University of Houston Athletics
Baseball to Meet UC Irvine this Weekend
3/9/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 9, 2006
IRVINE, Calif. - After an exciting 4-3 win over Lamar on Tuesday, the University of Houston baseball team looks to continue its winning ways when it meets UC Irvine in a three-game, non-conference series at Anteater Ballpark this weekend.
The series begins at 8 p.m. (CST) Friday and wraps up with 3 p.m. (CST) games on both Saturday and Sunday. Fans should note that Saturday's game time was moved up from its original starting time earlier this week.
This weekend's series will be the final non-conference series for the Cougars on the road. In fact, it will be the last road contest of any kind for the Cougars for a while, as the team enjoys a nine-game homestand from March 14-28.
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.
Junior righthander Brad Lincoln will take the hill for the opener of the UC Irvine series on Friday. This season, Lincoln leads the Cougars with 42 strikeouts and only seven walks in 32.1 innings of work.
In is last pitching start, Lincoln was impressive in the series opener at No. 8 LSU on March 3, holding the potent Tiger offense to only two runs off four hits with seven strikeouts in eight innings of work.
It was his fifth consecutive start to open the 2006 season with at least seven strikeouts. In helping lead the Cougars to their lone win of the series, Lincoln was honored as the C-USA Pitcher of the Week for the second time this season.
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 .328 batting average to rank second among all Cougar sluggers with team highs of three home runs and 18 RBIs.
Friday's opener will be the first time that Lincoln has faced UC Irvine.
Junior infielder Dustin Kingsbury leads the Cougars with a .338 batting average and five doubles and is tied with sophomore outfielder Bryan Tully for team-high honors with five stolen bases.
UC Irvine (12-7) enters this weekend's series after taking a 5-4 win at USC on Tuesday in a game that took 13 innings and nearly five-and-a-half hours to complete.
Junior righthander Justin Cassel is expected to take the hill in the series opener. This season, Cassel has posted a 2-2 record with a team-high 21 strikeouts and a 5.10 ERA in 30.0 innings of work.
Sophomore Taylor Holiday leads the Anteaters with a .351 batting average and 17 RBIs and is tied for the team lead with senior infielder Jaime Martinez with a pair of home runs.
For the eighth consecutive season, the Cougars will head out to California as part of their regular-season schedule.
In 2006, the Cougars will face UC Irvine on March 10-12 in Irvine, Calif. In addition, the team will head West earlier in the year when they square off against No. 10 Arizona State on Feb. 17-19 in Tempe, Ariz.
The western swing began in 1999 when the Cougars squared off at Cal State Fullerton in a three-game series and has been continued every year since that time.
This weekend's series will be the first time that Houston has faced UC Irvine on the baseball diamond. UC Irvine is one of three first-time opponents that the Cougars will face during the 2006 season.
The Cougars swept Monmouth at Cougar Field on Feb. 24-26 in the first games of that series with a Conference USA series against Marshall scheduled for March 24-26 at Cougar Field.
