Houston stays alive in NCAA baseball with 17-3 win over Baylor

Corey Julks got on base in 23 consecutive games
for the Houston Cougars.
Photo by Darla Tamulitiis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2017, All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2017 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (June 3, 2017) The No. 1 Houston Cougars kept their baseball season alive for at least one more day, as they dropped the No. 2 Baylor Bears by the score of 17-3 in the third game of the NCAA Houston Regional. The loss eliminated Baylor, who fell to Texas A&M on Friday by the score of 8-5. Houston also dropped their first game on the regional with a 6-3 loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Houston dominated Baylor, scoring eight runs in the first six innings, before the Bears could get on the scoreboard. They responded in the bottom of the sixth with three runs, cutting the Cougar lead to 8-3. At that point, Houston unleased their bats, tallying eight runs on seven hits, with 14 batters coming to the plate. The Red and White added an insurance run in the eighth innings to close out the scoring. Houston sent three batters to the plate in the top of the ninth inning, and were quickly sent packing by Baylor. With the Bears coming to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning; hoping to salvage anything from the game, the heavens opened up and the rain came down; forcing a one-hour, 27-minute game delay. After the resumption of the game, Houston dispatched Baylor’s final three batters to advance to another elimination game on Sunday, June 3 against the loser of No. 3 Texas A&M and No. 4 Iowa.

You can view a slideshow from the game, by Darla Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography, by clicking here.

Cougar center fielder Corey Julks continued his phenomenal post-season performance against the Bears. He was 2-of-5 with two runs, 2 RBI; along with a double and a home run. Against Iowa on Friday evening, he was 2-of-4 and scored a run. With his two hits against Baylor, the 6-1 junior from Friendswood, Texas, has reached based in 23 consecutive games.

Starter John King, tossing 5.2 inning while giving up three runs on eight hits received the win, his eighth of the season. The left-hander faced 24 batters while striking out five. He threw 90 pitches, 61 of them strikes. Freshman Fred Villarreal, throwing 3.1 inning in relief picked up his second save of the season. Baylor starter Alex Phillips receive the loss and finished his season with a 4-3 record.