University of Houston Athletics
Baseball to Meet C-USA Rival Cincinnati this Weekend
3/31/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 31, 2005
CINCINNATI, Ohio - The University of Houston baseball team looks to get back on the winning track this weekend as it travels to Ohio to meet Conference USA rival Cincinnati in a three-game series at the new UC Baseball Stadium.
The series begins at 5:30 p.m. (CST), continues at 3 p.m. (CST) Saturday and wraps up at Noon (CST) Sunday. Friday's game can be heard live on KLVL 1480 AM with Saturday's and Sunday's games airing on KGBC 1540 AM. In addition, all three games can be heard live on the Internet at www.UHCougars.com with former UH letterwinners Nick Torina and Pat Cauley calling all the action.
Fans also can follow play-by-play action by clicking on the "Live Stats" link at www.UCBearcats.com.
UH (11-15, 4-2 C-USA) comes into the series after a 6-2 loss to 13th-ranked and crosstown rival Rice on Tuesday at Cougar Field. That loss gave the Owls the Sterling Bank Silver Glove Series Trophy for the fifth consecutive season and the seventh time in the eight-year history of the Series.
However, the Cougars have their eyes on much bigger Series, and the road to any Conference USA championship continues this weekend against the Bearcats. UH currently stands at 4-2 in the latest league standings, good enough to tie for third with four other teams.
Junior southpaw Matt Farrington will make his team-leading eight start of the season at Cincinnati during the series opener. This season, the Sugar Land, Texas, native has emerged as the staff ace and ranks among the leaders in Conference USA. He tops the Cougar hurlers with five wins and a 2.28 ERA.
Farrington is the only southpaw to start a game for UH since Brian Henderson started the championship game of the 2003 NCAA Super Regional at Reckling Park against Rice on June 9, 2008.
In his last outing, Farrington allowed four runs (three earned) over 6.1 innings with five strikeouts and six hits allowed against C-USA rival UAB on March 25 at Cougar Field. It was the fourth time in his last five starts that Farrington pitched at least six innings before giving way to the Cougar bullpen.
In addition to his pitching duties, Farrington also has assembled a .179 batting average with three doubles, a home run and 11 RBIs at first base.
This will be the first time that Farrington has faced Cincinnati from the mound. However, he has assembled a .500 batting average (9-for-18) with four doubles, a home run and nine RBIs in six games against the Bearcats in the field.
Junior righthander Kevin Roberts and sophomore righthander Brad Lincoln are scheduled to start on the mound during the final two games of the series for the Cougars.
Lincoln leads the Cougars with a .390 batting average and 18 RBIs and has recorded at least one RBI in each of the team's last eight games. Roberts enters the series riding a career- and UH season-best 13 game hitting streak and ranks second on the team with a .351 average. Junior outfielder Travis Tully leads all Cougar sluggers with three home runs.
For the ninth consecutive season, the Cougars will meet Cincinnati on the baseball diamond. UH owns a 24-5 (.828) record in the all-time series which began in 1958 but has been played at least three times every year since 1997 when both teams began competing as Conference USA members.
The Cougars enter this weekend's series on a seven-game winning streak against Cincinnati and have not lost to UC since an 11-10 decision in 12 innings at Cougar Field on April 20, 2002, in the middle game of that series.
The Cougars are an impressive 11-1 (.909) against the Bearcats in Cincinnati and have won the last five games there. And those games haven't been close with UH winning by an average of seven runs per game.
LaFringe Hayes leads Cincinnati with a .390 batting average, while Logan Parker is tops with five home runs. Parker and Jon DeLuca are tied for team-high honors with 19 RBIs apiece.
Righthander Tony Maynard is expected to start the opener for Cincinnati on the mound. This season, he has assembled a 3-1 record with 23 strikeouts and a 4.01 ERA in 42.2 innings pitched.
Righthanders Kevin Schrader and Justin Minges will start Saturday's and Sunday's games respectively, for the Bearcats.
