Tag: Braedyn Cunningham

Early Lead Propels Houston to 9-3 Win at Tulane

Houston is in New Orleans this weekend to face Tulane

Houston scored in each of the first four innings to build a nine run lead on their way to another series-opening win Friday night in New Orleans against Tulane.

Brandon Uhse got things going in the opening frame with a leadoff double . . . Zach Arnold then drove the next pitch deep to left-center field for a home run, his team-leading eleventh four-bagger of the season . . . Justin Murray (2-for-4) then singled but advanced to second base on a careless defensive throw to the infield . . . Cameron Nickens (2-for-4) then singled home Murray and the Cougars had a 3-0 first inning lead.

Ian McMillan (2-for-3) singled to reach base with one out in the top of the second inning . . . Drew Bianco followed with a towering double off the wall in right-center field to put runners at second and third base . . . Uhse then drove a fly ball deep enough to right field for McMillan to tag-up from third base and the sacrifice fly gave Houston a 4-0 lead.

Murray led off the top of the third inning by getting hit by a pitch . . . Nickens then singled up the middle . . . Anthony Tulimero then bunted for a single to load the bases with no outs . . . One out later, Brandon Burckel drove a ball deep to left-center field that was caught by the center fielder and scored Murray from third base . . . With runners on second and third base, McMillian delivered a two RBI single to right-center field and Houston increased its lead to 7-0.

Tulane finally went to the bullpen with one out in the top of the fourth inning after a single by Arnold, but the results after the change were much the same . . . Murray greeted the new pitcher with a bomb the opposite way, over the right field wall for a two-run home run and a 9-0 Houston lead.

Walks in the bottom of the fifth inning led to three runs for the Green Wave as Houston pitching had difficulty finding the strike zone . . . The third pitcher of the inning, Maddux Miller, was finally able to end the frame and the Cougars led 9-3 . . . Miller was tremendous in his Friday outing going 1 2/3 innings and allowing Green Wave batters just one base hit.

Right-hander Braedyn Cunningham went the rest of the way in relief of Miller and was also outstanding . . . Cunningham threw three hitless, scoreless innings to close out the Friday night road win.

The Cougars and the Green Wave resume their weekend series Saturday at 6pm . . . Houston has not announced a starting pitcher for Saturday at this time.

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Cougars Claim Silver Glove Series with 12 Inning Win at Rice

Brandon Uhse led off against Rice Tuesday at Reckling Park

It took twelve innings on Wednesday night at Reckling Park but Houston eventually took the game 8-5 and with it Silver Glove Series from Rice.

Brandon Uhse hit the second pitch of the game for a leadoff single . . . Zach Arnold followed with a single of his own in front of a walk to Alex Lopez to load the bases with no outs . . . A bases loaded walk to Anthony Tulimero gave Houston the early lead . . . A wild pitch brought another run across the plate to give Houston a 2-0 first inning lead.

Rice tied the game almost immediately to reset the game going to the second inning.

Thomas Lyssy led off the top of the fourth inning by reaching base on an error by the Rice second baseman . . . One out later, Drew Bianco hammered a ball to the wall in deep right-center field to score Lyssy from first base . . . Arnold singled home Bianco to give Houston a 4-2 lead.

A leadoff walk to Ian McMillan started the top of the sixth inning . . . Bianco was hit by a pitch to put the first two Cougars batters of the inning on base with no outs . . . Arnold grounded out to second base to move both runners into scoring position . . . McMillan then scored on a wild pitch to give the Cougars a 5-4 lead.

Rice rallied for a run in the ninth to force the game into extra innings.

After two scoreless innings in extras, the Cougars offense delivered a three-run top of the twelfth inning to put the game away . . . Pinch-hitter Cary Arbolida walked with one out to get things started . . . Tulimero then reached base on catcher’s interference . . . Murray then pulled a single into left field as pinch-runner Brandon Burckel was moving with the pitch allowing him to cross the plate easily as the go ahead run . . . Nickens singled to plate Tulimero and the Cougars led by two runs . . . With runners on the corners, a pick-off attempt at first base allowed Murray to steal home for an 8-5 lead.

Owen Woodward came in to handle the bottom of the twelfth inning . . . After allowing a leadoff double, Woodward struck out the next two batters swinging and the final batter looking to strand the runner at second base and give Houston the Silver Glove Series for another year . . . Most of the 2,060 patrons had vacated Reckling Park as the ballgame ran 4 hours and 20 minutes.

The two teams combined to use 21 pitchers in the twelve inning midweek contest, the Cougars themselves used ten arms. In addition to Murray and Woodward, Houston pitched Graysen Drezek, Braedyn Cunningham, Ryan Dollar, Braden Forsyth, Dan Wright, Brendan O’Donnell, Maddux Miller, and Kyle Ayers . . . Only Wright and Ayers pitched more than two innings, with Ayers showing up clutch in the tenth and eleventh innings . . . Ayers got the win and improved to 2-1 this season and Woodward earned his fourth save this year.

Houston will host Wichita State at Schroeder Park this weekend for their second conference matchup of the season . . . The Cougars and the Shockers are tied for first place in the conference right now, so this weekend will create separation one way or the other . . . First pitch Friday night is scheduled for 6:30pm.

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.

National Signing Day 2021

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: Braedyn Cunningham, Gabriel Flores, Sammy Hernandez, Cooper Hill, Eric Perez, Armani Sanchez, and Landen Yorek.