University of Houston Athletics
Baseball Opens Season at Astros College Classic
2/7/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 7, 2002
HOUSTON, Texas - The preseason is over, it's finally time for the University of Houston baseball team to hit the field.
The Cougars, who are ranked No. 27 in the Baseball America Top 100 Preseason Poll, start the 2002 campaign at 4 p.m. Friday when they face No. 16 Baylor at the Astros College Classic at Enron Field. It marks the second straight season that the Cougars and Bears open their seasons against one another at the Classic.
UH returns17 position players, nine pitchers and seven starters from last season's squad which finished among the top two leaders in Conference USA for the fifth consecutive season and earned its third straight NCAA Regional appearance.
The Bears are the first of five consecutive teams ranked in at least one national preseason poll that the Cougars will face to open the season. Altogether, UH will face 13 opponents who were ranked in at least one national preseason poll in 28 games, half of UH's regular-season schedule.
UH continues its tournament run Saturday with a 7:30 p.m. showdown against No. 9 Texas and wraps up the event at 12:30 p.m. Sunday against No. 30 Texas A&M.
Sophomore righthander Brad Sullivan earned the Opening Day start for the Cougars after a tremendous season as a true freshman in 2001. A year ago, Sullivan led the team with a 3.41 ERA and 98 strikeouts on the way to being named to the All-Conference USA First Team.
In addition, he was named to three Freshman All-America squads, including a berth on the first team of the Baseball Weekly squad.
Offensively, the Cougars are bolstered by the return of junior catcher Chris Snyder, who honed his skills in the offseason as a member of the Team USA national squad. A year ago, Snyder was the team's most consistent offensive performer, topping the Cougars in eight categories, including home runs, doubles, RBIs, slugging percentage and on-base percentage.
Infielder Hyung Cho and outfielder Michael Bourn joined Snyder on the 2002 C-USA All-Preseason Team and were named to various Freshman All-America teams following the 2001 season.
The Cougars will be looking to snap a four-game losing streak against the Bears when they hit the field Friday. This will be the 39th consecutive season that the two teams have met at least once in a series which dates back to the 1951 season.
Junior righthander Steven White will start on the mound for Baylor against the Cougars. In 2001, White led the Bears with a 10-3 record and added 80 strikeouts in 98.0 innings.
-- UH --
