Houston looks to continue success on the diamond against Oklahoma State

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2012 TexSport Publications

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

TheCougars, who have posted a 7-9 record in 2012, are hoping to close out springbreak with a three-game sweep and advance above .500 for the first time sinceMarch 3.

Houstonis currently in seventh place in Conference USA and will begin conference playon March 23 against Southern Mississippi.

Againstthe Bearkats, junior Chase Jensen went 4-for-5, scoring three runs and tallyingfive RBI.

PreviouslyJensen had a record of three RBI in a single game, which he had achieved fivetimes.

Jensenconnected on a homerun, one double and two singles.

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

Theyscored nine runs on six hits in the fifth, which was the best single-inning productionfor the Cougars this season.

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

Hethrew 5 complete innings without giving up a run on four hits, while throwingfour strikeouts.

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

OklahomaState is sporting a five-game winning streak and is hitting .271 for theseason.

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

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

Thethree 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 seasonrecord to 6-4; winning their second game of the 2012 Houston College Classic bydefeating Arkansas 4-1 at Minute Maid Park.

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

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

Staring pitcher Jordan Lewisraised his record to 2-1 with the win, throwing six innings and giving up asingle earned run.

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

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

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

The Cougars came back withtwo more runs in the fifth inning when Kay singled up the left side; scoringPrice Jacobs from third.

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

The Razorbacks scored theirlone run in the seventh inning when Dominic Ficociello scored on a single byJake Wise.

Houston answered withanother run in the bottom of the inning as Landon Appling scored off an errorby shortstop Tim Carver.

The No. 4 Razorbacks fall to10-2 on the season and will face Texas in an 11 a.m. game on Sunday.

The Cougars will next face TexasTech 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 gameaction for both teams in the 2012 Houston College Classic.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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