University of Houston Athletics
Baseball Meets Baylor at 7 p.m. Tuesday
5/13/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 13, 2002
HOUSTON, Texas - The University of Houston baseball team wraps up its non-conference, regular-season schedule Tuesday when it faces 18th-ranked Baylor at 7 p.m. in Waco, Texas.
The game should feature plenty of offense with each squad hitting well over the .300 mark as a team and scoring nearly seven runs per game.
The Cougars (37-14), ranked No. 10 in the latest Baseball America poll, come into the game on the heels of a three-game sweep at Conference USA rival Charlotte last weekend. Those wins, combined with Southern Mississippi's loss to East Carolina on Sunday, pushed the Cougars into sole possession of first place in the latest C-USA standings with only this weekend's home series against TCU still to be played.
Sophomore southpaw Danny Zell is expected to start Tuesday against the Bears but will probably be the first of several Cougar hurlers to play in the game. This season, the Houston native has posted a 5-0 record with 27 strikeouts and a 3.00 ERA in 27.0 innings of work
Junior catcher Chris Snyder continues to lead the Cougar offense with a .357 batting average and 60 RBIs and is second on the squad with 11 home runs. The Houston native ranks among the C-USA individual leaders in nine offensive categories and is one of only four players in the league to rank among the top 10 leaders in the Triple Crown categories.
Junior Brett Cooley has been equally effective offensively for the Cougars, pounding out a team-best 15 home runs while extending his hitting streak to 22 straight games.
This will be the third time this season that the Cougars have faced Baylor with UH winning the first two contests. The Cougars used a walk-off home run from Snyder to take a 3-2 win on Feb. 8 during the first day of the Astros College Classic and followed that with a convincing 10-4 win over the Bears on Feb. 20 at Cougar Field.
Baylor (34-18), ranked No. 17 in the latest USA Today/Baseball Weekly Coaches Poll, enters the game with a 34-18 record but has not played since May 7 when it lost to Southwest Texas State 6-5.
Mike Huggins leads the Bears with a .367 batting average, nine home runs and 55 RBIs.
Senior righthander Justin Taylor will start on the mound for the Bears. This season, Taylor leads Baylor with an 8-1 record and has tallied 73 strikeouts and a 3.91 ERA in 96.2 innings.
