University of Houston
$ Rice
Baseball Drops Heartbreaker at No. 6 Rice on Wednesday
2/28/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 28, 2008
HOUSTON - The University of Houston baseball team dropped a 12-11 heartbreaker to crosstown rival No. 6 Rice in the opening contest of the five-game Silver Glove Series on Wednesday at Reckling Park.
The Cougars (3-2) led 11-9 heading into the bottom of the ninth but a safety squeeze by Jimmy Comerota scored J.P. Padron from third base with one out handing the Owls (3-2) a victory. Houston scattered 13 hits and stranded 10 runners in the game and also had three errors while Rice finished with 14 hits and a pair of errors.
Padron reached base off a walk and advanced to third after Adam Zornes poked a one-out single through the right side that scored Diego Seastrunk and Chad Mozingo to knot things at 11-apiece. Mozingo singled up the middle and advanced to second on a wild pitch while Seastrunk reached on a fielding error.
UH reliever John Touchton took the loss for Houston, dropping to 1-1 on the season. Jared Gayhart, the seventh Rice pitcher to appear, earned the win, moving to 1-0. Gayhart pitched two scoreless innings, holding the Cougars hitless and only giving up three walks.
UH scored six runs in the first inning and crossed the plate 11 times through the first four innings. Blake Kelso led off the game with a double and scored after Jake Stewart doubled into left field. Ryan Lormand singled and Bryan Pounds followed it up with a single through the right side, scoring Stewart and advancing Lormand to third. Matt Murphy walked to load the bases and Austin Goolsby singled to score Lormand and Stewart. Zak Presley reached on an error and that chased Rice starter Mike Ojala after two-thirds of an inning.
Matt Evers entered the game and Kelso knocked his second hit of the inning, a single to second base that scored Murphy. Stewart walked, scoring Presley and a pop-up by Lormand ended the six-run, six-hit inning with the bases loaded.
Rice responded with three runs in the bottom of the first after Padron homered to right with two outs.
The Cougars added a run in the second off a fielder's choice by Murphy that scored Pounds. UH would add two runs in both the third and the fourth innings. Back-to-back doubles by Stewart and Lormand did the damage in the third and a groundout by Kelso and a wild pitch brought Houston's pair of runs across in the fourth.
Rice scored four runs in the fifth with three runs coming off a home run by Zornes with one out.
UH freshman southpaw Ty Stuckey was the team's most effective pitcher, allowing only one hit through 2.2 innings and giving up one hit.
Kelso finished the game 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored. Stewart was 2-for-5 with 3 RBI while Lormand and Jimmy Cesario each added a pair of hits and a run scored.
Houston and Rice will meet four more times this season in the battle for the Silver Glove Series Trophy, beginning with a non-league matchup at Cougar Field on March 26 at 6:30 p.m. CST. The teams also play a three-game C-USA series at Reckling Park May 9-11.
Houston closes out its week at the Houston College Classic presented by the Houston Chronicle at Minute Maid Park. The Cougars will take on Texas Tech, Friday at 3:30 p.m., Oklahoma at noon Saturday and Texas at 6 p.m., Sunday.
Fans can hear Cougar Baseball games live at UHCougars.com by clicking the appropriate links. Jeremy Branham will call the play-by-play action while former letterwinner Pat Cauley provides color analysis.
Fans always can follow live stats by clicking on the Gametracker link.
