University of Houston Athletics
Baseball Begins Spring Practice on Wednesday
1/7/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Jan. 7, 2003
HOUSTON - The University of Houston baseball team begins the 2003 season Wednesday with the start of spring drills at Cougar Field.
UH will get an earlier start than expected after heavy rains at the end of fall practice in October and November forced workouts to be cancelled five days early. As a result, the Cougars will gain five days of practice during the spring season.
The Cougars, ranked No. 10 in Collegiate Baseball's preseason poll, returned 16 letterwinners from last season's squad, which tied a school record with 48 wins and advanced to the championship game of the NCAA Super Regional for the second time in the last three seasons.
In addition, UH captured the Conference USA regular-season championship for the third time in the last four years and advanced to the NCAA postseason for the fourth consecutive season.
Head coach Rayner Noble, who begins his ninth season at the helm of his alma mater, needs only six wins to reach the 300-win mark in an illustrious coaching career.
UH returns seven starters and two starting pitchers from a year ago. Junior righthander Brad Sullivan is expected to lead the pitching staff after throwing to a 13-1 record with a miniscule 1.82 ERA and a UH single-season record 157 strikeouts. In 2002, the Nederland, Texas, native became the first player in both school and C-USA history to be named a consensus First-Team All-American.
Sullivan is one of seven pitchers returning from last year's staff, which recorded a 3.20 team ERA and finished fifth in the nation in that category.
Offensively, a pair of upperclassmen is expected to lead the way. Beginning his third season, center fielder Michael Bourn led all C-USA players with 32 stolen bases a year ago while batting .327 with 23 RBIs and a .443 on-base percentage.
While Bourn caused problems for Cougar opponents on the basepaths, senior infielder Brett Cooley is expected to be a headache for opposing pitchers at the plate. In 2002, Cooley blasted a team-best 18 home runs - the second highest total in UH single-season history - and added 56 RBIs with a team-best .648 slugging percentage.
The Cougars open the 2003 season at the Pepperdine Tournament in Malibu, Calif., on Feb. 7-9. There, UH will face UC Santa Barbara, host Pepperdine and Washington.
UH begins its home schedule on at 7 p.m., Feb. 18, as it plays host to crosstown rival Rice at Cougar Field in Game One of the annual Silver Glove Series.
This season, UH will face another rigorous schedule. Of the Cougars' 56 regular-season scheduled games, 28 will come against teams ranked in at least one national preseason poll.
