Tag: Duncan Hunter

Cougars Notebook – April 8, 2024

Houston went 1-3 last week . . . The Cougars are now 16-15 overall and 4-11 in Big 12 play.

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Houston beat Rice 4-3 last Tuesday night to sweep the 2024 Silver Glove Series.

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The Cougars were swept in Lubbock over the weekend despite scoring 9, 12, and 8 runs.

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Harold Coll had five hits over the weekend, three of them home runs, including two on Friday night . . . Cary Arbolida and Jonathan French each scattered five hits over the weekend and hit two home runs apiece.

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Cade Citelli turned in quite possibly the best outing on the mound over the weekend . . . Citelli pitched 3 1/3 innings perfect innings striking out six Red Raiders along the way . . . When Citelli took the mound in the bottom of the fifth inning, not only were the bases loaded, but there was an 0-2 count on the batter that Cade inherited . . . Citelli not only came from way behind to get the strikeout, but he struck out the first four batters he faced . . . When he inherited the 0-2 count, Citelli needed four pitches to get the strikeout, all four were strikes (one was fouled off).

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Houston will welcome the Texas Longhorns to town this weekend for the one and only Big 12 matchup between the two teams . . . Texas is coming off a Big 12 series loss in Austin against BYU.

The series will run Friday to Sunday and will have the usual start times, 6:30pm Friday and Saturday and 1pm on Sunday at Schroeder Park.

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Right-hander Duncan Hunter made his return to the rotation on Sunday having not appeared in a game in exactly three weeks and one day . . . Hunter struggled through three innings, to be expected after such a long layoff, and it is tough to make a return to action in Lubbock of all places . . . Either way, it was good to see Hunter back out there for the Cougars, if Houston is going to rally and make a go of it the rest of the way, having Hunter in the rotation will be key.

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Jared Triolo has a base hit in six-straight games and in seven of his eight games played so far this season . . . Triolo hit a home run against the Baltimore Orioles on Friday afternoon at PNC Park, it was his first home run of the season.

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Left-handed John King made his second appearance of the season on Sunday in St. Louis against the Miami Marlins . . . King tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings and struck out two Marlins batters.

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Houston Loses Saturday Finale, Drops Series in 10-8 Loss

Houston concluded its first Big 12 road series in Provo on Saturday against BYU

Eight runs by the Houston offense were not enough to overcome a rough outing by the pitching staff on Saturday afternoon as BYU took the series with a 10-8 victory in Provo, Utah.

A leadoff walk in the top of the first inning was to no avail for Houston on Saturday . . . Cary Arbolida led off the top of the second inning with a walk, and Jonathan French punished BYU immediately by driving a ball the opposite way over the right field wall for a 2-0 Houston advantage.

BYU had a rally going in the bottom of the second inning, but a great defensive effort by Jake Rainess from scoring more than one run.

Justin Murray led off the top of the third inning with a single . . . One out later, Harold Coll (3-for-5) followed with a home run to straight away center field and BYU went to the bullpen trailing 4-1.

BYU tied the game in the bottom of the third inning with the help of a solo home run and a two-run home run which forced Houston to the bullpen.

BYU manufactured a run and took a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Right-hander Duncan Hunter took the mound for the fifth and sixth innings and delivered two scoreless frames to keep Houston within shouting distance . . . Hunter struck out three BYU batters and allowed just one base hit.

After Houston went to the bullpen to start the bottom of the seventh inning, BYU added another three runs to extend their lead to 8-4.

Batting with two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the eighth inning, Coll doubled off the wall in left-center field to clear the bases and cut the deficit to a run, 8-7 . . . Coll had five RBI in the game.

But BYU responded with two more runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to push their lead to 10-7.

A Jacob Schoenvogel double to the wall in left-center field drove home Alex Lopez but the two-out rally ended there as Houston fell 10-8 to drop the series.

Houston returns home Saturday and will have two days off before two midweek games with Rice . . . The two teams will open the Silver Glove Series on Tuesday night at Schroeder Park at 6:30pm . . . The two teams will then play again on Wednesday at Reckling Park.

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Cougars Notebook – March 11, 2024

Houston is now 11-4 overall and 3-0 in the Big 12 after this past week . . . The Cougars have won five games in a row.

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Houston celebrates Tuesday night after a walk-off victory

4-0 last week with a 2-1 walk-off win over Sam Houston and a sweep of Baylor to open Big 12 conference play. After Sunday’s victory, head coach Todd Whitting noted that each week he stresses to the team to go week to week, to go 4-0 or 3-1 each week.

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Continuing to track the strikeout to walk ration of the Houston pitching staff, this weekend in the three games against Baylor, the staff racked up 32 strikeouts and walked just 7 batters.

Antoine Jean struck out 11 in his start on Saturday when he pitched 5 1/3 innings.

Duncan Hunter was perfect through 4 1/3 innings on Sunday, retiring the first 13 batters he faced . . . Hunter induced ground outs for 8 of his first 12 recorded outs and did not strike out a batter until the fifth inning . . . In the fifth and sixth innings, Hunter struck out 5 batters . . . Hunter did not allow a walk in his six innings pitched.

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Ryan Dollar and Michael Benzor were both clutch on Sunday afternoon in getting out of a jam while Houston protected a one-run lead in the top of the eighth inning.

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After catcher Jonathan French hit a home run on Saturday night, he had four home runs on the year, and seven total base hits . . . French singled on Sunday for his eighth hit of the season, half of his hits have been home runs.

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After Friday night’s series opening loss, Baylor head coach Mitch Thompson talked about the 4-3 loss, and referenced Houston starter Jaxon Jelkin while talking about life in the Big 12 on Friday nights:

“It’s a Friday night in the Big 12, a well-pitched ballgame. Their guy was really good early and Mason [Marriott] matched him early and we just came up a run short.”

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There will not be a midweek game this week as the Cougars open their next Big 12 series on Thursday, in Provo, Utah, instead of the customary Friday opener.

The series against BYU begins on Thursday at 7pm CT, with game two on Friday again at 7pm, and the weekend finale on Saturday at 12:30pm CT.

BYU (7-7, 1-2) opened Big 12 conference play all the way across the country in West Virginia where they lost 2 of 3 games to the Mountaineers and this will be their first conference home series . . . BYU will play a midweek game this week against Utah in Salt Lake City on Tuesday before facing Houston on Thursday.

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After the win on Sunday, Coach Whitting offered some thoughts on the matchup with BYU.

“It’s going to be kind of tough conditions up there, it’s not going to be hot,” Whitting said, “so we’ve got to be really ready to go in there and keep chasing this Big 12 title.”

To Whtting’s point about the weather, the forecast in Provo this weekend calls for highs/lows of 48/25, 54/29, and 54/30.

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The atmosphere at Schroeder Park this weekend was great, especially on Sunday afternoon, and Cougars fans significantly outnumbered Bears fans . . . Coach Whitting thanked the fans in his postgame remarks on Sunday, “Our crowds this weekend were awesome. The environment out here today was second to none, so I appreciate all of our fans coming out here and all of our supporters.”

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Houston Sweeps Baylor to Open Big 12 Slate

Duncan Hunter pitched six innings strong innings Sunday against Baylor

Houston put an exclamation point on opening weekend in Big 12 play with a three-game sweep of Baylor after a 3-2 victory on Sunday at Schroeder Park.

Houston starter Duncan Howard was perfect through the first three innings with six ground outs.

The game was still scoreless in the bottom of the fifth inning when Jonathan French walked with one out . . . French then moved up a base on a wild pitch . . . Alex Lopez doubled down the first base line to score French from second and Houston scored the first run of the ballgame and took a 1-0 lead.

The Bears got the run right back with the aid of a single and a triple to tie the game.

With the game still tied in the bottom of the sixth inning, Cameron Nickens got his first at-bat in the game after the third inning ejection of Houston designated hitter Kenneth Jimenez . . . Nickens drove a ball through the right side for a single against a shift playing for him to hit the ball up the middle . . . Cary Arbolida then hit a no-doubter over the wall in left-center field at the 375 marker for a two-run home run and a 3-1 Houston lead.

Chris Stuart took the mound to start the seventh inning and retired the side in order . . . Baylor plated a run in the top of the eighth inning and Ryan Dollar entered the game and retired both batters he faced before Michael Benzor entered the game to record the final out of the inning with the Cougars holding a one run lead.

Hunter struck out five and did not walk any batters in his six innings where he allowed just the one earned run.

Murray took the mound for the ninth inning and worked around a one out single to earn his first save of the season . . . Murray induced two swinging strikeouts, including the final out of the ball game to cement the victory.

“I was throwing strikes early, that was kind of the goal coming into the game,” said Hunter after the win, “just pound the zone with all my pitches and get ahead and let them get themselves out.”

Hunter also gave credit to his defense behind him, “Shout out to my team for making all the plays behind me, I don’t think I had a strikeout until the fourth or fifth inning, all of them were making plays behind me.”

In fact Hunter did not pick up his first strikeout until the fifth inning when he struck out two, and then he struck out the side in his sixth and final inning . . . Eight of Hunter’s first twelve recorded outs were on ground outs.

Head coach Todd Whitting acknowledged the work on the mound this weekend by the entire team. 

“I think the story of the weekend was our pitching staff,” said Whitting. “Coach Kenny, that staff, has done a good job with those pitchers minimizing opportunities for others to score. We were really good out of the bullpen this weekend.”

Whitting added, “We had a 4-0 week, I talk to the team all the time about going week to week, we always want to go 4-0 or 3-1 and we accomplished that this week.”

Houston (11-4, 3-0) is next in action on Thursday when they open their first road trip of the season at BYU (7-7, 1-2) riding a five-game win streak . . .The Cougars will not play a midweek this week as they begin their weekend series on a Thursday instead of a Friday.

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