John King made three appearances in the last week for the St. Louis Cardinals . . . Two of King’s outings were scoreless, with his appearance September 2 against the Pirates being his strongest . . . King threw 1 1/3 innings against Pittsburgh on just 17 pitches, 11 of them for strikes.
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Catcher Connor Wong played in four games last week, two against the Astros and two against the Royals . . . Wong had hits in three of the of the games and one RBI on two of the games.
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Jake Scheiner carried a one game hit streak into last week before Tacoma took on Sugar Land . . . Scheiner hit in the first five games of the week before his hit streak ended at six games on Sunday . . . Scheiner had eights base hits, three home runs, and 12 RBI against the Space Cowboys.
Scheiner leads the Pacific Coast League with 30 home runs and 105 RBI . . . The 105 RBI leads all of AAA baseball.
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Zach Arnold played in three games last week for Single-A Clearwater . . . Arnold had a hit and an RBI in each of the three games.
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Jared Triolo played in six games last week for AAA Indianapolis . . . Triolo hit in four straight games last week, extending his hit streak to five games . . . Three of the hits were doubles for Triolo.
Former Cougars lefty Robert Gasser improved to 6-1 on Friday night for the AAA Nashville Sounds . . . Gasser tossed six scoreless frames allowing just two hits while striking out ten batters.
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Left-hander John King made his first appearance in a St. Louis Cardinals uniform on August 1 after the Rangers traded King as part of a five player deal just days before . . . King tossed a scoreless inning and gave up one hit against the Minnesota Twins in a 3-2 Cardinals loss.
King also pitched a scoreless inning against the Colorado Rockies on Sunday in a 1-0 Cardinals loss at home.
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Austin Pruitt pitched two scoreless innings for the Athletics against the Dodgers on August 2 in Los Angeles . . . Pruitt did not allow a hit but struck out two Dodgers hitters on a night the National League West leaders scored ten runs against the rest of the Oakland pitching staff.
On August 5, Pruitt tossed a scoreless inning against the San Francisco Giants in a 2-1 Oakland victory.
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Jared Triolo has seen his playing time with the Pittsburgh Pirates somewhat reduced with the return of third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes from the injured list . . . Triolo started at second base for the Pirates in Sunday’s finale in Milwaukee against the Brewers, a contest that the Pirates won 4-1.
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Former Cougars RHP Ben Sears is 3-1 with eight saves in 27 appearances for the Columbus Fireflies, the Single-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals . . . Sears also has a 2.75 ERA.
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After just four games in the Florida Complex League (FCL) recently drafted Zach Arnold was promoted to the Single-A Clearwater Threshers by the Phillies . . . In eleven at-bats Arnold had two doubles and a triple and five RBI.
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The first year in the Big 12 for Houston was going to be an odd one anyway because after the first year, the conference is losing Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC . . . Well, the second year got more interesting with the Friday news that Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah would be joining the Big 12 beginning with the 2024-25 academic year.
Five players with some sort of a connection to the University of Houston baseball program heard they name called over the three days of 2023 MLB Draft which started Sunday evening and ended Tuesday afternoon.
Two Cougars from the 2023 Cougars roster were drafted on Tuesday.
Josh Ekness was drafted by the Miami Marlins in the 12th Round, with the 353rd overall pick.
Zach Arnold was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 14th Round, with the 433rd overall pick.
Two incoming Houston Cougars were also chosen on Tuesday.
Nehomar Ochoa from Galena Park High School, was chosen in the 11th Round by the Houston Astros with the 344th pick.
Jaxon Jelkin, a pitcher from South Mountain CC in Arizona was chosen by the Los Angeles Dodgers with the 430th overall pick in the 14th Round.
Former Cougar Craig Yoho, who played at Houston in 2019 and 2020 before transferring to Indiana, was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 8th Round on Monday with the 242nd overall pick . . . Prior to the 2023 season, after having missed two seasons with injuries, Yoho’s last appearance in college baseball was in a Houston uniform on March 6, 2020 at Arizona . . . Yoho played nine games as a position player while with the Cougars.
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.
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.
Zach Arnold named to the Honor Roll in the American for the third straight week . . . Per the conference press release: Arnold hit .500 (8-16) with four runs scored, two home runs and five RBI in four games for the Cougars, including a series win at UCF.
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Houston was 2-2 last week with a 4-2 loss at home to Lamar and a conference series win at UCF.
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The Cougars finished April with a record of 12-6.
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Houston will play at Rice on Wednesday for game two of this years Silver Glove Series . . . Houston leads the series 1-0 after a 14-13 win over the Owls on April 4 at Schroeder Park . . . The two teams face each other twice in a week to decide the winner this year, May 3 and May 10, both games at Reckling Park and both games set to begin at 6:30pm.
Houston will then host Wichita State this weekend . . . The Cougars and the Shockers are tied atop the conference standings, so this weekend will separate the two teams . . . The forecast for this weekend looks sketchy, right now, so stay tuned for potential schedule updates as Friday gets closer . . . As of right now, first pitch Friday at Schroeder Park is scheduled for 6:30pm.
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Former Cougars catcher Connor Wong hit his first home run of the season in a 7-1 win against Cleveland on Sunday . . . For Wong the home run was part of a 2-for-4 effort.
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RPI+
After all the action this weekend, with the exception of today’s Texas at TCU game, this is where teams stand according to RPI+ by College Baseball Nation.
This is just a sampling of teams Houston has played or will play, and some Big 12 teams are in there to show where those teams compare to Houston at the moment, but obviously the conference standings would be much different if Houston and UCF were already in the Big 12.
Thomas Lyssy bats in the eighth inning Sunday in Orlando
As the clock ticked down on Sunday in Orlando with a time rule in effect for travel plans, Houston used their final inning at-bat to reverse a two-run deficit and win 12-9 against UCF to take their fifth conference series of the season.
The Knights jumped out to an early 3-0 in the bottom of the first innings thanks in some measure to the gusty breezes blowing around Orlando.
Trailing by three in the top of the second inning, catcher Anthony Tulimero led off the inning with a single . . . One out later, Malachi Lott doubled to left-center field to get Houston on the board.
Drew Bianco singled to lead off the top of the third inning and then advanced to second base on a wild pitch before moving to third base on a ground out to third by Brandon Uhse . . . Zach Arnold delivered a one out RBI single to left field to plate Bianco and make it 3-2 . . . Alex Lopez was walked to put runners at first and second base . . . Tulimero then grounded to third base with what looked to be a double play ball, but the throw from second base to first base was wide, allowing Tulimero to reach base while Arnold crossed home plate as the tying run.
In the top of the fourth inning, a Thomas Lyssy infield single put him at first base with one out . . . Ian McMillan then drove a ball the opposite way over the right field wall for a two-run home run and a 5-3 Houston lead.
Houston starter Cade Citelli did not benefit from the wild winds in Orlando on Sunday, but he gutted out a tough start and took the game into the fourth inning before being relieved by Dan Wright . . . Wright completed two important innings and allowed just one run, three of his six recorded outs were by strikeout.
With the game tied at five in the top of the fifth inning, Murray reached first base on a one-out walk . . . Lyssy singled into right field to move Murray over to third base . . . A failed pick-off attempt of Lyssy at first base saw Lyssy get into a rundown between first and second base, but he delayed being tagged long enough to allow Murray to steal home with the go-ahead run, and Lyssy reached second base safely after the ball was dropped by the Knights first baseman after he had seemingly applied the tag . . . Houston took the 6-5 lead into the bottom of the fifth inning.
Murray worked a walk to lead off the top of the seventh inning and then advanced to second base on a wild pitch . . . Cameron Nickens pinch-hit for Malachi Lott and dropped a single into right-center field to drive Murray home and cut the UCF lead by a run to 9-7.
Still trailing by two runs in the top of the eighth inning, the Cougars offense went back to work . . . Arnold led off with a single and Lopez followed that with a walk . . . Murray was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out . . . Nickens singled to left field to drive in two runs to tie the game at nine, his second hit in as many innings to with three runs drive in.
Lyssy followed with a monster blast to right field, a three-run shot and the Cougars took a 12-9 lead . . . The home run was Lyssy’s third hit of the game in a 3-for-5 day, it was also the freshman’s first in a Houston uniform.
The four-hour game ended after the bottom of the eight inning due to time constraints after Murray struck out what would have been the tying run at the plate with two Knights runners on base . . . Murray pitched the final three innings for Houston and earned the win to improve to 3-0 this season.
Head Coach Todd Whitting was quick with praise for Lyssy after the game on Sunday.
“It is great to see Lyssy doing the most with his opportunity,” Whitting said. “He has been a huge bat for us in the last few weeks.”
“Proud of the boys grinding out a tough weekend against a very good UCF team,” Whitting added.
The comeback win gave Houston its fifth conference series win of the eight they will play this season . . . This was the third conference road series win and the second straight weekend with a conference series win on the road . . . The Cougars finish April with a record of 12-6.
The Cougars (25-19, 10-5) return to action on Wednesday when they will play Rice at Reckling Park in game two of the Silver Glove Series . . . Houston leads the Silver Glove Series 1-0 and can take home the trophy for another year with a win on Wednesday or the following week against Rice, also at Reckling Park, on May 10 . . . Rice was swept at home this weekend by Dallas Baptist . . . First pitch is scheduled for 6:30pm on Wednesday.
Malachi Lott led off for Houston against UCF on Friday night
Houston took the opener of their weekend conference series in Orlando with a 13-7 win over UCF on Friday in ten innings.
Houston only scored runs in three innings on Friday night, but they did it in bunches.
A two-out walk to Alex Lopez in the top of the first inning put a runner on base for catcher Anthony Tulimero . . . . Tulimero homered deep to left-center field and the Cougars took an early two-run lead.
Brandon Uhse (2-for-4) led off the top of the second inning with a home run to straight away center field . . . The flood gates opened after that.
Thomas Lyssy (3-for-5) immediately followed with a single, and then Ian McMillan doubled in front of a Drew Bianco single . . . A misplayed fielder’s choice on a grounder by Malachi Lott led to a run crossing the plate . . . One out later Alex Lopez knocked a single to the opposite field to drive in Bianco and Lott and the Cougars led 7-0, chasing the Knights starting pitcher in just his second frame.
The Cougars did not score another run until the tenth inning.
Meanwhile, the Knights got four runs of their own in the bottom half of the second inning to keep the game close, trailing just 7-4 going to the third inning.
While Josh Ekness did not have his best night, he gave his teammates 5 2/3 innings on the mound and left just before a Knights two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning tied the game at seven . . . Ekness threw 121 pitches in the game.
Maddux Miller followed Ekness and tossed two innings allowing just one run . . . Brendan O’Donnell then followed Miller and tossed 1 1/3 innings with some tense moments, but he did not allow a run and stymied one potential game-winning threat.
In the top of the tenth innings, the Cougars started rolling once again . . . Tulimero led off the frame and was hit by a pitch . . . Justin Murray (3-for-5) followed with a single before both runners moved into scoring position on a wild pitch . . . Cameron Nickens was walked to load the bases in his first plate appearance of the game after replacing Uhse . . . Lyssy picked up his third hit of the night by punching a grounder through the drawn-in infield on the right side to drive in a run . . . Lott singled to left field to drive in two more Houston runs.
Zach Arnold then launched a 2-2 pitch out of the ballpark, over the Houston bullpen beyond the left field wall for a three-run home run and a 13-7 Cougars lead.
Murray took the mound for the ninth inning and he retired all three batters he faced on just thirteen pitches to close out the road victory and earn his sixth save of the season . . . O’Donnell was the winner and improved to 3-0 this season.
Houston had fifteen hits in the game and two batters walked and only left five runners on base . . . The Cougars pitching staff stranded nine Knights runners on base.
With Wichita State also winning on Friday night, the Cougars and the Shockers remain tied for the top spot in the conference standings, a full game ahead of East Carolina . . . Tulane and East Carolina had their game stopped due to the weather in the seventh inning with Tulane leading 9-6 . . . The Pirates and the Green Wave will attempt to finish the game on Saturday, before the two teams are scheduled to compete in a doubleheader . . . There is the potential for 21 innings of baseball in Greenville on Saturday.
Saturdays game between the Cougars and the Knights has been moved up to 11am CT because of the potential for bad weather in Orlando on Saturday night . . . While no pitcher has been announced yet, look for the Cougars to stick with what has worked since Paul Schmitz was sidelined and start Lott on the mound Saturday.
Zach Arnold and Josh Ekness both made the Honor Roll in The American for their efforts last week.
Per The American:
Arnold hit .500 (8-16) with six runs, two doubles and a pair of runs driven in as the Cougars went 3-1, including a series win at Memphis.
Ekness threw six scoreless innings with six strikeouts and only one hit allowed in an 8-0 victory at Memphis on Friday night. Ekness and teammate Maddux Miller combined for a one-hit shutout.
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The Cougars will host Lamar Tuesday at Schroeder Park before traveling to Orlando to play UCF this weekend.
Houston blanked Memphis 8-0 on Friday night to open up the conference road series behind a strong start by Josh Ekness and the relief effort of Maddux Miller.
The Houston offense went right to work in the opening frame of Fridays game . . . Zach Arnold doubled to reach base with one out and Alex Lopez immediately followed with a two-run home run to right field to give the Cougars a 2-0 lead.
Drew Bianco (3-for-4) doubled home Brandon Burckel top of the second to make it 3-0 Houston.
Ekness left after six innings leading 8-0 having allowed just one hit to the Tigers.
Miller pitched the final three innings for Houston and did not allow the Tigers back into the game, giving up zero hits and zero run.
Houston and Memphis resume their series on Saturday with a first pitch scheduled for 4pm.
Houston Cougars Baseball Beat 