Baseball Opens C-USA Tournament at 9 a.m., Wednesday
5/24/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 24, 2005
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The University of Houston baseball team opens the 2005 Conference USA Tournament presented by PowerAde at 9 a.m., Wednesday, when it squares off against No. 4 seed East Carolina at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field.
The game can be heard live on KGBC 1540 or over 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 on the schedule at www.UHCougars.com.
The Cougars must be successful at the league's annual postseason event to advance to the NCAA Regionals. This marks the ninth consecutive season in which the Cougars will compete at the C-USA Tournament.
In the second round, the Cougars will face the winner or loser of the game between No. 1 seed Tulane and No. 8 seed UAB on Thursday. If the Cougars win on Wednesday, they will face the Tulane-UAB winner at 4 p.m., Thursday. If the Cougars fall to East Carolina, it will be another 9 a.m. affair Thursday morning against the Tulane-UAB loser.
Junior righthander Kevin Roberts, who was named to the All-Conference USA Second Team as a DH/UTIL player, will make his 14th start of the season when he toes the rubber against the Pirates. This season, Roberts has emerged as one of the Cougars' most consistent performers on the mound. The Pearland, Texas native has assembled a 6-3 record with 77 strikeouts and a 3.59 ERA in 77.2 innings of work.
In his last outing, he held Charlotte to two runs off six hits with three strikeouts in six innings of work but did not pick up a decision as the Cougars rallied late in a 6-5 win in 11 innings on May 15 during that series finale. However, he brings a career-best three-game winning streak into Wednesday's game and has not lost a contest since a 7-2 decision at No. 1 Tulane on April 17.
In addition to his pitching duties, Roberts ranks as one of the Cougars' and C-USA's offensive leaders. This season, he has posted a .356 batting average with a team-high nine home runs, 15 doubles, 10 stolen bases and 37 RBIs.
Wednesday's game will be Roberts' second career start on the mound against the Pirates. In his only previous outing, he picked up the loss in the middle game of the series on May 1, 2004 after allowing five runs (four earned) off eight hits with six strikeouts in seven innings.
This will be Roberts third appearance and second start on the mound during the C-USA Tournament. In two games, he has yet to receive a decision with a 0.00 ERA (four unearned runs) off four hits with six strikeouts in 3.1 innings.
This will be the second straight year that he has started the C-USA Tournament opener for the Cougars after taking the hill against TCU in 2004 at Cougar Field. He also made a relief appearance during the Cougars' second-round game against Southern Miss on May 22, 2003, in New Orleans.
In addition to his pitching, Roberts has posted a .389 career batting average (7-for-18) with two runs and three RBIs at the C-USA Tournament. He was the Cougars' lone selection to the 2004 C-USA All-Tournament Team.
Junior outfielder Travis Tully, who was named to the All-Conference USA First Team on Tuesday, leads the Cougars with a .365 batting average and hit 65 points better to lead all players in C-USA games only. Sophomore shortstop Dustin Kingsbury tops the Cougars with 53 RBIs, while sophomore infielder Brad Lincoln is a close second with 48 RBIs.
The 2005 season marks the ninth consecutive season that that Cougars have qualified for the Conference USA Tournament. UH has never missed the league's annual postseason event during its years as a C-USA member.
The Cougars have enjoyed tremendous success in the 10-year history of the C-USA Tournament, posting a 19-12 (.613) all-time record. The Cougars have appeared in four C-USA Tournament championship games (2002, 2000, 1999 and 1997) and claimed the crown in 2000 and 1997.
However, the Cougars will be looking to snap a two-game losing streak in the Tournament after losing twice to eventual tournament champion TCU in the semifinals at the 2004 event held at Cougar Field.
For the fifth consecutive year, the Cougars will meet East Carolina on the baseball diamond. The Pirates own a 9-4 (.692) record in the all-time series, which began in 2002 when ECU joined Conference USA, and has been played at least once every year since.
This will be the first meeting between the Cougars and ECU in 2005 as they missed one another during the regular season. However, this marks the fourth consecutive season that these two teams have met at the C-USA Tournament. The two teams have split the previous four meetings.
A year ago, the Cougars upset the Pirates with a 6-5 decision to reach the semifinals at Cougar Field. In 2003, the Cougars claimed a 2-1 win in the first round but were later eliminated by the Pirates with a 5-0 loss. The two teams met for the championship in 2002 with the host Pirates taking a 4-0 win during their first year as a league member.
East Carolina holds a 2-1 (.667) advantage over the Cougars in games played at a neutral site with all three of those games coming at the C-USA Tournament.
The Pirates (34-22, 18-12 C-USA) come into the Tournament after winning two of three games from Saint Louis last weekend. Brian Cavanaugh leads ECU with a .375 batting average, while Drew Costanzo is tops with 11 home runs. Mark Minicozzi leads all ECU sluggers with 44 RBIs.
Righthander T.J. Hose is slated to take the hill in the tournament opener. This season, Hose has compiled a 7-3 record with 62 strikeouts and a 3.91 ERA in 76.0 innings of work.
