University of Houston Athletics
Schedule Change: Baseball to Play Tuesday
5/22/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
| (2) HOUSTON (36-19) vs. (7) MEMPHIS (29-27) | |
| AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP BREAKDOWN |
| LOCATION | Spectrum Field | Clearwater, Fla. |
| GAMEDAY CENTRAL | GAMEDAY CENTRAL |
| LISTEN LIVE | UHCougars.com/baseradio |
| WATCH LIVE | American Digital Network |
| GAMETRACKER | Tuesday |
| CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY | Houston has advanced to Championship title game all three years. |
| CHAMPIONSHIP RECORD | Houston owns a 9-3 record in Clearwater, Fla. |
| GAME NOTES | Game Notes |
CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Due to expected inclement weather in the Clearwater, Fla. area on Wednesday, Houston Baseball's originally-scheduled game vs. No. 7 seed Memphis has been moved up a day to Tuesday with first pitch slated for 8 a.m. CT.
Houston enters postseason play with a 36-19 overall record and wrapped its conference season with a 15-9 mark. Memphis will enter play this week with a 29-27 record and an 8-16 mark in league action. The two teams met in a three-game series earlier this season (April 13-15) with Houston earning a 2-1 series victory on the road.
The game will be available for FREE on The American Digital Network by CLICKING HERE or logging into www.theamerican.org/dn.
UPDATED FULL TOURNAMENT BRACKET / INFORMATION
FOLLOW ALONG
Listen Live: UHCougars.com/baseradio
Watch Live: theamerican.org/dn
GAMEDAY Central: UHCougars.com/gameday
QUICK HITS ON HOUSTON
- Houston enters postseason play with a 36-19 overall record and a 15-9 mark in league play.
- Houston is led offensively by Dick Howser Trophy Semifinalist Jake Scheiner's .337 clip, 70 hits, 15 home runs and 52 RBI.
- Connor Wong follows with a .310 average, a team-leading 72 hits and 54 runs, while 11 home runs for second-best.
- Corey Julks (.309), Grayson Padgett (.302) and Joe Davis (.300) each own a .300+ average to help an overall team average of .285 and a slugging percentage of .434.
- Houston has hit 49 home runs -- the most as a team since 2008 when that team hit 51.
- The Cougars are 72-of-89 on the base paths, led by Connor Wong -- who has a team-leading 22 stolen bases followed by Julks with 13.
- Houston's pitching owns a 3.47 ERA with 395 strikeouts to just 126 walks in 484.2 innings.
- Trey Cumbie, who has now thrown three straight complete games in conference play, paces the starting pitching staff with a 2.02 ERA and is 9-1 in 13 starts.
- Senior John King is coming off a strong start to cap a regular-season title for Houston and enters postseason play with a 6-1 record and a 3.28 ERA with 34 strikeouts to nine walks in 68.2 innings.
- Sophomore Mitch Ullom is 6-3, while owning a 3.60 ERA in 14 starts.
- Sophomore reliever Aaron Fletcher has a team-high six saves in 17 appearances and owns a 2.08 ERA with 33 strikeouts in 34.2 innings out of the bullpen, while junior Joey Pulido leads the team with 18 appearances.
- Head coach Todd Whitting begins his seventh season. He owns a Houston record of 244-169-1 and has led the Cougars to two NCAA Regional appearances, a conference tournament title (2014) and two conference regular-season titles (2017, 2015).
HOUSTON'S LAST AT-BAT
- Houston is coming off of an American regular-season title win, taking 2-of-3 from Cincinnati at Schroeder Park last weekend.
- The Cougars fell in Game 1 (8-6), but rebounded with strong pitching performances to take Game 2 (8-3) and Game 3 (7-6).
- The series win was the third straight conference series victory and sixth in league play this season.
- Sophomore Trey Cumbie tossed his third straight complete game en route to a Game 2 victory, while senior John King made his final start at Schroeder Park, going 7.0 strong innings, allowing just one earned run in the win.
HISTORY AT AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP IN CLEARWATER, FLA.
- Houston is the only team to have advanced to the American Championship final game all three years (2014 vs. Louisville, W; 2015 vs. ECU, L; 2016 vs. UConn, L).
- The Cougars captured the first ever American Athletic Conference tournament championship title with a 10-4 win over Louisville back in 2014.
- Houston has finished 3-1 all three years in Clearwater, Fla.
- This will mark the first year Houston will play as the No. 2 seed ... (2014: 3, 2015: 1, 2016: 5).
QUICK HITS ON MEMPHIS
- Memphis owns a 29-27 record and will play as the No. 7 seed in the American Championship following an 8-16 mark in league play.
- The Tigers are coming off a series loss at home to Tulane -- the league's No. 5-seeded team.
- Memphis is hitting .262 and slugging .401 with 109 doubles and 48 home runs.
- Chris Carrier leads the club with a .318 average, 14 home runs and 44 RBI. He is followed by Tyler Webb, who is the team's hit leader with 62 and runs scored leader with 41.
- The Tigers have swiped 51-of-74 bases, led by Carrier's 10 stolen bases.
- The pitching staff for Memphis owns a 4.93 ERA and has 15 saves and one shutout on the year.
- The Tigers have fanned 434 hitters and walked 226, while holding opponents to a .282 average.
- Connor Alexander (6-3) and Drew Crosby (6-3) share the team-high in wins with a 6-3 record, while Jonathan Bowlan owns the best ERA at 3.81 with a 4-5 record in 17 appearances and nine starts. He has fanned 72 in 78.0 innings.
SERIES HISTORY VS. MEMPHIS
- Houston and Memphis have met 64 previous times, dating back to 1997.
- The Cougars own the all-time series at 46-18.
- The two teams have met once in Clearwater, Fla. since 2014 with the Cougars winning, 17-3.
- Houston won the 2017 series on the road at Memphis, 2-1.
- Last Meeting: April 15, 2017 | Houston 9, Memphis 8
AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP INFORMATION
No. 1 seed | UCF (38-18, 15-9 AAC)
No. 2 seed | Houston (36-19, 15-9 AAC)
No. 3 seed | UConn (31-23, 14-10 AAC)
No. 4 seed | USF (40-15, 14-10 AAC)
No. 5 seed | Tulane (27-29, 13-11 AAC)
No. 6 seed Cincinnati (28-28, 10-14 AAC)
No. 7 seed Memphis (29-27, 8-16 AAC)
No. 8 seed East Carolina (29-27, 7-17 AAC)
ON DECK
Following Houston's game vs. Memphis at 8 a.m. CT on Tuesday, the Cougars will either play No. 6 seed Cincinnati or No. 3 seed UConn. The loser of each game will meet at 8 a.m. CT Wednesday with the winners meeting at 2 p.m. CT Thursday.
FULL TOURNAMENT BRACKET / INFORMATION
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.
