University of Houston Athletics
Baseball Starts Conference USA Season at UAB this Weekend
3/14/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 14, 2002
HOUSTON, Texas - After playing in arguably the nation's toughest schedule, the University of Houston baseball team begins the most important part of its season when it opens Conference USA play with a three-game series at UAB this weekend.
The series starts with a 7 p.m. game Friday, continues at 2 p.m. Saturday and concludes at 1 p.m. Sunday. All Cougar games can be heard live on KGBC Radio 1540 AM and are also available on the Internet at www.kgbcradio.cc.
The Cougars (13-4), ranked No. 8 in the latest Baseball America poll, bring a pair of impressive winning streaks into the series against the Blazers. After rallying for seven runs in their final two at-bats in a 7-6 win over McNeese State on Tuesday, the Cougars posted their eighth straight win and their 10th in their last 11 games. In addition, UH has won 10 straight game over the Blazers.
Sophomore righthander Brad Sullivan will take the hill in game one of the series after a dominating performance at No. 27 Louisiana-Lafayette last weekend. Against the Cajuns, Sullivan allowed two hits in the first inning but retired the next 17 batters on the way to his third win of the season. In addition, he struck out a UH season-best 10 batters with only four hits in 8.0 innings.
Senior southpaw Keith Whatley (4-1) and sophomore righthander Gene Flores (1-0) will start on the mound for UH during the final two games of the series.
Junior outfielder Anthony Scalise continues to lead the Cougars with a .373 average and 15 RBIs, including three key RBIs Tuesday against McNeese State. The Houston native lifted a looping single into right field that fell, scoring the Cougars' final two runs in the 7-6 thriller against the Cowboys.
Sophomore DH Hyung Cho brought the Cougars to within one run in the top of the ninth inning with a single down the left field line that extended his hitting streak to a UH season-best 10 games.
Junior infielder Brett Cooley tops UH with three home runs, thanks to two home runs at Louisiana-Lafayette on Sunday with Cho, Chris Snyder and Jesse Crain adding two home runs apiece.
UAB comes into the game on the heels of a 10-3 win Tuesday against Alabama State and has won its last two games. Chad House leads the Blazers with a .396 batting average while Mitch Jones leads the way with three home runs.
Lefty Joe Yarbrough is scheduled to take the hill in game one against the Cougars. He has tallied a 0-1 record with a 2.13 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 25.1 innings. Righthanders Andre Parks and Ross Dobbins are the slated starters in games two and three of the series.
