University of Houston Athletics
SEASON RECAP: Houston Baseball
7/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
SEASON RECAP: 2015 @UHCougarBB
For the second straight season under head coach Todd Whitting, Houston Baseball put together another banner season, ranking among the nation's Top 20 all season long. 2015 featured a 43-win year, an American Athletic Conference title and also saw the Cougars rewarded by hosting an NCAA Regional at Cougar Field.
Leading the charge in just his fifth season at the helm, Whitting took home one of the region's top honors, being named the ABCA South Central Regional Coach of the Year. Whitting and the Cougars opened the season ranked No. 3 in the nation by Baseball America - its highest preseason ranking in program history. The early success came until Houston was forced to battle a few injuries that saw them drop their first two league series, before regrouping to wrap up a season, winning 20 of its last 26 and its final six conference series for the conference title.
#43 WINS
Houston notched its second straight 40-win season, finishing 2015 with 43 total wins. 2014 (48) and 2015 (43) became the first back-to-back years that Houston has tallied at least 40 wins since the 1999 and 2000 seasons. 2015 also became the 13th 40-win season in program history. The 43 wins to just 20 losses made for a .683 winning percentage.
#NATIONALLY-RANKED
Houston Baseball finished the year, ranked No. 18 in the nation by Baseball America. The Cougars saw themselves ranked among the nation's Top 30 during all 18 weeks of the season. Polling in as high as No. 3 in the nation by Baseball America during preseason and the first two weeks of the season, Houston would remain among the nation's Top 10 through the first three weeks of the season. The Cougars entered NCAA postseason play ranked as high as No. 13 by Baseball America. 2015 marked the second straight season Houston Baseball finished a year ranked among the nation's Top 20.
#AMERICAN REGULAR-SEASON TITLE
Houston captured its first American Athletic Conference title under Whitting and first since 2002. The regular-season title was the eighth in program history and first in The American. The Cougars tallied a 16-8 conference record, winning six of the eight league series, while sweeping two (UConn, Cincinnati). The 16 wins in league play marked the most conference wins by a Houston team since 2006.
#NCAA REGIONAL HOST
For its regular-season success and its conference title in what was considered to be the third toughest league in the nation, Houston was rewarded with an NCAA Regional at Cougar Field. The Cougars were selected by the NCAA as one of just 16 No. 1 seeds and played host to Rice, Louisiana-Lafayette and HBU. 2015 marked the first time since 2000 and just the third in program history that Cougar Field was awarded as a host site.
#REGIONAL COACH OF THE YEAR
Head Coach Todd Whitting was honored for leading the Cougars to another banner season as he was tabbed as the ABCA/Diamond South Central Regional Coach of the Year. He became the third Houston head coach in program history to be honored as a Regional Coach of the Year and first since 2002.
#HOME SWEET HOME
The Cougars put together a 26-8 record at Cougar Field this season and the 26 wins were the most in program history since the new field was rebuilt in 1995. Houston opened the 2015 campaign, winning seven of its first eight home games, including a weekend sweep over Minnesota to open the season.
#WEEKEND SWEEPS
The Cougars put together five weekend sweeps over the course of the year, which included sweeps in their first and final weekend series vs. Minnesota and UConn. Houston's most impressive weekend sweep came on the road at New Mexico in three one-run games as the Cougars put together a 10-game win streak during that stretch. The five weekend sweeps came against Minnesota, New Mexico, Buffalo, Cincinnati, and UConn.
#LAST 6
Houston made a late push in the American Athletic Conference, winning six of its final eight series to capture the league title. After dropping its first two conference series on the road at UCF and at Memphis, Houston took care of business down the stretch, earning two series wins over Tulane and series over Cincinnati, USF, East Carolina and UConn.
#SILVER GLOVE
The Silver Glove Trophy remained with the Cougars for the second straight season as Houston won two of three over Rice during the 2015 regular-season. The back-to-back series wins over the Owls marks the first time since the trophy was established in 1998 that the Cougars have accomplished that feat. Houston won 8-3 at Cougar Field back on March 17, before falling 11-0 at Rice on April 14. With the series tied, Houston rallied in the series finale on May 13 at Constellation Field to come-from-behind and win 2-1 in the ninth to win the trophy in 2015. Freshman Seth Romero was rewarded as the Series MVP after striking out a career-high nine in his first collegiate start vs. Rice.
#SHUTOUTS
Houston finished the year with eight shutouts, one shy of the 2014 total. The eight shutouts ranked eighth in the nation. The Cougars shut out Minnesota (5-0), Columbia (3-0), Buffalo (5-0), Baylor (11-0), Cincinnati (13-0), Sam Houston State (3-0), Tulane (3-0), and UConn (1-0).
#ATTENDANCE
Cougar Field saw record attendance numbers in 2015, highlighted by the increase in season ticket sales. On average, Cougar Field saw 1,832 fans over 32 home dates for a total of 58,648 on the year. The 1,832 number is the most ever per game at Cougar Field in program history and the average ranked 38th in the nation and the 58,648 total ranked 34th in the nation.
#THIRD TOUGHEST LEAGUE
The American Athletic Conference was considered the third-toughest league in the nation behind the SEC and ACC in 2015. Of the eight baseball teams in the league, four made the NCAA tournament - led by Houston - who captured the regular-season title. Joining the Cougars in postseason play were East Carolina, Tulane and USF.
#IN THE CLASSROOM
The Cougars posted their highest cumulative grade point average in program history when it recorded a 3.09 for the 2014-15 academic year. Houston Baseball also notched a 2.97 spring GPA - the fourth-best in program history for a GPA in season. 24 baseball student-athletes earned a 3.0 cumulative GPA. Senior David Longville was tabbed the team's Academic MVP for his efforts in the classroom.
#COOGS BEING DRAFTED
Eight Cougars were taken in the 2015 MLB First-Year Player Draft, led by three Top 10 selections. Of the eight, four were pitchers. Jake Lemoine went in the fourth round and became the highest ranked Cougar since Donnie Joseph was drafted in the third round of the 2009 draft. Weigel (7th) and Survance (8th) joined Lemoine as Top 10-Rounders, while Dowdy and Iriart were taken in the 12th Round. Cobb, Fulmer and Rice were later selected in the Round of 20s.
#STARTING PITCHING
The pitching staff finished the season ranked among the nation's Top 10 in four categories (ERA, WHIP, K-BB ratio and shutouts). Led by a weekend trio of sophomore Andrew Lantrip, junior Kyle Dowdy and freshman Seth Romero, Houston put together impressive starting pitching numbers. The three finished the year with a combined record of 25-9, an ERA of 2.34 in a total of 292.0 innings pitched. The trio accounted for 295 strikeouts, seven complete games, while holding their opponents to a .225 batting average.
#AMONG THE NATION'S BEST
Houston finished ranked among the nation's Top 15 in five team categories: 8 (shutouts), 9 (WHIP), 10 (strikeout-to-walk ratio), 10 (ERA), 11 (walks allowed per nine innings), 13 (offensive walks), while ranking first in nine of those categories among the American Athletic Conference. Individually, Houston had four players rank among the nation's Top 20 in individual statistical categories: Ian Rice (19 - walks), Chris Iriart (16 - HBP, 18 - homeruns), Kyle Survance (15 - stolen bases, 18 - triples), Andrew Lantrip (14 - strikeouts).
#SURVANCE STEALS
Junior Kyle Survance ranked second in the conference and 15th in the nation with his 31 stolen bases. The 31 swiped bags ranks sixth-most all-time in program history with 36 by Trey Williams in 1969 leading the way. Survance managed to record back-to-back seasons with 31 stolen bases, moving him into third all-time with 82 over a three-year career.
#ROMERO MAKES IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Freshman Seth Romero had one of the most prolific freshman campaigns in program history; being tabbed a Freshman All-American by four different organizations, named the American Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year and a Second Team All-Conference selection after finishing the 2015 season with the league's best ERA at 1.94. The southpaw went 7-4 with a team-high seven saves in 22 appearances and eight starts, while tossing one complete game and two combined shutouts. Romero fanned 92 hitters in 83.1 innings. He managed to hold opposing hitters to a low .201 average.
#LANTRIP LEADING
Sophomore Andrew Lantrip became the first Houston All-American since 2006 when the righty was honored by Perfect Game following his impressive 2015 campaign. Lantrip led the American Athletic Conference with 115 strikeouts in 113.1 innings and finished tied for the team lead with nine wins. He was an All-Region and All-Conference honoree and helped the Houston pitching staff to four Top 10 national statistical rankings, including a team ERA of 2.89.
#HOMERUNS HIGHLIGHTED BY IRIART
Junior Chris Iriart belted a team-high 15 homeruns and became the first Cougar since Matt Weston in 2006 to hit at least 15 in a single season. Iriart finished the year second in the conference and 18th in the nation and helped Houston to a total of 44 homeruns as a team - the most since 44 in 2010.
#ALL-CONFERENCE HONOREES
Seven Cougars were named to All-American Athletic Conference teams, led by Seth Romero - who was tabbed the league's Rookie of the Year and a Second Team All-Conference honoree. Joining Romero was Kyle Survance, who was the Cougars' only First Team selection, while Andrew Lantrip, Kyle Dowdy, Chris Iriart, Josh Vidales and Jacob Campbell all were named to the Second Team. Houston led the league with the most All-Conference selections.
#AWARDS GALORE
All-American: Andrew Lantrip (Third Team - Perfect Game)
Freshman All-American: Seth Romero (First Team - Baseball America, D1Baseball.com, Perfect Game, Collegiate Baseball)
ABCA All-Region: Kyle Survance (First Team), Chris Iriart (Second Team), Andrew Lantrip (Second Team)
All-Conference: Kyle Survance (First Team), Andrew Lantrip (Second Team), Kyle Dowdy (Second Team), Seth Romero (Second Team), Jacob Campbell (Second Team), Josh Vidales (Second Team), Chris Iriart (Second Team)
All-Tournament: Josh Vidales (College Classic), Chris Iriart (College Classic), Chris Iriart (Silver Glove), Corey Julks (Silver Glove), Seth Romero (MVP - Silver Glove), Andrew Lantrip (American Championship), Connor Wong (American Championship), Corey Julks (American Championship), Ian Rice (American Championship), Seth Romero (Houston Reginal), Kyle Dowdy (Houston Regional), Corey Julks (Houston Regional), Chris Iriart (Houston Regional)
Weekly Awards: Andrew Lantrip (x2), Patrick Weigel, Kyle Dowdy (x2), Chris Iriart, Seth Romero, Corey Julks
National Player of the Week: Kyle Dowdy (Collegiate Baseball)
#BID FAREWELL TO OUR SENIOR CLASS
Houston Baseball honored five seniors, who made a significant impact to the success over the last four years. Seniors Aaron Garza, Jared Robinson, Taylor Cobb, David Longville and manager Mason Lucas made 2015 their final season with the Cougars.
#ALUMNI GAME A BIG HIT
Nearly 2,000 fans flocked to Cougar Field to take part in the 2015 Fan Appreciation Day and Alumni Game in early February. With national buzz surrounding the program, the Cougars welcomed back over 50 former players and saw the current team win 8-1 against a crop of professional players.
#ROMERO TO REPRESENT TEAM USA
For the second straight season, Houston had a player invited to participate with USA Baseball as part of the Collegiate National Team. Freshman Seth Romero was invited to participate with Team USA as a camp invitee after Jake Lemoine was named to the team last summer.
#NEW VIDEO BOARD TO BE INSTALLED
Thanks to lead donations from Don Sanders and Joe Gutierrez, Houston Baseball and head coach Todd Whitting are proud to announce that Daktronics will design, manufacture and install a brand new LED video display to be named Sanders-Gutierrez Scoreboard at Cougar Field. According to Daktronics, the new outfield video display will be the largest at an on-campus baseball stadium in the country. It will measure roughly 27.5 feet high by more than 55 feet wide to provide more than 1,500 square feet of space for live video, instant replays, statistics and scoring information, graphics and animations, and sponsor messages. The display features a 15HD pixel layout for crisp, clear imagery with wide-angle viewing for a great view from every seat at the ballpark. With the new dimensions set, the new display will measure twice as tall and more than three times as wide as the current display board in right-center field.
#STAY CONNECTED
Stay up to date with all Houston Baseball news and highlights by following us on Twitter @UHCougarBB or on Facebook at /HoustonCougarBaseball. Fans can also follow head coach Todd Whitting @toddwhitting on Twitter.
