University of Houston Athletics
Baseball Opens Play at Southwest Diamond Classic on Thursday
2/21/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 21, 2007
FRISCO, Texas - The University of Houston baseball team looks to continue its hot hitting and winning ways this weekend when it competes at the Southwest Diamond Classic at Dr. Pepper Ballpark in Frisco.
The Cougars open the tournament at 11 a.m., Thursday against Texas-San Antonio before facing host Dallas Baptist at 7 p.m., Friday. UH wraps up its stay at 11 a.m., Saturday against Texas-Arlington
All Cougar Baseball games can be heard live on UHCougars.com. Mike Taylor will call the play-by-play action on Thursday with regular announcers Nick Torina and Pat Cauley broadcasting the Friday and Saturday games. Fans also 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.
UH (5-4) comes into the game after a resounding 12-4 win over McNeese State on Tuesday at Cougar Field. That game marked the seventh time in nine games this season that the Cougars rapped out double-digit hits and, more importantly, it snapped a three-game losing streak.
This will be the first time that the Cougars have competed at the Southwest Diamond Classic. Earlier this year, UH took part in the Houston College Classic at Minute Maid Park for the seventh straight season.
Freshman southpaw Donnie Joseph will make his second straight weekend start and third overall start of the 2007 season in the Cougars' tournament opener against Texas-San Antonio on Thursday.
This season, Joseph has posted three strikeouts and a 5.40 ERA in 10.0 innings. This will be his second straight weekend start.
The Buda native is no relation to current teammate and junior outfielder Chris Joseph.
In his last start, Joseph allowed five runs off six hits in four innings against UC Irvine during that series' opener on Feb. 16.
Thursday's game will be Joseph's first career appearance against the Roadrunners.
Sophomore DH Jimmy Cesario continues to lead the Cougars with a .455 batting average, while sophomore utility star Luis Flores is tops with three home runs. Senior third baseman Dustin Kingsbury paces the Cougar offense with four RBIs after recording a game-high four runs knocked in against McNeese State on Tuesday.
For the second straight season, the Cougars will face Texas-San Antonio on the baseball diamond. The Cougars own an 11-4 (.733) lead in the all-time series, which began in 1992 and was played at least once every year through 1997.
In 2006, the Cougars used a three-run 10th inning to take an 11-10 win over the Roadrunners on Feb. 7 at Cougar Field during the season opener for both teams.
The Cougars scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to force extra innings, but UTSA answered with three runs of its own in the top of the 10th. After the Cougars scored a run and put two runners on, future National Player of the Year Brad Lincoln blasted a towering three-run homer to right field to give the Cougars a walk-off 11-10 win.
This will be the first time that these two teams have met on a neutral field or at a regular-season tournament.
Texas-San Antonio (0-5) enters the tournament after falling 9-1 at Baylor on Tuesday. Righthander Blake Brannon is scheduled to start on the mound against the Cougars. This season, he has posted an 0-1 record with five strikeouts and a 23.62 ERA in 2.2 innings.
Michael Rockett leads the Roadrunners with a .333 batting average and is tied with Trent Lockwood and Marshal Davis for the team lead with two RBIs. Lockwood is the only Roadrunner slugger to hit a home run to date this season.
