Cougars Notebook – April 1, 2024

Houston was 1-3 last week and is now 15-12 overall and 4-8 in the Big 12.

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The Cougars topped Lamar 6-4 in their only midweek game last week . . . The victory was the 2,000th in the history of the Houston baseball program and also ended Lamar’s nation-leading 12 game winning streak.

Lamar then traveled north to Oklahoma and swept the Sooners in Norman to start a new streak.

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Houston then traveled to Ft. Worth to face TCU in Big 12 play . . . The Horned Frogs swept the weekend series thanks in part to dominant pitching efforts of 8 innings and 8 2/3 innings in the first two games . . . The Cougars got a great outing from Jaxon Jelkin in the final game, and TCU only had two base hits in the game, but Houston errors led to a late four-run inning in which the Horned Frogs took the lead and held on for the win.

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Houston will take on Rice at Schroeder Park on Tuesday to conclude the 2024 Silver Glove Series, which the Cougars have already claimed by winning the first two matchups last month . . . First pitch is set for 6:30pm as the Cougars look to sweep the Series this year.

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The Cougars will be in Lubbock this weekend to take on Texas Tech in Big 12 action . . . The Red Raiders are coming off a series loss on the road against UCF.

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The MLB season got underway on Thursday with Jared Triolo and Connor Wong the only two former Cougars on opening day rosters, with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Boston Red Sox, respectively.

Triolo was 1-for-6 on opening day in Miami and drove in the winning run in the top of the 12th inning on a single into right-center field for a 6-5 Pirates victory . . . Triolo went 2-for-3 in Sunday’s finale with the Marlins.

Wong was 2-for-4 with one RBI in Thursday’s opener in Seattle, a 6-4 Red Sox win, and he was 1-for-3 in Saturday’s third of four games in the series . . . Wong is batting .429 and has hit in both games played in to open the season.

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Houston Swept at TCU Despite Strong Jelkin Outing

Houston had their Big 12 woes continue on Saturday in Ft. Worth as TCU completed a weekend sweep of the Cougars 6-4 in the finale.

Leadoff batter Coby DeJesus saw a nine pitch at-bat to open up Saturday’s game, fouling off five pitches before lining out, but the at-bat gave Justin Murray plenty of pitches to look at from the on-deck circle . . . Murray then singled into right field . . . Ace Reese then worked an eleven pitch at-bat before he struck out looking . . . The Cougars did not score in the inning, but they forced TCU starter Kole Klecker to throw 28 pitches in the first inning.

Making TCU starters work high-pitch innings was something the Cougars did not do in the first two games of the series when both starters went at least eight innings . . . The Saturday approach would pay dividends later in the afternoon.

Right-hander Jaxon Jelkin made the Saturday start for Houston, his second straight start in the final game of a weekend after being scratched from his usual Friday night start last week against Kansas State . . . Jelkin allowed an unearned run in the second inning and a run in the third inning, and was impressive the rest of the way even though TCU took a 2-0 lead.

Designated Hitter Tre Jones was hit by a pitch to lead off the top of the fifth inning . . . Harold Coll hit the first pitch he saw for a single to left field . . .  Jonathan French followed with a double into left-center field to plate Jones . . . One out later, Jacob Schoenvogel dropped a single into right field that scored French and Jake Rainess to give Houston a 3-2 lead and TCU went to the bullpen.

A throwing error in the top of the sixth inning plated another Houston run and gave the Cougars a two-run lead.

Jelkin exited the game with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning after a single broke up a string of 13 straight batters retired . . . It was Jelkin’s longest outing of the season to this point, and arguably his best, striking out six along the way, but he would have to settle for a no-decision for his effort.

Few things went right after Houston went to the bullpen as two errors, including a throwing error on a made to order double-play ball back to the pitcher that was thrown into center field . . . Two walks in the inning hurt Houston’s cause as well while the Horned Frogs scored four times and took a 6-4 lead.

Houston loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the ninth but it was to no avail as TCU closed out the game and the series sweep.

TCU scored six runs in the game, but only had two hits on the day, aided by three Houston defensive errors . . . The Cougars offense left nine runners on base . . . The four runs scored on Saturday was more runs than in the previous two games combined (three).

Houston returns home today and will next be in action on Tuesday against Rice at Schroeder Park . . . The third and final game of the Silver Glove Series gets underway at 6:30pm, with Houston in line for the sweep of the series this season . . . The Cougars will then hit the road for their next four games, first with a stop in Lubbock to face Texas Tech for another weekend of Big 12 play.

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Late Rally by Houston Not Enough to Avoid Series Loss at TCU

Similar to Thursday night, the Houston Cougars did not score a run until a solo home run in the top of the ninth inning finally got them on the board in a 6-2 loss at TCU on Friday night.

Left-hander Kyle LaCalalmeto got the Friday night start after starting the middle game last weekend as well . . . While tagged with the loss, LaCalameto pitched a season-high four innings with two strikeouts and no walks and looks to be building strength and stamina since returning last month from Tommy John Surgery.

As the Horned Frogs built a 6-0 lead against a trio of Cougars pitchers, the Cougars were being kept in check by left-hander Payton Tolle . . . Tolle retired sixteen straight Houston batters over one stretch leading late into the ballgame.

Jake Rainess (2-for-3) led off the top of the ninth inning with a solo home run, similar to what Jonathan French did in Thursday’s opening game, and in nearly the identical location.

One out later, Justin Murray singled to keep Houston’s hopes alive . . . Ace Reese pinch-hit with two outs and drew a walk . . . Anthony Tulimero singled up the middle to score Murray and keep the rally going, but the game ended with a strikeout and the Cougars fell 6-2 and also dropped their third straight conference series.

Tolle departed one out shy of a complete game having struck out thirteen Houston batters and allowing just three base hits . . . Tulimero’s RBI single was the fourth and final single of the game for the Houston offense . . . Rainess accounted for two of the four Houston hits in the game.

Owen Woodward pitched 3 1/3 innings and kept the game from getting out of hand in a very serviceable outing . . . The multiple-inning effort by Woodward in relief of LaCalameto also spared the Cougars bullpen from having to use too many arms, as happened Thursday night.

Houston and TCU close out their weekend series on Saturday at 2pm in Ft. Worth . . . Right-hander Jaxon Jelkin will be on the mound for the Cougars.

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TCU Opens Weekend with Dominant Win Over Houston

By any metric there was very little to like about Houston losing 14-1 in Ft. Worth to TCU on Thursday night to open the fourth weekend of Big 12 play.

The two teams were scoreless through three innings of the game, but that was the last time that TCU did not score at least one run in an inning . . . The Horned Frogs took a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, and they were just getting started.

In the top of the fifth inning, Tre Jones became the first Houston base runner in the game when he got the Cougars first base hit of the game to lead off the frame . . . But the Houston offense was kept in check pretty much all night and Jones was left on the bases.

Meanwhile, the Horned Frogs were adding runs to the tally, including a six-run seventh inning . . . TCU would add a run in the eighth inning and take a 14-0 lead to the ninth inning.

Jonathan French was a late defensive replacement at first base for Justin Murray once the game was all but final . . . French got his first at-bat in the top of the ninth inning and he blasted a leadoff solo home run to left field, the Cougars fourth and final base hit in the game.

TCU hitters collected 21 base hits in the game without a home run . . . The Horned Frogs took advantage of three Houston errors . . . Cougars pitching walked five batters in the game, while striking out on two, both by Ryan Dollar.

Houston and TCU will pick it up again on Saturday evening in Ft. Worth . . . Kyle LaCalameto will be on the mound for Houston . . . First pitch is set for 6:30pm.

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2,000th Win in Houston Program History Also Ends Lamar Win Streak

The 2,000th win in the history of the Houston program also stopped the longest active win streak in the nation when the Cougars defeated the Lamar Cardinals 6-4 at Schroeder Park on Tuesday night.

After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the first inning, Houston leadoff hitter Kenneth Jimenez was hit in the head with the second pitch of the bottom of the first inning . . . Jimenez remained in the game . . . Justin Murray was walked before Harold Coll delivered a run-scoring single up the middle into center field . . . A Tre Jones sacrifice fly RBI to left field gave Houston the 2-1 advantage.

A three-run fourth inning gave the Cardinals a temporary 4-2 advantage.

Cameron Nickens (2-for-4) got a fourth inning rally started for the Cougars when he hit a one-out double into the right field corner . . . Two out walks to Coby DeJesus and Anthony Tulimero loaded the bases for the top of the order . . . Jimenez was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game, this time it brought home a run to cut the Cougars deficit.

A walk to Murray tied the game and Coll was then hit by a pitch to give Houston a 5-4 lead.

Jones led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a swinging strikeout, but the ball got away from the catcher and Jones’ alertness and speed helped him reach first base safely . . . Jones then stole second base and was at third base when a single by Nickens brought him home.

Houston pitching did not allow Lamar to score a run after the third inning . . . Michael Benzor, Diego Luzardo, Brendan O’Donnell and pitched scoreless baseball in the middle frames . . . Left-hander Jose Torrealba pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth inning with two strikeouts . . . Murray handled the ninth inning and struck out two Cardinals batters to earn his third save of the season . . . Luzardo (2-0) earned the win with his 1 1/3 scoreless innings pitched.

Entering play Tuesday night, Lamar (19-5) had the longest active winning streak in the nation having won 13 straight games . . . Neither team made an error in the game, a problem that plagued Houston over the weekend against Kansas State.

Anthony Tulimero played in his first game since March 1st at the Astros Foundation College Classic . . . Tulimero went 1-for-3 in his return, walked, and scored once while batting in the nine spot.

After the game, Tulimero talked about his return from a shoulder injury and preparing for the game after being out for 24 days.

“We had a few arms that needed to throw so I was able to get a few at-bats off of them and kind of just get back to some normalcy in the box,” Tulimero said. “I was glad that my teammates were able to help me out pregame today and get me ready for the game.”

“Just excited to come back and do what I love,” Tulimero added. “I wanted to come in here, get a win in midweek, and get some momentum going into TCU this weekend.”

Head coach Todd Whitting was asked after the game about the 2,000th win in the history of the program.

“It’s a great milestone for the program to reach our 2,000th win in program history,” Whitting said. “Each of those wins are special and only achieved because of the tremendous players and coaches that have been associated with UH Baseball.”

Houston only has one day off before they once again see action in Big 12 play . . . Because this is Easter weekend, the schedule has been moved up a day for most teams in the Big 12 . . . The Cougars will be in Ft. Worth to face TCU on Thursday, first pitch is set for 6pm.

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Cougars Notebook – March 25, 2024

Houston went 2-3 last week and played five games in six days . . . The Cougars are now 14-9 overall and 4-5 in the Big 12.

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Houston defeated Rice in back-to-back midweek games on Tuesday and Wednesday to retain the Silver Glove trophy for another year . . . Houston won 4-1 Tuesday at Schroeder Park and 4-2 Wednesday at Reckling Park . . . Though the series is decided for 2024, the two teams will play one more midweek game at Schroeder Park on Tuesday, April 2.

The Cougars then hosted the Kansas State Wildcats in Big 12 action . . . The Wildcats swept the series, with two closely played games Friday and Saturday (5-3 and 4-3), and then one that got away from on Sunday, 9-3.

Jaxon Jelkin had originally been scheduled to pitch Friday but was scratched mid-week, but was said to possibly be available for the weekend . . . Antoine Jean moved from his usual Saturday role to the Friday start, and Kyle LaCalameto made the Saturday start . . . Jelkin returned Sunday to pitch four innings in a week when the Cougars needed pitchers to eat innings.

Duncan Hunter did not make a start this weekend as he is dealing with an injury.

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The Cougars will play one midweek game this week when they host the Lamar Cardinals at Schroeder Park on Tuesday . . . First pitch is set for 6:30pm.

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Houston will hit the road again for another Big 12 series after the game with Lamar . . . The Cougars will be in Ft. Worth to play TCU for a weekend series which begins on Thursday and runs through Saturday so that everyone involved is off on Easter Sunday . . . Thursday’s first pitch is slated for 6pm, with Friday getting underway at 6:30pm, and first pitch Saturday set for 1pm.

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Many local professional scouts were at the ballpark this weekend, many of them wanted to watch the team from out of town to get a read on some players they have not seen before . . . One scout told Cougars Beat he was glad to be able to get a good look at Jelkin and did not know until the last minute that Jelkin would actually be pitching on Sunday.

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The Pittsburgh Pirates announced their opening day roster on Monday, and former Cougars third baseman is breaking camp with the big club for opening day.

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Pittsburgh Pirates beat writer Kevin Gorman, writing for TRIBLIVE, formerly the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, was previewing the projected Pirates infield for this season as spring training nears its conclusion . . . Gorman wrote in his March 24 piece about former Cougars third baseman Jared Triolo and his likely place on the opening day roster and his overall place in the Pittsburgh infield . . . Gorman quoted Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes on Triolo:

“Last year, when I went down, he fit right in at third base. Whenever I came back, he was able to go to second and to first and still play Gold Glove defense,” Hayes said in the piece. “And he always gives you a good at-bat and was really clutch at the end of games last year. He’s great. He’s a lot like me: not always the loudest one in the room, but he plays the game the right way, and you need guys like that. It was great for him to be able to debut last year and build on that confidence going into this year because he’s going to be a guy that can help us win.”

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If there is any solace to be taken from a sweep in conference play, it is that with the sweep, Kansas State (17-6, 5-1)

moved into the new College Baseball Nation Top 25 at No. 23 . . . Sweeping the series against what is considered to be a quality opponent in Houston, was good enough to move the Wildcats out of the unranked.

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Kansas State Completes Sweep of Houston with 9-3 Win Sunday

Kansas State came to Houston this weekend and swept the Cougars in a Big 12 Conference series, completing the job with a sweep on Sunday in a 9-3 win.

Cary Arbolida led off the bottom of the second inning with a home run over the left field for a brief Houston lead.

The Wildcats strung together three base hits in a row, one of them a triple, in the top of the third inning to take a 2-1 lead.

Still trailing by a run in the bottom of the fifth inning, Justin Murray reached base on an error at third base with one out . . . Ace Reese followed with a single to left field, when the ball was misplayed by the left fielder, Murray advanced to third and Reese moved up to second base.

A walk to Harold Coll loaded the bases for Arbolida, who picked up his second RBI of the game with a sacrifice fly to shallow left field.

A two-run seventh inning preceded a five-run eighth inning for Kansas State and put too much distance on the scoreboard for the Cougars.

Trailing 9-2 in the bottom of the ninth inning, Kenneth Jimenez singled with two outs and then stole second base . . . Murray singled home Jimenez but there was nothing else happening for Houston in the game and the Cougars fell 9-3 and dropped to 4-5 in the Big 12.

Houston only produced six base hits in the game, compared to the fifteen hits for Kansas State . . . The pitching staff has also seen its walk-to-strikeout ratio go in the wrong direction . . . Houston pitching walked five on Sunday and struck out seven.

Jaxon Jelkin made the start Sunday after being scratched mid-week from his scheduled Friday start . . . Jelkin pitched four innings in which he allowed five hits and two runs and threw sixty pitches and got no-decision for his effort.

Houston is off on Monday before resuming action on Tuesday against Lamar before a Big 12 road trip next weekend . . . First pitch against the Cardinals is set for 6:30pm at Schroeder Park.

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Cougars Fall Late, Wildcats Claim Series

For the second night in a row, free passes and errors in the field allowed Kansas State to claim Saturday’s game, and the series, with a 6-5 win over Houston at Schroeder Park.

Kansas State opened the game with two singles and a one-out double to take a 2-0 lead.

The score remained there until the bottom of the fifth inning when back-to-back walks to Coby DeJesus and pinch-hitter Cameron Nickens got the inning started . . . A one-out walk to Kenneth Jimenez loaded the bases for Justin Murray . . . Murray lined a ball into shallow center field and his two RBI tied the game . . . Harold Coll singled into center field with two outs to plate two more Houston runs and the Cougars led 4-2.

Thomas Lyssy walked to get the bottom of the seventh inning started and Jimenez singled to left-center field to move him to third base . . . Murray then put down the rare sacrifice bunt, but a textbook one at that, up the first base line allowing Lyssy to cross the plate for a 5-2 Houston lead going to the eighth inning.

The Wildcats battled back, taking advantage of free passes and a crucial fielding error on a throw to complete a strikeout that was dropped at first base allowing two more runners to score as Kansas State took a 6-5 lead.

Right-hander Owen Woodward provided three solid innings out of the Houston bullpen, he did not allow a run and struck out four batters as he kept the Cougars in the game over the third, fourth, and fifth innings . . . Alex Solis then pitched a scoreless sixth inning as well.

Houston and Kansas State will conclude their series on Sunday . . . First pitch is scheduled for 1pm at Schroeder Park.

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Wildcats Top Cougars 5-3 to Open Weekend Series

An early Houston lead was erased when four walks and two errors in the sixth inning gave Kansas State most of what they needed in their 5-3 series-opening win at Schroeder Park on Friday night.

Kansas State’s lead off hitter reached base on an error at shortstop on the first pitch of the ballgame by left-hander Antoine Jean . . . The error was wiped off the bases by catcher Jonathan French who threw the runner out trying to steal second base . . . Jean then retired the next ten batters in a row to face the minimum through 3 2/3 innings.

Kenneth Jimenez led off the bottom of the first inning with a single up the middle to get something started . . . Justin Murray followed with a home run over the right field wall, his third home run of the season, and Houston was cooking.

With two outs in the bottom of the third inning Ace Reese hit a solo home run to make it 3-0 . . . That home run was also Reese’s third of the season.

The Wildcats took a 4-3 lead in the top of the sixth inning with the help of four walks and two throwing errors as the Cougars used three pitchers in the frame.

An error on the Houston defense in the top of the seventh inning led to another run and a 5-3 Kansas State lead.

Houston was unable to get a run off of Kansas State pitching after the third inning home run by Reese.

Kansas State scored five runs in the game, but only one of them was earned . . . Cougars pitching compiled twelve strikeouts, Jean led the way with seven and Ryan Dollar added four.

The Cougars and the Wildcats will do it again on Saturday night at Schroeder Park . . . Right-hander Duncan Hunter (2-0) will be on the mound for Houston . . . First pitch is set for 6:30pm.

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Houston Claims Silver Glove Series for Another Year with 4-2 Win

Houston leadoff batter Kenneth Jimenez bats Wednesday at Reckling Park

The Houston Cougars are headed home with the Silver Glove trophy after a 4-2 victory over the Rice Owls on Wednesday night at Reckling Park.

With no score in the top of the third inning, Kenneth Jimenez hit a solo home run, his first of the season, with one out to give Houston the lead.

The score remained 1-0 into the bottom of the fifth inning when Rice tied the game with the help of two walks by Cougars pitching.

After a two-out walk put Justin Murray at first base, Ace Reese drove a low liner toward the base of the wall in left-center field and Murray scored without a throw to give Houston a 2-1 lead on the Reese double . . . Rice went to the bullpen for their fifth pitcher of the game to get out of the frame without further damage.

The Owls leadoff hitter in the bottom of the seventh inning dropped a ball into the right field corner for a triple to put the tying run 90 feet away . . . With the infield playing in, a hard infield grounder was snared by third baseman Thomas Lyssy, his throw to first recorded an out and kept the runner on the bag at third base.

A strikeout was sandwiched between two walks to load the bases for Rice and Houston went to the bullpen in favor of Ryan Dollar with two outs . . . Dollar threw three pitches to end the inning with a strikeout and leave the bases loaded with Houston still leading 2-1.

Cary Arbolida (2-for-2) took a pitch off of his body to reach base leading off the top of the eighth inning, which was followed by a walk to Lyssy . . . Coby DeJesus pinch-hit with no one out and singled into left-center field to drive in a run . . . Jacob Schoenvogel walked to load the bases and Rice went to the bullpen once again.

A walk to Murray gave Houston their final run of the night and a 4-1 lead.

The Owls got a run back in the bottom of the eighth inning on an infield ground out with a runner on third base to close the deficit by a run.

The Owls loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth inning after a leadoff single was followed by two walks before Houston went to the bullpen and Diego Luzardo . . . Luzardo’s second pitch was grounded to second base for a game-ending double play . . . Luzardo earned his first collegiate save for the two-pitch effort . . . Kyle LaCalameto earned the win to improve to 2-0 on the year . . . LaCalameto recorded five outs over the fifth and sixth innings, retiring the side in order in the sixth.

The two teams combined to use sixteen pitchers in the game Wednesday night . . . Cary Arbolida was the only Houston batter with multiple hits in the game as seven different Cougars had base hits, he was also hit-by-pitch twice to reach base four times.

The two teams will meet in thirteen days on April 2 back at Schroeder Park to conclude the Silver Glove Series for this season, but the trophy belongs to the Houston Cougars for another year . . . Houston has outscored Rice 8-3 in the first two games of the series.

Houston is now off for a day before another Big 12 weekend matchup at Schroeder Park . . . The Kansas State Wildcats will be in town playing just their second Conference series of the season, having played an out of Conference opponent last weekend . . . First pitch on Friday night is scheduled for 6:30pm.

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