University of Houston Athletics
Baseball Ready to Face South Florida this Weekend
4/24/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 24, 2003
TAMPA, Fla. - The University of Houston baseball team looks to extend its season-high winning streak as it meets Conference USA rival South Florida in a three-game series in Tampa, Fla.
The series begins at 6 p.m. (CDT) Friday and continues with noon (CDT) games on both Saturday and Sunday at Red McEwen Field.
Fans can hear the game live on KAXF 88.3 FM or over the Internet at www.UHcougars.com. Fans can also catch live stats by logging onto www.UHcougars.com and clicking on the "Gametracker" on the Daily Calendar at the bottom of the main page.
The Cougars (23-18, 12-6 C-USA), winners of their last five games and 15 of their last 20, come into the series on the heels of a 7-3 win over Southwest Texas State on Tuesday in San Marcos, Texas. It was the second straight win for UH over the Bobcats this season after taking a 14-6 win on April 8.
In that game, junior outfielder Gabe Lucas was a one-man highlight show during the Cougars' win at Southwest Texas State on Tuesday. With his infield bunt single in the ninth inning, he recorded his fifth hit against the Bobcats and became just the 17th player in school history to accomplish that feat.
As a result, he saw his batting average jump 29 points in one night to its current .305 mark, second best on the team.
Junior third baseman Hyung Cho continues to lead the team in all Triple Crown categories with a .377 batting average, nine home runs and 32 RBIs. The Toronto, Canada, native has batted safely in all but three of his last 22 games, including the last four.
Junior righthander Brad Sullivan (5-4, 2.10) makes his 13th start this season against the Bulls in the series opener. In his last start, the Nederland, Texas, was no less than magnificent as he tied his own school record with 16 strikeouts against Saint Louis in the series opener on April 18.
He struck out the side four times and retired at least one batter on strikes in each of his eight innings.
For that performance, he was named "Louisville Slugger" National Player honor of the Week honors from Collegiate Baseball magazine. It was the sixth time he received a weekly award and the fourth national honor during his distinguished career.
With those numbers, he boosted his season strikeout total to 104, the sixth-highest in UH single-season history - and became the first pitcher in school history to post back-to-back 100+-strikeout seasons.
UH enters the series tied for third with Tulane in the latest league standings at 12-6. Southern Miss stands atop the standings at 12-4, while TCU is a game back at 13-5.
This weekend, TCU travels to Cincinnati, while Tulane heads north to meet Saint Louis. Southern Miss plays host to UAB in Hattiesburg, Miss.
This will be the seventh consecutive year that the Cougars will meet South Florida on the baseball diamond. The Cougars own a 13-8 record against the Bulls in the all-time series, which began in 1997 and has continued every year as Conference USA rivals.
However, the Bulls claim the most recent success, winning each of the last two regular-season series, including two wins at Cougar Field in 2002.
South Florida (26-15, 10-6 C-USA) has posted a 5-4 all-time record against the Cougars in Tampa, Fla.
USF enters this weekend's series after an 11-1 loss to Stetson on Tuesday.
USF hurler Jon Uhl takes the hill against the Cougars on Friday. This season, he has posted a 5-3 record with 53 strikeouts and a 4.95 ERA in 67.1 innings.
Devin Ivany leads the Bulls with a .388 batting average and is tied with Jeff Baisley for team-high honors with 35 RBIs. Travis Brown has blasted six home runs to lead all Bull players.
