University of Houston Athletics
Baseball Opens Play at 2006 C-USA Tournament on Wednesday
5/22/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 22, 2006
HOUSTON - The 11th-ranked University of Houston baseball team begins the 2006 postseason as it faces No. 7 seed Marshall at 12:30 p.m., Wednesday during the first day of the Conference USA Tournament.
All postseason games can be heard live on www.UHCougars.com with former letterwinners Nick Torina and Pat Cauley calling all the action. Fans also can follow live stats by clicking on the "Gametracker" link at www.UHCougars.com.
UH (36-19, 18-6 C-USA) comes into the league's annual postseason event after a week-long layoff, finally enjoying its bye weekend during the last weekend of the regular season.
The Cougars have not played since a 10-4 thumping of area-rival Sam Houston State on May 16 in Huntsville, Texas.
UH can boast of a rich history at the C-USA Tournament. UH captured tournament championships in 1997 and 2000 and has advanced to the semifinals in each of the last two seasons.
Sophomore righthander Ricky Hargrove will toe the rubber for the Cougars in their 2006 Conference USA Tournament opener against No. 7 seed Marshall. This season, the Katy, Texas, native has compiled a 7-5 record with 76 strikeouts and a 2.90 ERA in 90.0 innings of work.
His ERA, innings pitched, wins and strikeouts are second among all UH hurlers. In addition, he enters Thursday's game having split each of his last four decisions.
Hargrove received his first C-USA Pitcher of the Week honor on May 8 after limiting UCF to only two runs (one earned) off nine hits with a career-best nine strikeouts during the middle game of that series.
In his last start, Hargrove allowed four runs off five hits with three strikeouts in 3.2 innings to collect the loss in the middle game of the series at No. 1 Rice on May 13. It was his second-shortest start of the 2006 season.
Hargrove started the middle game of the C-USA-opening series on March 25 at Cougar Field. He allowed only one run off five hits with a then-career-best eight strikeouts in seven innings of work to collect the win.
In his only previous appearance at the C-USA Tournament, Hargrove came out of the bullpen in the tournament opener against East Carolina on May 25, 2005. He pitched well in relief, allowing only one run off five hits with three strikeouts in six innings of work in the no-decision. However, the Pirates' four-run first inning proved to be too much for the Cougars to overcome in a 6-5 loss.
Senior infielder Isa Garcia leads the Cougars with a .342 batting average, making him one of six players with averages over the .300 mark. The Houston native also tops UH with 46 runs scored and 17 stolen bases.
Senior outfielder Matt Weston paces UH with 14 home runs - all since April 4 - and leads all C-USA players with a .673 slugging percentage. Junior DH Brad Lincoln leads all players with 50 RBIs.
For only the fourth time in school history but the first time in the postseason, the Cougars will meet Marshall on the baseball diamond. The Cougars officially welcomed the Thundering Herd to the league during the C-USA-opening weekend on March 24-26, 2006, at Cougar Field. UH enjoyed its first of three C-USA sweeps against the Herd, winning 7-0, 4-1 and 15-1 in seven innings during the series finale.
Marshall was one of three first-time opponents on UH's 2006 schedule, joining Monmouth (Feb. 24-26) and UC Irvine (March 10-12).
This will be the first time that the Cougars have squared off against Marshall at the league's annual postseason event or on a neutral field.
Marshall (22-30, 6-18 C-USA earned the No. 7 seed at the tournament despite being swept by league champion and No. 1 Rice last weekend. The Thundering Herd enters Wednesday's game on a five-game losing streak and has lost nine of its last 11.
Marshall boasts of a dangerous offense, which has produced a .301 team batting average for the season. Rich Russell leads the team with a .355 batting average, while Brendan Murphy ranks among the C-USA individual leaders with 15 home runs and 70 RBIs.
Head coach Dave Piepenbrink had not announced his probable starter as of press time.
