University of Houston Athletics
Baseball to Play Host to San Diego this Weekend
3/16/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 16, 2006
HOUSTON - The Cougars continue their season-long, nine-game homestand when they play host to San Diego in a three-game, non-conference series this weekend at Cougar Field.
That series begins with 7 p.m. games on Friday and Saturday before wrapping up at 1 p.m., Sunday. All three games can be heard live 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.
Fans also should note that Saturday will be Little League Day at the ballpark. All students who are 12 years old and younger and wear their baseball/softball Little League jerseys to the game will receive free admission.
This will be UH's final non-conference weekend series of the year before squaring off against Marshall for the first time in school history next weekend.
The Cougars come into the series as winners of four of their last five games after a 5-3 win over No. 18 Baylor on Tuesday night.
Junior righthander Brad Lincoln will take the hill for the opener of the San Diego series on Friday. This season, Lincoln leads the Cougars with 54 strikeouts and only 10 walks in 41.1 innings of work. Besides his pitching prowess, Lincoln also is a regular in the heart of the Cougar lineup, playing DH or at first base on the days he does not pitch. This season, he has compiled a .308 batting average to rank third among all Cougar sluggers with team highs of five home runs and 21 RBIs.
Lincoln collected his third straight win in the opener of the series at UC Irvine on March 10. He allowed only two runs off five hits with a season-high 12 strikeouts in his first complete-game victory of the season. After tossing only three strikeouts through the first five innings, Lincoln came on strong down the stretch, striking out seven of the last 10 batters that he faced.
In addition to his pitching prowess, Lincoln also helped his own cause at the plate. With the score tied at 2-2, he blasted a 1-0 offering over the right-field wall to give the Cougars the lead for good. He finished the night 2-for-4 with a run, homer and RBI at the plate.
He became only the seventh player in school history to earn a pitching win and hit a home run in the same game.
Friday's opener will be the first time that Lincoln has faced San Diego.
Freshman catcher Luis Flores leads the Cougars with a .355 batting average and six doubles. In addition, he brings a career-best eight-game hitting streak into Friday's game against San Diego.
Junior infielder Dustin Kingsbury is second on the team with a .345 batting average and 12 RBIs and is tied for the team lead with five stolen bases with senior infielder Isa Garcia and sophomore outfielder Bryan Tully.
This weekend's series will be only the second time that these two teams have met on the baseball diamond. The Cougars dropped an 11-6 decision during the second day of the Aztec Invitational at PETCO Park on March 13, 2004.
This will be the first time that these two teams have met at Cougar Field.
San Diego (13-9) enters the series with two midweek games in Houston already under its belt. The Toreros dropped an 11-2 decision at No. 3 Rice on Tuesday before scoring eight unanswered runs on the way to an 8-1 win at Texas Southern on Wednesday night.
Head coach Rich Hill had not announced his weekend starters as of press time.
Junior infielder Steven Singleton leads the Toreros with a .383 batting average and is tied with junior outfielder Shane Buschini, junior catcher Jordan Abruzzo and sophomore Justin Snyder for team-high honors with two runs. Abruzzo, who is one of seven players with double-digit RBIs, leads the way with 18 RBI.
