Houston looks to continue success on the diamond against Oklahoma State

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2012 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (March 15, 2012) After breaking a five-game losing streak this past Tuesday evening against Sam Houston State, the Houston Cougars will hit the road for a three-game series against the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

The Cougars, who have posted a 7-9 record in 2012, are hoping to close out spring break with a three-game sweep and advance above .500 for the first time since March 3.

Houston is currently in seventh place in Conference USA and will begin conference play on March 23 against Southern Mississippi.

Against the Bearkats, junior Chase Jensen went 4-for-5, scoring three runs and tallying five RBI.

Previously Jensen had a record of three RBI in a single game, which he had achieved five times.

Jensen connected on a homerun, one double and two singles.

Against Sam Houston, the fifth inning was a gold mine for the Cougars.

They scored nine runs on six hits in the fifth, which was the best single-inning production for the Cougars this season.

Junior Austin Pruitt started on the mound for the Cougars and got his first collegiate win.

He threw 5 complete innings without giving up a run on four hits, while throwing four strikeouts.

The Cougars will try to continue that success against the 11-7 Cowboys.

Oklahoma State is sporting a five-game winning streak and is hitting .271 for the season.

The last time the Cougars faced the Cowboys was on March 5, 1993 in the Louisiana Classics Tournament.

The Cowboys drummed the Cougars 28-9 to give them a 45-38-1 all-time series dating back to 1957.

The three game series will kickoff Friday evening with a 6:30 p.m. start; continuing on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

Cory Kay Gets First HR of Season; Leads Houston Over Arkansas

Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loca Photography.
Copyright 2012, All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly

Copyright 2012 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (March 3, 2012) Led by freshman DH Cory Kay, the Houston Cougars improved their season record to 6-4; winning their second game of the 2012 Houston College Classic by defeating Arkansas 4-1 at Minute Maid Park.

The 5-11 catcher from Arlington Heights, IL fit right into the role as DH against the Razorbacks going 2-for-3, scoring two runs and two RBI.

Kay made his collegiate debut in game two of the opening weekend Delaware series.

Staring pitcher Jordan Lewis raised his record to 2-1 with the win, throwing six innings and giving up a single earned run.

Quoted in a post game interview; Lewis stated "Today, I had almost everything working for me...I was confident in every pitch that was called by coach Cressend."

Codey Morehouse, pitching in relief got the save, facing 12 batters while striking out four and walking one.

Kay got the Cougars on the board with a solo home run in the third inning. He connected on a 3-2 pitch from Randall Fant to send it into the Crawford Boxes in left field.

The Cougars came back with two more runs in the fifth inning when Kay singled up the left side; scoring Price Jacobs from third.

Later in the inning, Chase Jensen singled to first base allowing Kay to score from third.

The Razorbacks scored their lone run in the seventh inning when Dominic Ficociello scored on a single by Jake Wise.

Houston answered with another run in the bottom of the inning as Landon Appling scored off an error by shortstop Tim Carver.

The No. 4 Razorbacks fall to 10-2 on the season and will face Texas in an 11 a.m. game on Sunday.

The Cougars will next face Texas Tech right after the Texas-Arkansas game.

Houston Downs Tennessee 7-4 in Houston College Classic

Photo by Robert H Kelly, Copyright 2012

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2012 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (March 3, 2012)   Boosted by a three-run fourth inning, the Houston Cougars (6-4) downed the Tennessee Volunteers (7-2) by the score of 7-4 in opening game action for both teams in the 2012 Houston College Classic.

The highly vocal fans at Minute Maid Park saw Cougar starting pitcher Jared Ray strikeout the first six batters he faced while going seven innings and only giving up one run on five hits.

He faced 25 batters while striking out 10 and not giving up a single walk.

The Cougars first got on the board when Chase Jensen scored from third as John Cannon grounded out to Tennessee shortstop Zach Osborne.

Casey Grayson scored the Cougars’ second run on a Landon Appling RBI sacrifice fly to center field.

Price Jacobs tallied the third Houston run when pitcher Robbie Kidd walked Jake Runte with the bases loaded.

Tennessee came back in the top of the next inning to score their first run on a Wes Walker single to right field to score Chris Fritts from third to take the score to 3-1.

The Cougars came back with another run in the bottom of the fifth when Jensen scored off a John Cannon double.

Houston scored two more runs in the sixth inning and a single run in the seventh to insure their lead.

The Volunteers made a run at the Cougars in the top of the ninth inning; scoring three runs before Zack Luther grounded out to Jensen to end the game.

Steckenrider was credited with the loss while relief pitcher Mo Wiley got the save.

The Cougars recorded 13 hits with Cannon getting three and Jensen, Grayson, Price Jacobs and Jacob Lueneburg each contributing two.

Houston will next face Arkansas in a 12 noon game on Saturday, March 3 while the Volunteers with take on Texas in the 3:30 p.m. game at Minute Maid Park.