University of Houston Athletics
Baseball Faces Rice on Tuesday at Reckling Park
3/18/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 18, 2002
HOUSTON, Texas - It will be a clash of the titans Tuesday when the University of Houston baseball team meets Rice in a 7 p.m. game at Reckling Park.
The game features two teams ranked in the top eight nationally with Rice holding on to the No. 4 spot and the Cougars rising to No. 7 in the latest Baseball America poll. It also serves as Game Two of the 2002 Silver Glove Series, the five annual meetings between the crosstown rivals during the regular season.
Both teams should be familiar with one another after this week as the Owls return the favor Wednesday and visit Cougar Field for a 7 p.m. game. That contest is a makeup from Feb. 26 when freezing weather moved through the South, forcing the postponement.
UH (15-5) should have revenge on its mind after the Owls took a 4-0 shutout win at Reckling Park on Feb. 12. That was the first shutout for the Cougars in 153 games, the third longest streak in school history.
Sophomore southpaw Austin Faught will make his second start of the year after a solid showing a week ago against McNeese State. In 4.1 innings against the Cowboys, Faught struck out a season-best eight batters with four hits and two unearned runs in 4.1 innings of work. However, the Houston native did not pick up the decision as the Cougars rallied for seven runs in their final two at-bats to take the win.
The Cougars come into this week on the heels of a Conference USA season-opening series victory at UAB. Sophomore DH Hyung Cho led the way with a triple, home run and five RBIs while extending his hitting streak to 13 games against the Blazers.
Utility star Jesse Crain also extended his hitting streak to seven games, the second time he has compiled a streak of at least seven games this season. In addition, Crain pushed his consecutive inning scoreless streak on the mound to 12.0 innings after recording his team-leading fourth save of the year in game one of the UAB series.
Junior outfielder Anthony Scalise continues to pace the Cougar offense with a .354 batting average and 15 RBIs while also adding six stolen bases in as many attempts on the basepaths.
Rice enters the week with an 18-4 overall record after sweeping Harvard in a non-conference weekend series at Reckling Park by a combined 23-7 score.
Freshman righthander Jeff Niemann is scheduled to start on the mound for Rice. This season, Niemann has compiled a 3-0 record with 22 strikeouts and a 2.70 ERA in 26.2 innings.
