University of Houston Athletics
Baseball Preview: Week Five
3/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 16, 2009
HOUSTON - Following a tough week, the University of Houston baseball team will try to get things back on track when they return to Houston for five more games, including two mid-week games and their Conference USA series opener.
Houston opens the week with a Tuesday game at Lamar at 6:30 p.m. The Cardinals enter the game with a 15-4 overall record and rank 23rd in the Collegiate Baseball poll. They opened the season winning nine-straight and went 3-2 last week, including a 2-1 mark in their weekend series against Central Arkansas.
Tyler Link paces Lamar at the plate with a .375 batting average. He also has two doubles, a triple and a team-high five home runs, including 17 RBI.
In four appearances on the mound, Eric Harrington has a team-best 0.77 ERA and holds a 3-0 record. He has given up just eight runs, five walks and 18 strikeouts.
Following Tuesday's game, the Cougars will return home for the second game of the Silver Glove Series against cross-town rival No. 10 Rice. The game is slated for a 6:30 p.m. start. In the first meeting between the two schools at Reckling Park, the Owls came away with a 9-2 win.
The Owls enter the week with a 14-5 record, including winning four of their last six. Earlier this season, Rice traveled to California for a three-game series against Cal Poly, going 1-2 on the trip. Houston then welcomed the Mustangs on March 6-8, also going 1-2.
After two mid-week games, UH will continue their home stand when they welcome UAB in their Conference USA opener. Friday and Saturday's games will start at 6:30 p.m., with the Sunday finale slated to start at noon.
Last season, UH traveled to Birmingham and went 1-2 in the league series but the two teams would meet three more times during the C-USA Tournament, with Houston taking two of three games en route to winning the C-USA Tournament Championship.
The Blazers have won six-straight following an 11-3 win over Harvard on Sunday. The will play a mid-week game against Mississippi State before their trip to Houston.
Houston has won four-straight league openers and has swept their last three C-USA series openers.
Fans can hear all games live on UHCougars.com with second-year announcer Jeremy Branham calling the play-by-play action and former UH letterwinner Pat Cauley providing the analysis.
Live stats through Game tracker will also be available for all games, with live video streaming available for all home games.
Last week, Houston lost a mid-week game to Sam Houston State, 18-16, before traveling to Stockton, Calif., dropping a three-game series to Pacific.
