00pm before heading to Corpus Christi for a weekend tournament where they will face Utah, Texas A&M Corpus Christi, and Incarnate Word.
Kyle LaCalameto made his first start of the season Saturday night at Schroeder Park
The Cougars dropped their second straight game to open the season with a 5-3 loss to the Cal Bears on Saturday night at Schroeder Park.
Kyle LaCalameto made his first start of the 2023 season and was impressive over 5 2/3 innings allowing just one run on three hits . . . The sole run allowed by LaCalameto came in the sixth inning, his last inning of work.
Brandon Uhse launched a towering home run to left field that just cleared the fence to tie the game at a run in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Maddux Miller saw his first game action of the season and threw a flawless 1 2/3 innings striking out one to get the Cougars from the seventh to the ninth inning.
Cal was leading 3-1 in the bottom of the eighth inning after scoring two runs in the seventh inning . . . Ian McMillan hit a two-out double to left field to tie the game at three heading to the ninth inning . . . The two runs were the biggest offensive inning for Houston in the first two games of the season.
The Bears added two runs off of Houston pitching in their half of the ninth inning to take a 5-3 lead which stood as the final score.
In the loss, Zach Arnold went 2-for-5, the only Cougar with multiple hits . . . Whereas in game one just two Cougars hit Cal pitching, eight Houston hitters earned hits on Saturday night.
Houston and Cal conclude their opening weekend series with a Sunday finale, first pitch is at noon . . . At this point the Cougars have not named their starting pitcher for the game.
Cade Citelli delivers the first pitch to open the 2023 season against Cal
The Houston Cougars opened the 2023 campaign with a 7-0 loss at the hands of the Cal Bears at Schroeder Park.
Cade Citelli marched through the Cal lineup in smooth fashion to open the season while also making his Houston debut . . . Citelli retired the first nine batters he faced and was perfect through three innings before things fell apart for him in a three-run fourth inning.
Cal left-hander Ian May went eight strong innings allowing just three hits to the Cougars and striking out seven along the way.
Alex Lopez hit May twice, the only Houston hitter with multiple hits in the game, and just one of two Cougars with hits against the Bears.
In addition to Citelli, Paul Schmitz, Travis Phelps, Owen Woodward and Graysen Dezek also made their Houston debuts.
Former Cougar Joe Davis, the all-time home run hitter in program history, was on hand Friday night to throw out the honorary first pitch prior to the game . . . Davis retired from baseball back in December after three seasons in the Boston Red Sox organization . . . Davis is back in Texas now, having returned to his hometown of Austin.
The Cougars and the Bears resume their opening weekend series on Saturday when the Cougars will send left-hander Kyle LaCalameto to the mound . . . First pitch is scheduled for 6:30pm.
On the Minor League Baseball website a short blurb announced that Joe Davis has retired from professional baseball.
Davis, the all-time Houston home run leader, was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 2019 and remained in their system thru the 2022 season. There was no minor league baseball in 2020, so after being drafted and getting initiated in a brief 2019 stint, Davis did not play again until the 2021 season.
Davis hit 42 home runs and drove in 150 runs while batting .274 over his three professional seasons.
Wednesday was National Signing Day across our great land, and the University of Houston baseball team inked numerous high school seniors to letters of intent. The signees include: Ace Reese, Landon Bowden, Diego Luzardo, Larry Drake, Riley Pechacek, Logan Simmons, Tristan Russell, Conner Bennett, and Braylen Collins.
Congratulations to @BraylenCollins9 on signing with the University of Houston today! ⚾️♥️⚾️ To know him is to love him and it’s been a blast watching him through the years! Keep Smilin’ & Grindin’ kiddo! #GoCoogspic.twitter.com/7tn5i7lQ8i
It's too early for him to start 'PLAYING BALL' with the University of Houston, but Logan Simmons has signed his letter of intent to hit Cougar Field after graduation!
@tristanrussell_ signed his NLI to play @UHCougarBB. Respect and love to all the coaches. Not all are in photo, but we are grateful to all of you. Special shout out to P3, Cruz Baseball, Trosky, Trosky Texas, Premier Baseball, Banditos, German Nat’l Team coaches Bull and Schumi. pic.twitter.com/wxaJiDz82M
Three Houston Cougars from the 2022 squad heard their names called during the final day of the 2022 Major League Baseball Draft on Tuesday afternoon, along with one former Cougar and two Houston commits.
Ben Sears was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 14th Round.
Logan Clayton, who had transferred away from Houston after the season ended, was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 17th Round.
Jaycob Deese was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 17th Round.
Samuel (Sammy) Hernandez, a catcher at Lakeland High School in Florida, was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 14th Round.
Kevin Kilpatrick, a college transfer who was committed to Houston, was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 17th Round.
Jonathan Thomas, a former Cougar who played for Texas Southern in 2022, was drafted by the Washington Nationals in the 19th Round.
Players, whether drafted or undrafted, have until August 1st to sign a contract with the team that drafted them or as a free agent if they were not drafted.
Rolan Walton has passed away. He was the last living member of the Cougars first baseball team of 1947. When he returned later to coach at UH, he was twice named SWC Coach of the Year (1975, 1982) as he compiled a 378–235–5 record over 12 seasons. Walton was inducted into the Houston Athletics Hall of Honor in 2006.
Coach Walton was incredibly gracious with his time, we visited at his home and recorded a podcast in 2020, which will be released at a later time, but he was proud of his time(s) as a Houston Cougar and was a great storyteller. His red UH cap was always by his front door.
Maddux Miller pitches against ECU in Clearwater on Sunday (Photo credit: American Athletic Conference/Mary Holt)
The Houston Cougars saw their season come to end on Sunday afternoon in Clearwater as they fell 6-1 to East Carolina in the American Athletic Conference Championship final.
While East Carolina was able to jump out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, the Cougars found no such luck with the Pirates pitching staff.
Freshman Cameron Nickens was 3-for-3 on Sunday afternoon and drove in the only Cougars run on a single in the top of the seventh inning . . . Nickens accounted for half of the Cougars six base hits in the contest.
Maddux Miller pitched 2 2/3 innings out of the bullpen at a critical point in the game and he was outstanding, striking out five Pirates batters . . . Ben Sears followed Miller and was equally great, also over 2 2/3 innings where he did not allow a hit and struck out three batters.
Where Houston saw its season end on the second day of the AAC Championship in each of their last two appearances, the Cougars made it to the final game in 2022 and the very young Cougars team experienced what it takes to play big time, competitive baseball.
Ryan Hernandez played his final game as a Houston Cougar on Sunday, and just as he has been the epitome of class and hard work during his three years with the program, he was just as classy and prideful in his postgame comments.
“I’m very proud of this team,” Hernandez said. “I love being a Houston Cougar. When I first committed here, I committed as soon as I got the opportunity to commit here.”
Head coach Todd Whitting was still hopeful and positive about both the season and the future after the loss Sunday.
“This is still one of my favorite teams I’ve ever had,” Whitting said. “Coming off a tough year last year, just the unbelievable commitments to the program, to the University of Houston, and to what we were trying to do.”
“We got a couple of holes to fill going in to next year, I feel good about it. We start three freshmen every day, we got a ton of guys coming back. The future is bright at the University of Houston,” Whitting said.
Reflecting on some of the great times during his career at Houston, Hernandez said, “I wouldn’t change it for the world. I’ve had a great time here and I’m really appreciative of that.”
Hernandez was selected to the All-Tournament Team after Sunday’s game, along with teammates Jose Torrealba, Santiago Garcia, and Anthony Tulimero.
The Cougars finish the season 37-24. The 2022 offseason begins now.
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