University of Houston Athletics
Baseball Rides Momentum into Southern Miss Series
5/14/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 14, 2003
HOUSTON - Riding a tidal wave of momentum, the University of Houston baseball team makes plans this weekend to play host to Conference USA leader Southern Mississippi in a pivotal three-game series at Cougar Field.
Depending on this weekend's performance, the Cougars, fresh off a come-from-behind 8-6 win at No. 9 Texas A&M on Tuesday, could grab anywhere from a No. 2 to No. 5 seed at next week's Conference USA Tournament, hosted by Tulane in New Orleans at Turchin Stadium.
The series begins with 7 p.m. games on both Thursday and Friday before wrapping up at 1 p.m., Saturday. Fans should note that the starting date for the USM series has been moved up one day from its regular time due to accommodations for team travel to the league's postseason tournament.
All three games can be heard live on KAXF 88.3 FM or over the Internet at www.UHcougars.com with pre-game slated to begin about 15 minutes before first pitch. Fans also can view live stats at www.UHcougars.com by clicking on the "Gametracker" link on the Daily Calendar at the bottom of the main page.
Against the Aggies, junior second baseman Cole Bruce blasted a two-run homer well over the center field wall 400 feet away to break a 6-6 tie and lead the Cougars to the win. It was his third straight game with at least one home run after blasting a pair of long balls in last weekend's C-USA series loss at Memphis.
Junior third baseman Hyung Cho continues to lead the Cougar offense with a .382 batting average, 13 home runs and 52 RBIs. The Toronto, Canada, native started the Cougar rally in the ninth inning against A&M with a single to center field.
Junior righthander Brad Sullivan takes the hill against the Golden Eagles in the series opener. This season, Sullivan leads the Cougars and C-USA and ranks among the nation's leader with 140 strikeouts in only 104.2 innings. He needs only five strikeouts to become the first Cougar hurler and only the second C-USA pitcher to reach the 400-strikeout milestone during his outstanding career.
In addition, the Nederland, Texas, native needs only 15 more strikeouts to become the C-USA career strikeout leader. Sullivan already owns the UH single-game, single-season and career strikeout records.
He also has compiled a 2.15 ERA and .182 opposing batting average this season.
Southern Miss, which leads the C-USA regular-season race by one game over second-place TCU, comes into the series after sweeping league foe South Florida last weekend in Hattiesburg, Miss.
The Golden Eagles boast one of the nation's premier outfields in Clint King and Jeff Cook, who have combined to record 34 home runs, 116 RBIs and a .376 batting average between them.
Junior righthander Bob McCrory is slated to start for the Golden Eagles in game one. This season, McCrory has posted an 8-2 record with 67 strikeouts and a 4.33 ERA in 70.2 innings of work.
