Tag: Coby DeJesus

Houston Thumps Kansas 13-5; Murray Homers Twice

Cade Citelli pitches with a Kansas runner on first base Friday in Lawrence

Houston opened their next-to-last Big 12 series of the season in Kansas on Friday night with a 13-5 victory in a game that was not as close as the final score indicates.

Justin Murray (4-for-6) led off the bottom of the third inning with a home run to right-center field, his fifth home run of the season, for the first score of the game.

The Cougars offense added five more runs in the top of the fourth inning . . . Coby DeJesus walked to lead off the frame . . . With one out, Jacob Schoenvogel lined a ball all the way to the wall in left-center field to score DeJesus from first base.

Murray launched his second home run in as many innings with a towering blast to right-center field, his sixth homer of the season was good for two more Houston runs . . . Anthony Tulimero then reached base on an error at third base . . . Harold Coll made the Jayhawks pay for the defensive mistake by hitting a towering home run that just cleared the left field wall and Houston led 6-0.

Kansas went to the bullpen to start the fifth inning and Tre Jones (2-for-4) met the new pitcher with a seven-pitch at-bat which ended in a leadoff single . . . Walks to DeJesus and Jonathan French loaded the bases with no outs . . . Schoenvogel walked, and after another Jayhawks pitching change, Kenneth Jimenez was hit by a pitch, each drove in a run and the bases continued to be loaded with no outs.

Murray grounded into a fielder’s choice which drove in the third run of the inning and his fourth of the game and the Cougars led 9-0.

A second consecutive three-run inning, aided by Murray’s fifth RBI of the game, gave Houston a 12-0 lead halfway through the sixth inning.

Houston starter Cade Citelli pitched six innings before his day was complete, he allowed three runs in his final frame but struck out seven in his outing . . . The Cougars bullpen gave up two more runs in the seventh inning before Graysen Drezek took the mound and pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings.

DeJesus added a run to the Houston ledger with a groundout RBI in the top of the ninth inning to give Houston a 13-5 lead, which stood as the final score.

Citelli improved to 4-2 this season with the win . . . Nine Houston batters had a hit in the Friday contest with Murray and Jones the only two Cougars with multiple hits . . . Jones also walked twice in the game and reached base four times . . . Cary Arbolida tripled off the batter’s eyes in center field and was hit by a pitch twice to reach base three times.

The Cougars and the Jayhawks return to action Saturday afternoon at 2pm . . . Antoine Jean will make the start on Saturday with a chance for Houston to claim the series.

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Cougars Stumble, Drop Game to Mavericks 7-3

Saturday night was a mixed bag for Houston as UT Arlington used a five-run seventh inning to escape with a 7-3 victory at Schroeder Park.

Ace Reese singled with one out in the bottom of the second inning for the Cougars first hit of the ballgame . . . With two outs and Tre Jones at the plate, Reese broke for second base in an attempt to steal the bag . . . As the UTA shortstop was moving toward second base to be in place for a throw from the catcher, Jones punched a grounder that rolled directly behind the shortstop and into left-center field allowing Reese to score all the way from first base on the double . . . Houston led 1-0 after the frame.

A two-run home run in the top of the third inning gave the Mavericks a 2-1 lead.

That score remained until the bottom of the fifth inning when the Cougars got a two-out rally going . . . Coby DeJesus was hit by a pitch and Justin Murray singled before a walk to Anthony Tulimero loaded the bases . . . Harold Coll hit the first pitch he saw up the middle to score DeJesus and Murray and Houston led once again, 3-2.

Things unraveled on the Houston bullpen in the top of the seventh inning and the Mavericks plated five runs to take a 7-3 lead while the Cougars used three pitchers in the inning.

Houston’s potential offensive rallies were foiled by inning-ending double plays in three of the final four innings, and a double play ball to officially kill the last gasp at a comeback in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Cary Arbolida continues to make contact at the plate, he was 2-for-4 on Saturday and was the only Houston batter with multiple base hits . . . Freshman Conner Bennett made a pinch-hit appearance in the bottom of the ninth inning after Tre Jones led off the inning by reaching base when he was hit by a pitch . . . Bennett saw six pitches, and lined the final one into left field for a clean base hit.

Kyle LaCalameto had a final line that was not reflective of his overall performance . . . LaCalameto took the mound in relief of Richie Roman with two outs in the top of the third inning and a runner on first base . . . LaCalameto then retired the next ten batters he faced, striking out four of them, and facing the minimum in innings four, five, and six . . . The first hit of the night off of LaCalameto was followed by a home run and his night was done after 3 1/3 innings, but it was a really good outing by the left-hander who is still working his way back to full strength following Tommy John Surgery.

Murray took the mound in the seventh inning with two runners on base and no outs . . . Murray yielded a run but retired the side in order in the eighth inning and worked around a two-out single in the ninth inning to keep the game from getting further out of reach.

Houston and UT Arlington conclude their weekend series on Sunday at Schroeder Park . . . Antoine Jean (2-2) will get the start for Houston . . . First pitch is scheduled for 1pm.

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Houston Drops Midweek at No. 1 Texas A&M; Offense Scores 11

Coby DeJesus led off against No. 1 Texas A&M on Tuesday

Houston started hot against No. 1 Texas A&M on Tuesday in College Station, but the Aggies came away 13-11 winners to improve to 26-1 at Blue Bell Park this season.

Three straight singles by Houston opened the game, first by Coby DeJesus then by Justin Murray (3-for-4) . . . Anthony Tulimero picked up the third straight single as a blooper off his bat dropped into right-center field scoring DeJesus . . .  Harold Coll grounded out, becoming the first out in the inning, but he brought Murray across the plate with his RBI and Houston had a two-run lead.

Ace Reese singled to right field to move Tulimero to third base with two outs . . . Reese got caught up in a rundown attempting to steal second and the Aggies defense focused on recording the out, which they did, but not prior to Tulimero crossing the plate before the inning ended and the Cougars led 3-0.

A five-run bottom of the second inning for the Aggies was followed by a three-run bottom of the third inning and a five run Texas A&M lead, 8-3.

Reese got a run back for Houston in the top of the fourth inning when he led off with a home run, driving a ball the opposite way over the left field wall . . . The blast was Reese’s sixth home run of the season.

The Aggies added two runs in the bottom half of the inning and single runs over the next three innings to build a 13-6 lead.

With one out in the top of the eighth inning, Conner Bennett drew a walk in a pinch-hit appearance . . . One out later, Anthony Avalos also made a pinch-hit appearance, and he sent a 1-2 pitch over the wall in left field, his first collegiate base hit and home run made it 13-8 Aggies.

Still in the top of the eighth, Murray singled into left field and then Alex Lopez was hit by a pitch . . . Coll hit a 1-1 pitch over the left field wall for a three-run shot and Houston only trailed 13-11.

After the Coll home run, the Aggies went to the hammer out of their bullpen to record the final four outs . . . The Cougars had the potential tying run on base with two outs in the top of the ninth inning but could not capitalize.

Reese was 3-for-5 on Tuesday, which was the first time he had three base hits in a game this season despite a great freshman year . . . Reese and Murray were the only Cougars with multiple hits in the game, each had three, and together they accounted for half of Houston’s hits on Tuesday.

Houston used eight pitchers the game, so plenty of arms got some work in during the loss . . . Texas A&M used nine pitchers.

The Cougars are off until Friday when they open a non-Big 12 conference weekend series with the Mavericks of UT Arlington . . . First pitch at Schroeder Park is set for 6:30pm.

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Another Early Lead Gets Away, Houston Drops Road Series

Coby DeJesus bats with Tre Jones on second base in the 2nd inning Saturday

For the second straight day, an early 4-0 Houston lead was not enough to find a road win as Cincinnati took game two, and the weekend series, 5-4 on Saturday.

Ace Reese got the offense going with a one out single to center field . . . Reese advanced to second base on a wild pitch during a productive at-bat by Cary Arbolida, who struck out swinging, but saw eight pitches in his plate appearance . . . Jonathan French then drew a two-out walk as did Cameron Nickens, who saw six pitches in his at-bat.

Tre Jones singled on the infield with a bouncing ball behind the Bearcats second baseman that scored Reese and French . . . With Nickens at third base, Jones stole second base and the throw got away from the middle infielders allowing Nickens to scamper home as the fourth run of the inning and 4-0 Houston lead.

CIncinnati got a run back in the bottom of the second inning, their only run through the first four innings . . . As Houston starter Duncan Howard was taking his warmup tosses prior to the bottom of the fourth inning, head coach Todd Whitting saw something in Howard’s delivery, and he was removed from the game and Kyle LaCalameto took the mound in relief protecting a 4-1 lead.

For the second straight game, Houston could not hold on to a four-run lead as the Bearcats continued to chip away with two runs in the sixth inning, one run in the seventh inning, and the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Coby DeJesus and Harold Coll were both 2-for-4 in the game, the only two Cougars with multiple hits in the ballgame and accounting for half of the Houston base hits in the loss.

LaCalameto went 2 1/3 innings and struck out five while pitching in unforeseen circumstances . . . Paul Schmitz pitched for the second day in a row and threw 1 1/3 innings and struck out two batters . . . Justin Murray closed out the bottom of the eighth inning and struck out both batters he faced to prevent further damage.

Houston and Cincinnati will conclude their series Sunday with an 11am first pitch . . . Left-hander Antoine Jean (2-2) will take the mound for the Cougars as they attempt to salvage the final game in the series.

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Scoreless Effort by Citelli Not Enough in Loss to Cincinnati

Cary Arbolida bats in the 2nd inning Friday at Cincinnati

Houston took a lead and built on it in the middle of the game, but Cincinnati scored six runs over the sixth and seventh innings to take a 6-4 win on their home turf Friday.

With two outs, Cincinnati went to the bullpen in favor of the arm that would ordinarily be their Friday night starter . . . The Bearcats have been doing this for several weeks now with an opening pitcher that throws anywhere from one to three innings to their Friday guy who can go six innings in some cases . . . It has worked for Cincinnati in recent weeks, so they have stuck with it.

Houston starter Cade Citelli faced the minimum through the first three innings and the game was scoreless to that point.

Harold Coll singled to center field to get the top of the fourth inning started for Houston . . . After Coll stole second base, Ace Reese moved him to third base on a groundout to the right side . . . Cary Arbolida (2-for-4) then smashed a single into left field for his second hit of the ball game to drive in Coll and give Houston a 1-0 lead.

Tre Jones worked a walk on seven pitches to lead off the top of the sixth inning and he promptly stole second base . . . A Coby DeJesus groundout moved Jones to third base ahead of a Justin Murray (2-for-4) single up the middle to bring him across the plate . . . Anthony Tulimero doubled to left field to put Murray at third base . . . Murray then stole home to give Houston a 3-0 lead.

Cameron Nickens punched a one-out single into left field to get things started in the top of the sixth inning . . . Jones walked for the second time in as many at-bats . . . A failed hit-and-run play left Jones at second base with two outs where he was when DeJesus singled into center field to drive him home for a 4-0 Cougars advantage.

Citelli departed after five complete innings leading 4-0 having allowed just two base hits and striking out five Bearcats batters.

Cincinnati got two runs back in the bottom of the sixth inning and continued to hit the Houston bullpen in the seventh inning as they added four runs and took a 6-4 lead.

Paul Schmitz took the mound in the bottom of the seventh inning with a runner on first base with two outs and got an inning-ending groundout to bring the inning to an end.

Schmitz pitched a scoreless eighth inning to give the Cougars offense a chance in the top of the ninth inning, but to no avail as the Bearcats closed out the win on their home field.

The Houston offense earned nine hits in the game, and seven walked batters gave the Cougars plenty of traffic on the bases, but Houston left 10 runners on base in the two-run loss.

The Cougars and the Bearcats will continue the weekend series with an early afternoon affair on Saturday . . . Right-hander Duncan Howard (2-1) is set to make the start for Houston . . . First pitch is scheduled for 1pm in Cincinnati.

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Houston Run-Rules Southern 25-0 to Close Out Homestand

Houston tossed its second-straight shutout on Wednesday night at Schroeder Park to run-rule Southern 25-0 in seven innings.

A Justin Murray one-out double got the offense started in the bottom of the first inning . . . Murray was at third base after a wild pitch when Anthony Tulimero grounded out to make Murray the first run of the game . . . Harold Coll (3-for-3) doubled to left-center field with two outs . . . Ace Reese then doubled to left-center field and advanced to third base on an error by the center fielder . . . Cary Arbolida (3-for-5) tripled and the Cougars led 3-0 after the first inning.

Just as in the first inning, scoring in the bottom of the second inning started with a one out rally as Tre Jones doubled, batting in the nine spot in the order . . . Coby DeJesus (2-for-3) pushed a single through the right side to score Jones . . . Tulimero doubled to left field with two outs to plate DeJesus . . . Coll hammered the next pitch over the wall in left-center field, a two-run shot, and the four run frame gave Houston a 7-0 lead . . . The home run was Coll’s eighth of the season.

The formula was working, where the leadoff batter would make an out and the Cougars would score multiple runs in the inning, and it continued into the third inning . . . Cameron Nickens drew a one-out walk but was erased on the basepaths on a fielder’s choice by Jones . . . Jones was at second base after a steal and he scored on a single to right field by DeJesus . . . After DeJesus stole second base, Murray doubled to left field to bring him across the plate . . . Tulimero singled up the middle and the Cougars led 10-0 after three innings.

Once again, the Jaguars retired the leadoff batter in the bottom of the fourth inning . . . Back-to-back one-out walks to Lopez and Nickens was followed by Anthony Avalos being hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs . . . Thomas Lyssy pinch-hit for Murray and was walked to bring home a run.

Conner Bennett (3-for-3), pinch-hitting for Tulimero, once night after picking up his first career extra-base hit and RBI, launched a ball 385 feet to left-center field for a grand slam, his first career home run and Houston led 15-0.

A new pitcher entered the game for Southern in the bottom of the fifth inning and Arbolida greeted his first pitch by sending it onto Elgin, his seventh home run of the season . . . For the second consecutive inning, Lopez and Nickens both walked . . . With one out, Avalos grounded out to second base to bring home Lopez . . . Bennett then hit the first pitch he saw into left-center field for a run-scoring single and Houston led 18-0.

Houston plated seven more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning with the help of a defensive error, a hit batter, four walks, doubles by Jones and Bennett, and a sacrifice fly RBI to lead 25-0.

The Cougars closed out the victory, and their second-straight shutout, with a scoreless top of the seventh inning to win via the run-rule.

Kyle LaCalameto, Graysen Drezek, Brendan O’Donnell, Diego Luzardo, Richie Roman, Tim Williamson, and Jose Torrealba all pitched exactly one inning for Houston . . . Every pitcher notched at least one strikeout, with Torrealba striking out the side in the top of the seventh inning to close out the win.

LaCalameto, Roman, and Torrealba pitched hitless frames while Roman earned the win and is now 1-0 on the year.

Houston is off to Cincinnati tomorrow to face an old American Athletic Conference and now Big 12 Conference foe in the Bearcats for a weekend series . . . First pitch Friday is scheduled for 4pm.

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Houston Rebounds from Tough Weekend, Run-Rules HCU 10-0

Dan Wright had career highs against HCU on Tuesday night.

Houston entered a stretch of five games in six days with a 10-0 run-rule victory over HCU on Tuesday night at Schroeder Park.

Coby DeJesus (3-for-3) led off the bottom of the first inning with a double to left field . . . A one-out sacrifice fly ball moved DeJesus to third base . . . Harold Coll then lined a single into left-center field to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead.

A one-out single by Cary Arbolida got a big second inning started for the Cougars . . . A double to left field off the bat of Conner Bennett turned into a three-bagger and a RBI as a throwing error by the left fielder allowed Arbolida to score and Bennett took third base . . . The extra-base hit and RBI were each the first for Bennett as a collegian.

Cameron Nickens singled home Bennett and DeJesus followed with a single, his second base hit in as many innings . . . After the Huskies made a pitching change, Justin Murray (2-for-4) put down a perfect bunt down the third base line and was so fast down to first base there was not even a throw as Nickens crossed the plate as the third run of the inning . . . All three runs scored with two outs and four of the five hits in the frame also came with two outs.

Dan Wright made the Tuesday start and was outstanding in game one of five for the Cougars this week . . . Wright did not allow a run and allowed just three hits while striking out five Huskies batters . . . Wright faced the minimum in three of the six innings.

Three-straight walks with one out loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth inning . . . Jonathan French (2-for-4) then drove a ball to the wall in left-center field to clear the bases and extend the Houston lead to 7-0. 

After a couple of bases loaded walks plated two runs, a wild pitch allowed the final run of the game to score as Houston run-ruled the Huskies 10-0.

Left-hander Chris Stuart pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth innings for Houston in relief of Wright . . . Stuart faced the minimum over the two innings and struck out three Huskies . . . Wright earned the win to improve to 2-0 on the season.

The shortened game is great for a Houston team that has to play four games in the next five days with a flight to Cincinnati in there as well.

Houston is right back at it tomorrow night as the Cougars welcome Southern for a midweek contest . . . First pitch is scheduled for 6:30pm at Schroeder Park before the Cougars play their next four games away from home.

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Big 9th Inning Dooms Houston in Series Loss

Texas rallied back late from three-runs down on Sunday afternoon at Schroeder Park to take the series against Houston with a 13-8 victory.

Jaxon Jelkin was scheduled to make the mound start until just minutes before first pitch when Antoine Jean was announced instead.

The Cougars put together a rally trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the third inning when Justin Murray singled to right field with two outs . . . Anthony Tulimero was walked after Murray stole second base and reached third on a throwing error by the Texas catcher . . . Harold Coll (3-for-5) followed with a three-run home run over the left field wall and Houston led for the first time in the game, 3-2.

Cameron Nickens was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning . . . Coby DeJesus and Murray each singled to load the bases with no outs . . . Tulimero hit a sacrifice fly ball to left-center field to bring in a run . . . Coll drove in a run with a single to left-center field to extend the Houston lead to 5-2.

Jonathan French was walked to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning for Houston . . . One out later, Nickens hit a home run to left-center field to push the Cougars advantage to 7-2.

Texas added a run in the seventh inning and two in the eighth inning to close Houston’s lead to two runs.

With two down in the bottom of the eighth inning, Ace Reese got a 1-0 pitch he liked and he drove it over the fence in right field for a solo home run and a three-run Houston lead, 8-5 . . . The blast was the fifth of the season for the freshman.

But Texas responded with an eight-run ninth inning as eight consecutive batters reached base, three of them on home runs as Houston had to use four pitchers in the inning.

The Cougars went down in order in the bottom of the ninth and dropped the series with the 13-8 loss.

DeJesus and Murray were joined by Cary Arbolida as the only Houston hitters with multiple hits in the game with two each . . . Jean pitched 4 2/3 innings and allowed just three hits and two runs on a third inning home run and he struck out six batters . . . Houston pitching struck out 14 batters in total and walked six.

Houston is off Monday before playing back-to-back midweek games at Schroeder Park . . . The Cougars will host Houston Christian on Tuesday night followed by Southern on Wednesday night . . . Both games are scheduled to get underway at 6:30.

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Texas Homers in the 9th, Edges Out Houston 6-5 to Even Series

Duncan Howard made the start against Texas Saturday

Texas edged out Houston 6-5 on Saturday night at Schroeder Park to even the weekend series and set up a deciding game on Sunday afternoon.

Texas got a run in the game’s opening frame when a fly ball to center field was allowed to drop in for a base hit, scoring one and giving the Longhorns the early . . . Texas added two more runs in the top of the third inning to take a 3-0 lead.

Cameron Nickens led off the bottom of the third inning with a single into right-center field and Coby DeJesus followed with a single into left field . . . One out later, Anthony Tulimero (3-for-4) got Houston on the board with a run-scoring single . . . Harold Coll was walked to load the bases . . . Ace Reese (2-for-4) drove a fly ball deep into the left field corner near the foul line and it dropped just fair as it was mis-played by the Texas left fielder allowing two-runs to score on the single.

The Cougars trailed 5-3 after the seventh inning stretch, DeJesus got the inning started with a line drive home run over the left field fence . . . With one out, Tulimero hit a drive in nearly the same place, though a little further and with less doubt, and the game was tied at five on his third home run of the season.

A leadoff home run for Texas in the top of the ninth inning proved to be the difference in the ballgame as the Longhorns escaped with a 6-5 victory to even the series.

Alex Solis took the mound in the top of the ninth inning with runners at first and second base and only one out . . . Solis got a swinging strikeout and another one looking to end the threat, striking out the only two batters he faced . . . Michael Benzor pitched a scoreless inning in the top of the eighth inning, working around a dropped fly ball in left field that resulted in a runner on third base with no outs.

Houston and Texas will conclude their series Sunday afternoon with a rubber match at Schroder Park . . . First pitch is set for 1pm.

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12 Runs Against Texas Tech Not Enough as Houston Drops Road Series

Coby DeJesus was 4-for-6 against Texas Tech Saturday

Baseball in Lubbock was wild again on Saturday afternoon as Texas Tech claimed the weekend series over Houston with a 15-10 victory.

Jonathan French (2-for-4) led off the top of the second inning with a ground-rule double to left-center field . . . After a sacrifice bunt by Jacob Schoenvogel moved French to third base, Jake Rainess singled to left field to score French for an early one-run lead.

Rainess then stole second base on a delayed steal and the throw from the Red Raiders catcher went into center field allowing Rainess to move to third base where he was when a Coby DeJesus (4-for-6) ground out resulted in a RBI and a 2-0 Houston lead.

Texas Tech tied the game at two in the bottom of the third inning on a two-run home run and then took a one-run lead on a RBI single . . . A grand slam gave Texas Tech a seven-run frame and a 7-2 lead.

Trailing 12-2 in the top of the fifth inning, Harold Coll doubled into the left field corner to reach base with two outs . . . Coll was at third base after a wild pitch and Cary Arbolida singled on the infield to plate the run . . . Ace Reese (2-for-4) hit a home run over the left field wall, going the opposite way, a two-run shot . . . French added an opposite field home run of his own, going back-to-back with Reese, and Houston trailed 12-6 after the four-run inning.

The Cougars sent nine batters to the plate in the top of the sixth inning on four base hits and two walks . . . Houston plated four runs for the second-straight inning and only trailed by two-runs, 12-10.

Right-hander Owen Woodward had a terrific outing out of the Cougars bullpen . . . Woodward handled the final three innings of work and allowed just one run . . .Houston pitching allowed thirteen walks in the game.

Houston put together a mini rally in the top of the ninth inning when Jacob Schoenvogel doubled to lead off the inning . . . Alex Lopez singled in only his second at-bat of the game after pinch hitting in the seventh inning . . . DeJesus picked up his fourth hit of the game with a run-scoring single on his sixth hit of the weekend . . . The would-be rally fizzled out after one more run scored on an Anthony Tulimero sacrifice fly ball for his second RBI of the game, while Houston fell by a 15-12 final score.

The Cougars offense was consistent, and on many days scoring 12 runs should be enough for a win, but this series is being played in Lubbock . . . All nine batters in the starting lineup had at least one hit in the ballgame, including four Cougars with multiple hits.

The Cougars and the Red Raiders will conclude their series on Sunday afternoon . . . Right-hander Duncan Howard makes his return after not seeing action for three weeks . . . A 1pm first pitch is scheduled.

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