Tag: Harold Coll

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.

. . .

Bennett, Reese Homer; Arbolida Delivers Walk-off Winner

For the second time in less than a week in a row some midweek magic late in the game helped Houston to a 5-4 walk-off win over Nicholls on Tuesday night at Schroder Park.

The Cougars were trailing 3-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning before getting their first hit of the game . . . Catcher Conner Bennett (2-for-4), making just his sixth start of the season, hit a solo home run over the left field wall to lead off the frame for Houston’s first hit of the night.

The Houston half of the bottom of the sixth inning started with Anthony Tulimero (2-for-3) being hit by a pitch and Harold Coll followed suit, being hit by the eighth pitch of his at-bat . . . Ace Reese followed with a home run to center field off the batter’s eye and Houston led for the first time in the game, 4-3.

A solo home run for the Colonels tied the game at four in the top of the ninth inning.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Houston offense put together a rally . . . Tulimero doubled down the right field line and Coll followed with a walk . . . Jonathan French made a pinch-hit appearance and was walked to load the bases and the Colonels went to the bullpen.

Cary Arbolida (2-for-3) hit a towering fly ball to shallow center field . . . The center fielder raced in toward the infield at full speed to attempt a catch . . . The ball hit the fielder’s glove and fell to the ground allowing Houston to walk-off 5-4 winners.

Houston walked-off McNeese last Wednesday in 10 innings on a wild pitch.

The Cougars had seven runs in the ballgame and only four players accounted for them.

Diego Luzardo and Jose Torrealba each pitched two scoreless innings and Ryan Dollar contributed one inning of his own.

Houston has the next two days off before opening a Big 12 weekend series in Lawrence, Kansas against the Jayhawks . . . First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 6:30pm.

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Houston Walks-Off McNeese in 10 Innings in Comeback Fashion

Diego Luzardo takes a moment while throwing two scoreless innings Tuesday night.

The Houston offense started slowly on Wednesday night at Schroeder Park, but it arrived in time to walk-off McNeese 9-8 in 10 innings.

McNeese took a 5-0 lead in the second inning, getting runs off of two different Cougars pitchers.
Right-hander Diego Luzardo then took the mound for the third and fourth innings and stopped the Cowboys offense, allowing just one hit and striking out three batters while keeping the deficit from getting bigger.

Anthony Tulimero got the Houston offense started in the bottom of the fourth inning reaching base on a single into right field, just the Cougars second hit of the ballgame to reach base with one out . . . Ace Reese (2-for-4) then sliced an 0-2 pitch into left-center field for a double to score Tulimero from first base  . . . .Cary Arbolida doubled into right-center field, scoring Reese . . . Tre Jones singled home Arbolida and Houston was only down by two runs, 5-3.

Houston was trailing 8-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning when Jonathan French doubled down the right field line to get a rally started in the bottom of the inning with one out . . . Coby DeJesus singled to move French over to third base before Justin Murray walked to load the bases . . . Tulimero sent a fly ball deep to left field, but it was caught on the warning track with French scoring on the sacrifice fly, while DeJesus and Murray both tagged up as well.

With two outs, Harold Coll (3-for-5) dropped singled into shallow left field just out of reach of the retreating shortstop and with the base runners moving with two outs, DeJesus and Murray scored and Houston only trailed by two . . . Coll was attempting to steal second base when Reese singled into right field and put runners on the corners . . . After falling behind 0-1, Arbolida walked when the next four pitches missed the strike zone and the bases were loaded.

Jones hit a ground ball to second base and it was fielded cleanly, but the second baseman seemed to want to go for the force out at second base, but he hesitated and then threw to first base for what should have been the third out . . . The throw to first was wild and went into the McNeese dugout, allowing two Cougars to score and the game was tied at eight going to the eighth inning.

The game went to the bottom of the tenth inning still tied at eight . . . Jacob Schoenvogel, playing in his first game since April 12 against Texas due to back issues, was 0-for-2 at the plate after making a pinch-hit appearance, but drew a walk to lead off the inning . . . French bunted Schoenvogel to second base before DeJesus grounded out to shortstop allowing Schoenvogel to move to third base.

Murray was at the plate with two outs when a wild pitch went to the wall behind the plate and Schoevogel crossed the plate easily as the winning run.

As is typical of midweek games, many pitchers are used in the games, and Wednesday was no exception . . . The Cougars and the Cowboys combined to use 18 pitchers, and the fact they played 10 innings is hardly relevant to that fact.

Jose Torrealba was outstanding out of the bullpen once again, going 2 2/3 scoreless innings before handing the ball off to Alex Solis who pitched a scoreless tenth inning, even working around a little traffic . . . Solis earned his first career win when Schoenvogel crossed the plate in the bottom of the tenth inning.

Coll and Reese were the only two Houston hitters with multiple hits in the ballgame . . . The walk-off was the second this season to happen against a former Houston player . . . Evan Maldonado, with the Cougars in 2021 before transferring to Navarro, was on the mound Wednesday night and threw the wild pitch that allowed the winning run . . . Malachi Lott was the other player, who Reese singled off of in the bottom of the ninth inning on March 5, also at Schroeder Park.

Houston has one day off now before opening a Big 12 series with the UCF Knights on Friday . . . The game is set to begin at 6:30pm at Schroeder Park.

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Houston Wins Series; Arbolida Homers Twice…Again

Cary Arbolida bats in the third inning Sunday

Houston’s win over UT Arlington on Sunday at Schroeder Park might sound like a familiar one, that’s because it is:

The Houston offense got going in the bottom of the first inning after the first two Cougars batters had been retired . . . Anthony Tulimero (2-for-3) was hit by a pitch and took second base on a wild pitch . . . Harold Coll (3-for-4) walked after falling behind in the count 0-2 . . . Ace Reese drove in Tulimero with an opposite field single into left field . . . Cary Arbolida (3-for-5) hit the next pitch into left field to score Coll and Houston had a 2-0 lead going to the second inning.

The Mavericks got one of the runs right back in the top of the second inning when a balk brought across a runner from this base . . . One inning later, UTA tied the game on an inside-the-park home run to right field.

Tulimero sent the first pitch in the bottom of the third inning into left field for a leadoff single . . . With one out, Reese singled to right field allowing Tulimero to get to third base . . . Arbolida hammered a 1-2 pitch 431 feet over the left field wall for a three-run home run.

Tre Jones (2-for-4) followed with a triple to the right field wall and the Mavericks went to the bullpen . . . Kenneth Jimenez hit the first pitch from the new pitcher high into center field to score Jones on a sacrifice fly to push the Houston lead to four, 6-2.

Arbolida led off the bottom of the fifth inning with his second home run of the game, this one traveling 435 feet over the left field fence . . . The blast was Arbolida’s fourth of the weekend and his third milti-home run game of the season . . . It was also Arbolida’s 12th home run of the season.

A two-run home run for the Mavericks in the top of the sixth inning cut the Houston lead to 7-4.

In the bottom of the sixth, Justin Murray singled to left field with one out and then stole second base with two outs . . . Coll doubled to the left field wall to score Murray and get the Cougars lead back to four.

Murray once again reached base with one out in the bottom of eighth inning, this time via a walk . . . Tulimero doubled to the wall in left-center field on the first pitch of his at-bat to score Murray from first base . . . Coll singled to center field to plate Tulimero and Houston led 10-4 going to the ninth inning . . . The RBI was Coll’s 47th, which leads the team.

Left-hander Jose Torrealba took the mound in relief of Jean in the top of the sixth inning with a runner on first base . . . The first batter to face Torrealba lined a ball toward third base where Tulimero was able to get a glove on the ball to knock it to the ground for a single and avoid extra bases and possible a run scoring . . . Torrealba induced a double play ball to end the inning without allowing any runs.

Torrealba proceeded to get the next nine batters out in order to close out the ballgame, retiring all 11 batters he faced . . . Torrealba threw 32 pitches over his 3 2/3 innings pitched and only threw four pitches in the ninth inning to end the ballgame . . . Torrealba earned the save for his work, his third of the season.

Antoine Jean earned the win to improve to 3-2 this season, he threw 5 1/3 innings and struck out six batters . . . Five Cougars had multiple hits in the ballgame.

Houston is off for the next couple of days before facing McNeese on Wednesday in this week’s only midweek game for the Cougars . . . First pitch at Schroeder Park is scheduled for 6:30pm.

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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 Opens UT Arlington Series with 17-7 Romp

Cade Citelli got the start Friday against UT Arlington

Houston returned home after four games on the road and the bats were alive on Friday night at Schroeder Park as Houston topped UT Arlington 17-7 in a non-conference series.

Coby DeJesus walked to lead off the bottom of the first inning and the Cougars offense was off and running . . . Justin Murray (3-for-5) singled into left field and Anthony Tulimero followed with an RBI single to center field to score DeJesus.

Tulimero was erased on the basepaths before Harold Coll (3-for-5) doubled to right field with one out . . . Cary Arbolida then clubbed his ninth home run of the season 361 feet over the left field wall and Houston led 4-0 going to the second inning.

After the Mavericks got a run back in the top of the top of the second inning, the Houston offense responded.

Kenneth Jimenez (3-for-4) walked to lead off the inning and Jonathan French followed with a single . . . DeJesus singled to load the bases and a wild pitch plated Jimenez . . . A two-run single by Justin Murray, his second hit in as many innings, was followed by a run-scoring single to center field, the second for him in as many innings and Houston had built an 8-1 lead.

Tre Jones doubled to lead off the bottom of the third inning and he eventually scored as the ninth Houston run.

Coll homered to left field with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning, launching a ball 380 feet . . . Jones and Jimenez sent back-to-back blasts over the left field wall in the bottom of the fifth inning and Houston led 12-2.

Arbolida hit his second home run of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning, a ball that traveled 361 feet . . . When the Cougars did not score a run in the bottom of the seventh inning, it was the first inning in which they did not plate a run in the game.

The Mavericks scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning and two runs in the top of the eighth inning to close in on Houston’s lead, but Houston kept adding as well.

Alex Lopez led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a single . . . Coll doubled to the wall in left-center field to bring home the run . . . Ace Reese doubled to left-center field, the third straight hit to start the inning . . . Arbolida followed with a walk, the fourth straight batter to reach base, and all four of them scored as the Cougars took a 17-7 lead to the top of the ninth inning.

Brendan O’Donnell took the mound for the top of the ninth inning and retired the three out he needed, facing four batters and striking out two batters.

Citelli earned the win with his five-inning performance to improve to 3-1 . . . Citelli allowed just two runs and struck out four batters.

The Houston offense pounded out 20 base hits on Friday night . . . Seven Cougars racked up multiple hits.

With an odd number of teams in the Big 12, all teams have a weekend where they do not play a conference opponent, and this is the one and only weekend of this season for Houston.

The Cougars and the Mavericks will resume their series on Saturday at Schroeder Park . . . Richie Roman will be on the mound for Houston, the first start for the freshman, look for Roman to serve as an opening pitcher with the bullpen pitching the majority of the game . . . First pitch is set for 6:30pm.

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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.

. . .

French Off the Bench Powers Houston to Road Win

Jonathan French stands at first base after a two RBI single Sunday in Cincinnati

Houston worked through chilly weather and a sunless afternoon to salvage a road win in Cincinnati on Sunday with an 8-5 victory.

A three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning gave Cincinnati an early 3-0 lead, reversing course from the previous two games when the Bearcats fell behind 4-0 in each game.

Ace Reese drew a two-out walk in the top of the fourth inning to reach base . . . Cary Arbolida drove a 1-0 pitch over the left field wall, clearing a line of trees beyond the wall, the two-run blast cut the deficit to 3-2. 

The Bearcats went to their bullpen after five innings and Anthony Tulimero greeted the new pitcher by lining a single past the Cincinnati third baseman and into center field to lead off the top of the sixth inning . . . Harold Coll walked and both runners moved into scoring position on a wild pitch . . . Tre Jones (2-for-3) was hit by a pitch with two outs to load the bases for the Cougars.

Jonathan French came off the bench to pinch-hit and he lined the very first pitch he saw up the middle into center field, scoring Tulimero and Coll and giving Houston a 4-3 lead.

Antoine Jean settled in after the first inning home run to toss 5 1/3 innings to the benefit of the pitching staff depleted by injuries and long outings . . . Jean struck out six Cincinnati batters . . . Jean departed with two runners on base, both scored after he left the game, so his final line looks worse than his outing would actually indicate. 

The Bearcats got the lead right back in the bottom of the inning, plating two runs to take a 5-4 lead.

Back-to-back walks to Tulimero and Coll in the top of the seventh inning were followed by a Reese single that dropped into left field to load the bases with one out . . . Arbolida then blooped a ball into shallow center field, with the possibility of the ball being caught, the runners had to hold up, Tulimero scampered home as the tying run when the ball hit the ground, but Coll was out on the RBI fielder’s choice force play at third base.

After hitting the first pitch he saw for a pinch-hit two RBI single, French hit the second pitch he saw in the game over the left field wall, close to where Arbolida’s home run cleared, to lead off the top of the eighth inning for a 6-5 lead.

Coll hit a home run to lead off the top of the ninth inning and to give the Cougars a two-run advantage . . . Two outs later, Thomas Lyssy drew a two-out walk and proceeded to steal second base . . . French worked a seven pitch at-bat before knocking a single into left-center field to drive in Lyssy and Houston led 8-5 going to the bottom of the ninth . . . French was 3-for-3 on Sunday with four RBI.

Justin Murray took the mound to begin the bottom of the eighth inning and he promptly struck out the side . . . Murray picked up another strikeout in the bottom of the ninth inning and retired six of the seven batters he faced to close the road win and earn his fourth save of the season.

Graysen Drezek, Brendan O’Donnell, and Richie Roman all contributed parts of a scoreless inning to get the game from Jean to Murray . . . Roman earned the win and improved to 2-0 this season.

“French was great today,” head coach Todd Whitting said after the game. “We had planned to give him a day off and he came off the bench with three huge hits.”

“With the injury early [in the season] to Tulimero, he was a huge pickup for us to solidify the catching position,” Whitting added.

Houston returns home today and has Monday off before traveling to College Station to take on the No. 1 Texas A&M Aggies in a Tuesday midweek matchup . . . First pitch is set for 6pm.

. . .

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.

. . .

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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