University of Houston
<B>UC IRVINE</B>
Baseball Drops Series Opener to UC Irvine
2/16/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 16, 2007
Houston-UC Irvine Boxscore (Feb. 16, 2007) in PDF Format
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HOUSTON - Six different University of Houston baseball players rapped out two hits each, but it would not be quite enough as the Cougars fell 9-7 to UC Irvine in the opener of a non-conference series at Cougar Field.
After falling behind 2-0, the Cougars rallied to take a 5-2 lead through three innings. However, the Anteaters scored five runs over the next two innings to take the lead for good and added a pair of insurance runs in the seventh inning to win the game.
Sophomore DH Jimmy Cesario, senior shortstop Dustin Kingsbury, senior first baseman Josh Stirneman, junior second baseman Bryan Pounds, sophomore catcher Luis Flores and junior outfielder Bryan Tully each pounded out two hits in the loss. Stirneman, Kingsbury and Flores also posted a team-best two RBIs apiece with the latter two sluggers blasting home runs.
UCI reliever Wes Etheridge collected the win and improved to 3-0 after holding the Cougars to one run off two hits with four strikeouts in 3.1 innings. Closer Blair Erickson picked up his third save after throwing a shutout ninth inning.
UH starter Donnie Joseph fell to 0-1 after allowing five runs off six hits in four innings.
Zach Robinson came off the bench to bat 3-for-3 with two doubles, a run and three RBIs, while Tyler Vaughn finished the night 3-for-3 with a triple, run and two RBIs to pace the Anteaters who outhit the Cougars 14-12.
The Cougars continue their series against the Anteaters at 1 p.m., Saturday in the middle game of that series. Fans should note that Saturday's game time was moved up earlier this week to avoid the cold weather in the Houston area and a conflict with the UH men's basketball team, which plays host to Conference USA rival UAB at 5 p.m., Saturday. The series wraps up at 1 p.m., Sunday.
UH junior righthander Aaron Brown will toe the rubber for the Cougars. This season, the League City native has posted a 1-0 record with six strikeouts and a team-best 1.35 ERA in 6.2 innings. UCI freshman southpaw Daniel Bibona will start for the Anteaters and has posted seven strikeouts and a 2.16 ERA in 8.1 innings.
All Cougar Baseball games can be heard live on UHCougars.com with former Cougar letterwinners Nick Torina and Pat Cauley calling all the action. Fans can follow live stats by clicking on the "Gametracker" link on the front page of UHCougars.com or on the Schedule and Results page off the Baseball main page.
The Anteaters grabbed the first lead of the game in the first inning, thanks to an RBI-single from Bryan Petersen and Matthew Morris' RBI-double to right center.
However, the Cougars answered in the bottom of the inning with two runs of their own after two outs. Cesario and Kingsbury started the rally with back-to-back singles before Stirneman's double off the wall in left center plated both runners and knotted the game at 2-2.
UH claimed its first lead in the bottom of the third with three runs, thanks to three hits and a UCI error. After Cesario reached on a fielder's choice, Kingsbury launched the first pitch he saw over the right-field wall. Two batters later, Pounds ripped a double to the wall in left center and came around to score when Flores lifted an RBI-single into right field.
The Anteaters cut the lead to 5-4 in the fourth inning on Vaughn's RBI-triple to center field and Taylor Holiday's infield groundout that allowed Vaughn to score.
One inning later, UCI regained the lead following Tony Asaro's RBI-single and Robinson's two-run double down the right-field line.
In the next half-inning, the Cougars pulled to within 7-6. Pounds laced a one-out double down the left-field line and scored two batters later on Tully's two-out, single up the middle.
UCI added two more runs in the seventh inning, thanks to an RBI-double from Robinson and Vaughn's RBI-single to left field.
The Cougars pulled to within 9-7 in the eighth inning when Flores smashed the first pitch he saw over the left-field wall to lead off the frame. However, that would cap all the scoring for the rest of the evening.
