University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
2-4
Santa Clara
2-3
Baseball Comes Up Short in Finale Against Santa Clara
2/28/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 28, 2010
HOUSTON - The University of Houston came back from a 5-0 deficit Sunday afternoon against Santa Clara but was one run shy of capturing the win, falling to the Broncos 8-7 at Cougar Field on Sunday afternoon.
The Cougars surrendered four runs to the Broncos off five hits in the first inning. Santa Clara would tack on a fifth run in the second inning before UH was able to get on the board in the fourth inning. M.P. Cokinos led off the inning, reaching base on an error by the right fielder. Ryan Still's sacrifice bunt would advance Cokinos a base and he would go on to score on an RBI single off Blake Kelso that also scored Joel Ansley. With two outs, Ansley was walked to put him into scoring position.
UH cut the deficit to two in the fifth inning, scoring Caleb Ramsey off a ground out to second by Jake Runte.
After a scoreless sixth inning, the Broncos increased their lead once again with a single run in the seventh. This time Houston was able to answer with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Back-to-back singles by Kelso and Matt Creel opened the bottom half of the inning. Runte would earn two more RBIs, platting both runners off a single through the left side.
When it seemed as though the momentum was in the Cougars' favor at the end of the seventh, Santa Clara pulled away once again in the eighth inning off two runs.
Houston would pull within one run in the home half of the eighth. An RBI single off Kelso brought Zak Presley home for the first run and Kelso would go on the score on Caleb Ramsey's groundout to second base. But that would be all the scoring UH would be able to put together the rest of the contest, falling in the series finale.
On the mound, Chase Dempsay gave the Cougars 4.1 innings of solid relief. He gave up just one run with four strikeouts. Eric Brooks earned his second consecutive Sunday start, going 0.2 innings while giving up four runs. Barry Laird and Matt Creel closed out the final four innings for Houston.
With the loss, Houston falls to 2-4 on the season and 2-1 all-time against Santa Clara.
Following the series against Santa Clara, Houston will embark on a 13-game road stand that begins at Rice on March 2. It will continue at the Houston College Classic at Minute Maid Park on March 5-7. The road swing then takes Houston to Cal Poly, San Francisco, California and Arizona State before a March 23 contest at Stephen F. Austin.
With the conclusion of today's game, UH will not play a game at Cougar Field until March 24 against Stephen F. Austin.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: HUGHES, Jon (1-0)
L: Brooks, Eric (0-2)
S: GRAHAM, J.R. (1)
Batting:
2B: MEDICA, Tommy 1
RBI: WAGNER, Curtis 1 ; MEDICA, Tommy 2 ; STOVER, Pat 1 ; PETERS, Evan 2
SH: HERBST, Lucas 1 ; PETERS, Evan 1
SF: WAGNER, Curtis 1 ; STOVER, Pat 1
Base Running:
RUNS: HERBST, Lucas 1 ; WAGNER, Curtis 1 ; MEDICA, Tommy 2 ; RIEGER, Ryan 1 ; PETERS, Evan 1 ; VIELE, Justin 2
SB: STOVER, Pat 1 ; RIEGER, Ryan 1
CS: WAGNER, Curtis 1
HBP: GRAHAM, J.R. 1 ; PETERS, Evan 1 ; VIELE, Justin 1
PO: HERBST, Lucas 1
Batting:
RBI: Kelso, Blake 3 ; Ramsey, Caleb 1 ; Runte, Jake 3
SH: Still, Ryan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ansley, Joel 1 ; Kelso, Blake 2 ; Creel, Matt 1 ; Ramsey, Caleb 1 ; Cokinos, M.P. 1 ; Presley, Zak 1
SB: Kelso, Blake 1
HBP: Wallace, Chris 1
