University of Houston
McNeese State
Baseball Holds Off McNeese State, 6-3
4/29/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 29, 2009
Lake Charles, La. - The University of Houston baseball team held off a late three run surge by the McNeese State Cowboys in the eighth inning at Cowboy Diamond to take a 6-3 win back to Houston in their final road mid-week game of the season.
Houston moves to 21-23 on the season and they are now 11-18 in non-conference games with their final mid-week game to be played May 5 against the Cowboys at Cougar Field.
Houston jumped on the board first. After going scoreless in the first inning and with one out, Houston put six straight runners on base to open the second inning. Wallace opened with the first single and scored the first run of the night off a single from Jake Runte. With David Murphy also on base, Taylor White loaded the bases on a walk to bring Blake Kelso to the plate. Kelso would single the left field scoring Murphy and Runte and increase the UH lead to three, 3-0. The singles continued for the Cougars as Zak Presley plated White with a ground ball through the left side for the final run of the inning.
Runte the led off the sixth inning with a triple to left center and scored on a wild pitch to add to the Cougars run total. White followed that up with a walk and scored on a Chase Dempsay single up the middle to increase Houston's lead to six, 6-0.
The Cowboys avoided the shutout, scoring three runs in the eighth inning to cut the lead in half, 6-3. In their final at bat they put two runners on base with one out but Ty Stuckey struck out his third batter of the inning to win the game.
On the mound, William Kankel made his first career start for the Cougars. He pitched four innings, giving up two hits, no runs, two walks and two strikeouts. Houston then used six pitchers from their bull pen to close out the game. They combined to allow four hits, three runs and six strikeouts. Kankel moves to 2-1 on the mound and with his three Ks in the ninth inning, Stuckey notched his first save of the season.
LOOKING AHEAD
Houston will return to Cougar Field for a three-game series against cross-town rival Rice this weekend. Friday and Saturday's contest will air on CBS College Sports starting at 6 p.m. Carter Blackburn and Morgan Ensberg will be calling the game's action. Sunday's finale is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start. At stake will be the Silver Glove Series trophy. The Owls currently hold a two game advantage in the five-game series after winning two mid-week contests earlier this season.
