University of Houston Athletics
Baseball Opens 2008 Season vs. Pacific on Friday
2/21/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 21, 2008
HOUSTON - The University of Houston baseball team opens its 2008 season Friday, as the Cougars square off with the Pacific Tigers in a non-conference, three-game series at Cougar Field this weekend.
The series begins at 6:30 pm, Friday, continues at 3 pm, Saturday and wraps up with a 1 pm start on Sunday.
Fans can hear all three of this weekend's games live on UHCougars.com with first-year announcer Jeremy Branham calling the play-by-play action and former UH letterwinner Pat Cauley providing the analysis.
Fans also can follow live stats via the Internet by clicking the "Gametracker" link on the UH front page or on the Cougar Baseball schedule page.
The Cougars, who finished fourth in an always competitive Conference USA in 2007, return 15 letterwinners and six starters to this year's squad.
Sophomore lefthander Wes Musick will make his second consecutive opening day start for Houston, when he takes the mound against the Tigers on Friday.
Last season, Musick led the Cougars to a 15-6 win over Stephen F. Austin in his first collegiate start on opening day. The Lufkin native finished the year posting a 6-5 record with a 3.00 ERA and 73 strikeouts en route to being named to the 2007 Louisville Slugger Freshmen All-America Team and the All C-USA First Team.
Junior infielder Jimmy Cesario will help spearhead the Cougar offensive attack. The left-handed, line-drive hitting first baseman wasted little time in making his presence felt during his rookie campaign in C-USA last season.
Cesario led UH in batting average (.352), on-base percentage (.417), hits (77) and doubles (13). The Metairie, La., native also rattled off a 20-game hitting streak, the fifth-longest in program history.
For his efforts, Cesario was named the first-ever recipient of the C-USA Newcomer of the Year award. He also was named as the Cougars lone representative on the 2008 C-USA All-Preseason Team.
Friday's opener marks the beginning of Houston's 62nd season of intercollegiate baseball. UH has enjoyed great success in season-openers, posting an all-time record of 37-24 (.607) and reeling of 13 straight victories from 1975-1987.
The Cougars will meet Pacific for the first time in program history during this weekend's three-game series.
Junior righthander Cole Akins is scheduled to make his first start of the season for the Tigers Friday against Houston. Last season, Akins posted a 2-4 record with a 5.49 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 59.0 innings.
Cougar Doubleheader Promotion on Saturday
In a Cougar Doubleheader promotion for Saturday, fans can purchase reserved tickets for the men's basketball game against Rice for only $10. However, these discounted tickets only will be available at the marketing table located on the concourse at Cougar Field during Saturday afternoon's baseball game against Pacific.
The Cougar baseball team continues its season-opening series at 3 p.m., Saturday, against Pacific.
Representatives from the Marketing Office will be selling men's basketball tickets to the Rice game through the end of the seventh inning. All Cougar fans are invited to come out to both games and enjoy a full day of Cougar baseball and men's basketball.
