Saturday, March 19, 2016

Grand Canyon Lopes fall to bats of Houston Cougars 5-0

Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2016, All Rights Reserved
By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2016 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (March 19, 2016) The No. 19 Houston Cougars took the first game of a Saturday, March 19, 2016 doubleheader over the Grand Canyon Lopes by the score of 5-0 at Darryl and Lori Schroeder Park in Houston, Texas. The game was moved to Saturday due to excessive rain and hail in the Houston area on Friday evening, March 18.

The game was scoreless until the fifth inning when Houston’s Conner Hollis scampered home on a passed ball by Lopes’ starting pitcher Jorge Perez. The second baseman scored from third base after reaching base on a triple down the right field line, as the second batter of the inning. The Cougars then unleashed the bats in the seventh inning, scoring four runs off four hits and one Grand Canyon error for the win.

Starter Andrew Lantrip when the distance for the Cougars, giving up two hits while striking out seven. With the win, the right hander raised his season record to 3-2 with a 1.53 ERA. Perez was crediting with the loss, his fourth of the season. The Cougars take a 11-6 mark into the second game of the double header, with left hander Seth Romero scheduled to take the mount for Houston. The sophomore from West Columbia, Texas posts a 1.29 ERA coming into the 6:30 p.m. game with a 2-0 record for 2016.

Grand Canyon will counter with left hander Ethan Evanko, who is 2-1 for the season with a 5.19 ERA. Both teams will close out the weekend series with a 1 p.m. first pitch on Sunday, March 20, 2016. Left handed pitcher Jake Rapavich is scheduled for the start for the Lopes, while Houston head coach Todd Whitting is yet to declare his starter.

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