University of Houston Athletics
Baseball Set to Host Louisville This Weekend
5/1/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 1, 2003
HOUSTON - A busy week begins to draw to an end this weekend as the University of Houston baseball team plays host to Conference USA rival Louisville at Cougar Field.
The series begins with 7 p.m. games on both Friday and Saturday and wraps up at noon, Sunday.
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 (26-20) come into the game on the heels of a disappointing 5-4 loss in 10 innings to No. 20 Baylor on Wednesday in Waco. However, the Cougars continued to show promise by rallying from a four-run deficit after five innings and tying the game on Travis Tully's two-RBI single in the eighth inning.
Tully and Hyung Cho each extended their hitting streaks against the Bears to eight and nine games, respectively, with Cho tying his season-best streak.
Cho continues to lead the Cougars offensively with a .372 batting average, 10 home runs and 39 RBIs.
Junior righthander Brad Sullivan (5-4, 1.91) will make his 14th start of the season in the series opener Friday. This season, Sullivan leads both the Cougars and Conference USA with 116 strikeouts, making him the first player in UH history to post back-to-back 100+-strikeout seasons.
This will be the first time since 2001 that the Cougars have met Louisville on the diamond. Two years ago, UL won three of four from the Cougars, including an elimination game at the 2001 C-USA Tournament. Ironically, these two teams finished 1-2 in the final 2002 C-USA standings but never played one another on the field.
The Cougars are 12-5 against the Cardinals in the all-time series, which began in 1997 during UH's first year as a C-USA member. UH won 12 of the first 14 meetings in the series but will be looking to snap a three-game losing skid to the Cardinals.
Fortunately, the Cougars are 5-1 against Louisville at Cougar Field and have won the last three games at their home facility after sweeping the 2000 regular-season series.
Louisville enters this weekend's series on after taking a 7-3 win over Morehead State on Wednesday. In that game, four Cardinal hitters rapped out two hits apiece with Ron Braun posting a game-high three RBIs.
Senior outfielder Josh Bolen leads Louisville with a .394 batting average and 39 RBIs and is tied with Braun for the team lead with five home runs.
Rightander Scott Barger (7-2, 2.96) was expected to take the hill on Friday.
