University of Houston Athletics
Baseball Begins 2006 Season with First Day of Practice
1/10/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Jan. 10, 2006
HOUSTON - The University of Houston baseball team officially started preparations for the 2006 season with the start of practice Tuesday at Cougar Field.
The team broke into pitching and hitting groups for a 90-minute practice in the morning and added a 90-minute session in the weight room before breaking for lunch. The Cougars then worked out as a full team at the friendly confines of Cougar Field for about three-and-a-half hours.
After the two-a-day workouts, head coach Rayner Noble said he was pleased with the effort and intensity that he saw in both practices.
"The enthusiasm was very strong," said Noble, who begins his 12th season in 2006. "That could be counted on for Day One."
It didn't take long for Noble to be impressed with the way his hitters performed in the batting cages and in batting practice or the overall health of his pitching staff.
"I am very pleased with the way the pitchers threw. It looks like everybody came back in pretty good shape. Their arms are close to being game ready," said Noble, who needs only 10 wins in 2006 to reach the 400-win milestone in his career. "Our hitting might be pretty good. If we can get the right combinations in the field, we might be better than I expected offensively."
But as pleased as Noble was with the first day of practice, there was still plenty of work that needed to be done defensively. However, he said he expected those kinks to work themselves out with further practices.
"We have a little work to do on our defense in the infield, but that is to be expected because they have not taken any ground balls in a while," Noble said.
With all but five letterwinners returning from last season and only nine newcomers on the entire squad, the Cougars were able to jump straight into their regular practice routine with few of the first-day problems.
"You know what you've got. It's just a matter of getting guys' techniques a little better," Noble said. "We have a chance to have a solid ball club. What we talked about today was getting back to basics and being a fundamentally sound team. That's what we are going to spend a lot of time on over the next two or three weeks."
The first week of practice will be especially intense as the school remains closed for semester break until Jan. 17 As a result, Noble and his coaching staff can work out the team for as long as necessary without the usual NCAA restrictions that come down once classes begin.
The team will work through two-a-days through Friday with bullpen and hitting work in the morning and a full team practice later in the afternoon. The team will hold only one workout each day on Saturday and Sunday before concluding with their final two-a-day practice on Monday.
The Cougars begin their regular weekly schedule on Jan. 17 with practice beginning around 2:30 p.m. each day and lasting for about three hours.
Practice is open to the general public, and fans are invited to attend.
The Cougars open the 2006 season at 2 p.m., Feb. 7 when they play host to Texas-San Antonio at Cougar Field. The team will then compete at Minute Maid Park on Feb. 10-12 in the Astros College Classic for the sixth straight year.
UH opens the round-robin tournament at 7 p.m., Feb. 10 when it meets No. 1 Texas. The Cougars also face No. 19 TCU at 3:30 p.m., Feb. 11 before wrapping up their stay at 11 a.m., Feb. 12.
