University of Houston Athletics
Baseball Picked Third in C-USA Coaches Preseason Poll
1/20/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Jan. 20, 2004
HOUSTON - The University of Houston baseball team was picked third in the 2004 Conference USA Baseball Preseason Poll, chosen by the league's 12 head coach, in a release from the league office on Tuesday.
The Cougars joined Tulane and Southern Miss as one of only three teams to receive first-place votes and were picked behind those two squads. USF, East Carolina, TCU, Louisville, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Memphis, UAB and Saint Louis rounded out the rest of the poll.
UH returns six starters and 18 letterwinners from a club that was one win away from the NCAA College World Series in 2003. That marked the third time in the last four years that the Cougars were only a win away from a trip to Omaha.
Junior righthander Garrett Mock was the only Cougar named to the Preseason All-Conference USA Team. In 2003, Mock emerged as a solid starter for the Cougars and recorded five wins with 66 strikeouts in 15 starts.
East Carolina outfielder Darryl Lawhorn was chosen as the Preseason Player of the Year, while TCU righthander Clayton Jerome was named the Preseason Pitcher of the Year.
UH opens the season on Feb. 13-15 at the Minute Maid Park College Classic. The Cougars meet Kansas State at 11 a.m., Feb., 13 in the opener and follow that with a 3 p.m. showdown, Feb. 14 against Texas Tech.
The Cougars then close out the three-day affair at 6 p.m., Sunday against No. 5 Texas.
UH begins the season ranked No. 27 in the Baseball American Preseason Top 50 poll. In addition, the Cougars are receiving votes in two other national polls.
The Cougars will boast of possibly the toughest schedule in the country with half of their regular-season games coming against teams ranked in at least one national preseason poll. In addition, the Cougars will square off against 13 consecutive ranked opponents, starting with the finale of the Minute Maid Park College Classic.
2004 PRESEASON BASEBALL COACHES POLL
(as selected by C-USA's head coaches)
PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
1. Tulane (7)
2. Southern Miss (3)
3. Houston (2)
4. USF
5. East Carolina
6. TCU
7. Louisville
8. Charlotte
9. Cincinnati
t-10. Memphis
t-10 UAB
12. Saint Louis
(first place votes in parentheses)
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Darryl Lawhorn, East Carolina (Junior, Outfielder)
PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Clayton Jerome, TCU (Senior, Righthander)
ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
P -- J.R. Crowel, So., Tulane
P -- Clayton Jerome, Sr., TCU
P -- Garrett Mock, Jr., Houston
RP -- Austin Tubb, Sr., Southern Miss
C -- Devin Ivany, Jr., USF
IF -- Jeff Baisley, Jr., USF
IF -- Jarrett Hoffpauir, Jr., Southern Miss
IF -- Myron Leslie, Sr., USF
IF -- Tommy Manzella, Jr., Tulane
OF -- Brian Bogusevic, So., Tulane
OF -- Mark Jurich, Sr., Louisville
OF -- Darryl Lawhorn, Jr., East Carolina
DH/UT -- Brad Willcutt, Jr., Southern Miss
