University of Houston Athletics
Baseball Ready to Play Host To Louisiana-Lafayette
2/27/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 27, 2003
HOUSTON - The University of Houston baseball team enjoys its first homestand of the season this weekend as the Cougars play host to Louisiana-Lafayette, starting at 7 p.m. Friday at Cougar Field.
The series continues at 3 p.m. Saturday and wraps up at 1 p.m. Sunday. Saturday's game time was moved up earlier in the week to avoid a conflict with the UH men's basketball game against Conference USA rival TCU at Hofheinz Pavilion.
This weekend's series can be heard live over the Internet at www.UHcougars.com. Fans can also follow the action batter-by-batter over the Internet through www.UHcougars.com and by clicking on the "Gametracker" link on the "Daily Calendar" at the bottom of the main page.
UH has played only one game to date in the friendly confines of Cougar Field, dropping a 3-0 decision to second-ranked Rice on Feb. 18 in the first game of the annual Silver Glove Series. A year ago, the Cougars set a school record with 21 wins in front of the hometown fans.
UH comes into the series after splitting a shortened series at then-12th-ranked LSU last weekend in Baton Rouge, La. In the first game of that series, junior outfielder Gabe Lucas blasted an opposite-field homer to start the Cougar scoring, and junior southpaw Danny Zell pitches six strong innings with only two runs allowed to collect his third straight win in a 7-2 UH win.
Zell will make his fourth consecutive start when the Cougars take the field against the Cajuns on Friday. This season, the Cypress, Texas, native has posted a 3-0 record with a minuscule 0.90 ERA and .169 opposing batting average to top the UH staff.
Offensively, junior DH Thanos Papavasiliou continues to top the Cougars with a .345 batting average, four doubles and four RBIs. The Houston native also brings a 12-game hitting streak dating back to last season into this weekend's series.
This is the second consecutive year that the two teams have met on the diamond. A year ago, the Cougars went into Lafayette and swept all three-games against the Cajuns to push UH's lead in the all-time series to 31-10-1.
However, the Cougars will be seeking revenge on their home field. In 1999, Louisiana-Lafayette came into Cougar Field and won on back-to-back nights to win the NCAA Regional at Houston and advanced to the NCAA Super Regional.
Louisiana-Lafayette (5-7) enters this weekend's series after winning two of three against Troy State last weekend. The Cajuns, who are hitting only .220 as a team, are led by sophomore infielder Phillip Hawke, who has batted .378 with two home runs and nine RBIs to date.
Senior southpaw Andy Gros is expected to start the first game of the series for the Cajuns. In 2003, Gros has compiled a 1-1 record in three starts with a 6.75 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 18.2 innings.
