University of Houston Athletics
Baseball Preview: Week Eight
4/6/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 6, 2009
HOUSTON - The University of Houston baseball team will look to extend their six-game win streak when they travel to College Station, Texas for a mid-week game against Texas A&M on Tuesday and with a three-game series against Southern Miss over the weekend.
Houston will play the Aggies for the second time this season when they travel to Olsen Field for a 6:35 p.m. game on Tuesday. Earlier this season, the two teams met at the Houston College Classic where Texas A&M won 5-3.
Tuesday's game will be the 162nd game all-time between the two programs, with the Aggies holding a 107-53-1 lead in the series history. Houston is 21-44 when playing in College Station. Texas A&M holds a 20-11 record entering the game after going 1-2 over the weekend in a three-game series against Texas Tech.
Caleb Shofner leads the Aggies at the plate with a .378 batting average and a team-high .600 slugging percentage. On the mound, Brooks Raley has a team-best 2.15 ERA in 46.0 innings.
Following the mid-week game, Houston will return to Cougar Field for a three-game series against Southern Miss. First pitch on Friday and Saturday is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and Sunday's game is slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch.
The Cougars take a 4-2 conference record into the series after their bye weekend last weekend. They are 22-19 all-time against the Golden Eagles after being swept in last season's series in Hattiesburg, Miss.
The Golden Eagles are 20-10 on the year and 6-3 in league play after going 2-1 last weekend against Marshall in Hattiesburg. Bo Davis leads the team at the plate with a .424 batting average with three triples and eight home runs. On the mound, JR Ballinger holds a team-best 3.06 ERA in 35.1 innings.
Last week the Cougars went 4-0 on their way to a sixth straight win, their longest win streak of the season. For his performance last week, junior Chris Wallace was named the Conference USA Hitter of the Week. In four games he went 9-for-18 with four doubles, three home runs and 13 RBIs in his return to the line-up after missing nearly 19 games as the result of a face injury.
Over the weekend, Houston swept UT Pan Am to take their first series sweep of the season and their first at Cougar Field since taking three games from Princeton on March 9-11, 2007.
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.
