University of Houston Athletics
Baseball Readies for Houston College Classic
3/4/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 4, 2010
HOUSTON - The University of Houston baseball team will compete in the Houston College Classic at Minute Maid Park this weekend, marking the program's ninth straight year in the annual tournament.
The Cougars open the weekend against Missouri at 3:30 p.m. Friday, with the Tigers entering the tournament with a 4-2 overall record. Michael Liberto paces Missouri with a .571 batting average, and has a double and triple. On the mound in the opener, UH's Chase Dempsay will face off against Eric Anderson (1-0) of Missouri. Anderson has held his opponents scoreless in five innings, while giving up four hits with five strikeouts. Dempsay has gone nine innings this season with a 2.00 ERA, allowing three runs on nine hits while striking out nine.
The all-time series against Missouri stands at 2-2. The last time the two programs met they split two games in Houston on March 19 and March 21, 1990.
The tournament continues on Saturday against Texas at 3:30 p.m. It will be the 122nd overall meeting between the two teams with Texas leading 90-29-2. The Longhorns got the best of Houston, 8-7, in 10 innings at the Houston College Classic in 2008.
Michael Goodnight and Texas' Brandon Workman will earn the starts on the mound. Workman is the brother of UH women's basketball player Megan Workman. Goodnight is 1-1 on the season, pitching 9.2 innings, allowing nine hits with 13 strikeouts.
The Longhorns are 6-2 this season, having swept Stanford last weekend. At the plate, Tant Shepard has a double and home run this season and leads all Texas players with a .370 average. Workman is 1-0 on the mound with a 4.09 ERA and has surrendered six runs on 15 hits with 13 strikeouts.
The Cougars will close out play at the Houston College Classic on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. against Texas Tech. The Red Raiders are 7-2 on the year after going 1-2 last weekend and earning a win over Dallas Baptist on Tuesday. Michael Reed leads the Red Raiders with a .480 batting average and has collected four doubles, a triple and a home run. Chad Bettis paces the Tech pitching staff with a 3.21 ERA and a 2-0 record.
Houston leads the all-time series 43-38 over Texas Tech, winning the last meeting 5-4 in 2008 at the Houston College Classic.
Houston has not announced a starter on the mound for Sunday's contest.
Live stats will be available for all three games by logging on to www.UHCougars.com and going to the baseball schedule page. A live radio broadcast will also be streamed online and links to the broadcast can also be found on the website.
Following the tournament this weekend, Houston will pack its bags and head west for an 11-day road trip that includes a series at Cal Poly, mid-week games at San Francisco and California before wrapping up with a series at Arizona State.
