University of Houston Athletics
Houston Garners The American Top Honors
5/21/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
CLEARWATER, Fla. -- After leading Houston Baseball to an American Athletic Conference regular-season crown, junior Aaron Fletcher and head coach Todd Whitting garnered two of the league's top honors, being named Pitcher of the Year and Coach of the Year, respectively, while four Cougars were named to All-Conference teams, the league announced Monday.
Fletcher became the second straight Houston pitcher to win the Pitcher of the Year honor as current junior teammate Trey Cumbie was tabbed the league's top pitcher a year ago. Whitting earns his first conference Coach of the Year honor in his eighth season, but has garnered ABCA Region Coach of the Year twice.
Four Cougars were named to All-Conference teams, led by Fletcher -- a unanimous First Team selection as a starting pitcher, while sophomore Lael Lockhart Jr. (UTL), junior Joe Davis (DH) and junior Trey Cumbie (P) were all named to the American Second Team.
COACH OF THE YEAR -- Todd Whitting
For the first time since 2000, Houston Baseball's leader at the helm earns Conference Coach of the Year honors.
Todd Whitting, in his eighth season, led the Cougars to its second straight American regular-season crown and fifth overall conference title in the last five seasons. He propelled Houston to its sixth 30+ win season and its second No. 1 seed in the league's postseason tournament.
Whitting becomes the third head coach in program history to earn the league's top honor and his 2018 accolade is the fifth honor among those three coaches as Rayner Noble was tabbed the C-USA Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2000 and Rolan Walton earned Southwest Conference Coach of the Year recognition in 1976 and 1982.
With the four All-Conference Cougars, Whitting brings his total number to 34 since his arrival in 2011. He has coached two Pitcher of the Year honorees as well.
AMERICAN PITCHER OF THE YEAR
ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM
Aaron Fletcher | Junior | LHP
- Named to All-American Athletic Conference First Team (SP)
- Named American Pitcher of the Week three times in 2018
- Led American during the regular season with a 1.82 ERA
- Finished regular-season with a 6-2 record in 13 starts
- Made first ever start of his career this season
- Tossed two complete games and notched a complete-game shutout vs. Memphis on March 24
- Pitched nine quality starts
- Struck out 75 to 16 walks
- Earned wins over Holy Cross, Cal State Fullerton, San Diego, Memphis, ECU, UConn
- Ranks first on the Houston ERA chart with a career-low 1.86 ERA
- Became fifth Cougar pitcher to earn the top conference honor
- Trey Cumbie (2017), Brad Lincoln (2006), Brad Sullivan (2002), Kyle Crowell (2000, 1999)
ALL-CONFERENCE SECOND TEAM
Lael Lockhart Jr. | Sophomore | UTL
- Named to All-American Athletic Conference Second Team
- Played multiple positions this season: 1B, DH, OF, P
- Led Houston with 16 doubles during the regular season
- Is second on the team with 39 RBI
- Hit .295 with 59 hits and two home runs
- Made 11 appearances and four starts
- Struck out 17 in 17.0 innings and had a 1-1 record with two saves
- Third on the team with 17 multi-hit games
- Second on the team with 10 multi-RBI games
- Rode a 17-game on base streak (March 11-April 8)
- Went 4-for-4 with two RBI in a series-clinching win over Wichita State (April 22)
- Has had five multi-hit games in the last 10 games of the regular season
Joe Davis | Junior | DH
- Named to All-American Athletic Conference Second Team
- Earns third straight All-Conference honor
- Has 15 multi-hit games and leads team with 11 multi-RBI games
- Hit two home runs (in one game) and two doubles and drove in four RBI in series-clinching win at No. 18 UConn
- Had three hits, including a home run, and three RBI in series-finale win at ECU to sweep the Pirates
- Leads Houston with 40 RBI and seven home runs
- Four of the seven home runs came in conference play and three of the five were on the road
- Second on the team with 61 hits, including 14 doubles
- Just two home runs (29) shy of tying the Houston all-time home run record at 31
- Reached base safely in 22 straight games (Feb. 16-March 22)
- Had a hit in 15 straight games (March 2-27)
- In a span of 10 games (March 3-21), had seven multi-hit games
Trey Cumbie | Junior | LHP
- Named to All-American Athletic Conference Second Team
- Earns second straight All-Conference honor
- Led Houston with 97 strikeouts in 91.0 innings
- Finished the regular season with a 6-3 record in 14 starts
- Tallied a 3.46 ERA
- Tossed back-to-back complete game shutouts (March 16-23) vs. New Mexico and Memphis
- Had five games of 10 or more strikeouts, two coming in conference play
- Made eight quality starts on the year
- Ranks seventh on the Houston ERA list with a 2.39 career ERA in three seasons
ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM
P -- Aaron Fletcher, Houston
P -- J.T. Perez, Cincinnati
P -- Mason Feole, UConn
P -- Chris Holba, ECU
RP -- Thad Ward, UCF
C -- Gunnar Troutwine, Wichita State
1B -- Rylan Thomas, UCF
2B -- Brady Lloyd, ECU
SS -- Manny Rodriguez, Cincinnati
3B -- David Villar, USF
OF -- Issac Feldstein, UConn
OF -- Bryant Packard, ECU
OF -- Grant Witherspoon, Tulane
DH -- Spencer Brickhouse, ECU
UTL -- Luke Ritter, Wichita State
ALL-CONFERENCE SECOND TEAM
P -- Trey Cumbie, P
P -- Cam Alldred, Cincinnati
P -- Tyler Smith, ECU
P -- Peter Strzelecki, USF
RP -- P.J. Poulin, UConn
RP -- Andrew Perez, USF
C -- Zac Susi, UConn
1B -- Joe Genord, USF
2B -- Matthew Mika, UCF
SS -- Coco Montes, USF
3B -- Alec Bohn, Wichita State
OF -- Ray Alejo, UCF
OF -- Tyler Osik, UCF
OF -- Dwanya Williams-Sutton
OF -- Duke Stunkel Jr., USF
DH -- Joe Davis, Houston
UTL -- Lael Lockhart Jr., Houston
UTL -- Dallas Beaver, UCF
Player of the Year: Bryant Packard, ECU
Pitcher of the Year: Aaron Fletcher, Houston
Rookie Player of the Year: Christian Fedko, UConn
Rookie Pitcher of the Year: Alec Burleson, ECU
Coach of the Year: Todd Whitting, Houston
ON DECK
Houston Baseball won the American Athletic Conference regular-season title and clinched the No. 1 seed in this week's Championship held at Spectrum Field in Clearwater, Fla. The Cougars are slated to face No. 8 seed Tulane at 11 a.m. CT on Tuesday, May 22.
- Bracket
- Ticket Information
- Spectrum Field (Spring Training Home of Phillies)
- Visit Clearwater, Fla.
FOLLOW ALONG -- GAME 1
Listen Live: UHCougars.com/baseradio
Watch Live: American Digital Network
GAMEDAY Central: UHCougars.com/gameday
LIVE COVERAGE
Live coverage of games Tuesday-Saturday will be on the American Digital Network via Facebook Live. Sunday's Championship game will be live on ESPNews.
ADN Live Coverage link (Tuesday-Saturday): https://www.facebook.com/AmericanDigitalNetworkPlus/
ESPNews link (Sunday): http://www.espn.com/watch/_/id/3319253/american-conference-baseball-championship
WEBSITE COVERAGE
The hub of our coverage will be: www.TheAmerican.org/Baseball
HOUSTON HITS
- Houston enters the final two games of the regular season with a 33-21 overall record.
- The Cougars are coming off an out-of-conference two-game split on the road at Southeastern Louisiana.
- As a team, Houston is hitting .256 with 87 doubles, 8 triples and 24 home runs to accompany its 232 RBI.
- Leading the way offensively is Jared Triolo with a .360 average, a team-high 77 hits and 17 stolen bases.
- Joe Davis follows with a .296 average, seven home runs and a team-high 40 RBI.
- Lael Lockhart Jr. has 16 doubles and is second on the team with 39 RBI and third on team with a .295 average.
- The pitching staff owns a 3.37 ERA and has fanned 445 hitters and walked 178 in 485.2 innings.
- LHP Aaron Fletcher, who was tabbed the American Pitcher of the Week three times this season, is 6-2 and owns a conference-low 1.82 ERA.
- LHP Trey Cumbie is 6-3 with a 3.46 ERA and has 97 strikeouts through 91.0 innings.
- RHP Ryan Randel is coming off a career-performance vs. Rice last week, tossing 6.2 innings and striking out seven Rice hitters, while only allowing two runs on three hits.
- RHP Carter Henry is 5-1 with six saves and a 2.00 ERA in 25 appearances out of the bullpen.
TULANE HITS
- Tulane will play as the No. 8 seed in the tournament after tallying a 24-31 overall record and a 9-14 mark in American play.
- The Green Wave did earn the series victory over the Cougars, 2-1, in New Orleans earlier this season.
- Tulane, as a team, is hitting .262 with 115 doubles, seven triples and 45 home runs to accompany 286 RBI.
- Leading the way offensively is Grant Witherspoon with a .324 average, a team-high 70 hits and 46 RBI.
- Tulane pitching owns a 5.20 ERA and has fanned 368 hitters to 278 walks through 481.0 innings.
- Keagan Gillies paces the staff with a 3.39 ERA and is 5-6 through 13 starts. He has fanned 57 hitters and walked 29.
- Kaleb Roper follows with a 4.46 ERA and a 5-4 record in 13 starts.
- Sam Bjorngjeld has a team-high 30 appearances out of the bullpen and is 1-3 with a 4.40 ERA and one save.
HOUSTON HISTORY IN CLEARWATER
- Houston owns a record of 13-3 in four years playing in Clearwater, Fla.
- Houston is the ONLY team in the conference to have played in the championship game all four years of the league's existence.
- Houston has won two conference championship titles in Clearwater (2017, 2014).
Houston and Tulane are paired with No. 4 seed ECU and No. 5 seed UCF on one half of the bracket.
SEEDINGS
No. 1 -- HOUSTON
No. 2 -- USF
No. 3 -- Uconn
No. 4 -- ECU
No. 5 -- UCF
No. 6 -- Cincinnati
No. 7 -- Wichita State
No. 8 - Tulane
COMPLETE CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
DAY 1 -- TUESDAY, MAY 22
Game 1: 8:00 a.m. CT (4) ECU vs. (5) UCF (ADN)
Game 2: 11:00 a.m. CT (1) HOUSTON vs. (8) TULANE (ADN)
DAY 2 -- WEDNESDAY, MAY 23
Game 3: 10:00 a.m. CT (2) USF vs. (7) Wichita State (ADN)
Game 4: 2:00 p.m. CT (3) UConn vs. (6) Cincinnati (ADN)
Game 5: 6:00 p.m. CT Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 (ADN)
DAY 3 -- THURSDAY, MAY 24
Game 6: 10:00 a.m. CT Loser of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4 (ADN)
Game 7: 2:00 p.m. CT Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 (ADN)
Game 8: 6:00 p.m. CT Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4 (ADN)
DAY 4 -- FRIDAY, MAY 25
Game 9: 10:00 a.m. CT Loser of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 5 (ADN)
Game 10: 2:00 p.m. CT Loser of Game 8 vs. Winner of Game 6 (ADN)
DAY 5 -- SATURDAY, MAY 26
Game 11: 9:00 a.m. CT Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 9 (ADN)
Game 12: 12:00 p.m. CT Winner of Game 8 vs. Winner of Game 10 (ADN)
Game 13: 3:30 p.m. CT (if nec) Loser of Game 11 vs. Winner of Game 11 (ADN)
Game 14: 6:30 p.m. CT (if nec) Loser of Game 12 vs. Winner of Game 12 (ADN)
DAY 6 -- SUNDAY, MAY 27 (Championship Game)
Game 15: 11:00 a.m. CT Winner of Group A vs. Winner of Group B (Live on ESPNEWS)
STAY CONNECTED
Stay up to date with all Houston Baseball news and highlights by following us on Twitter @UHCougarBB or on Facebook at /UHCougarBB. Fans can also follow head coach Todd Whitting @toddwhitting on Twitter.
