Ekness, Miller Throw One-Hit Shutout

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Junior starting pitcher Josh Ekness and senior reliever Maddux Miller combined for a one-hit shutout to give the Cougars an 8-0 win over Memphis at FexEx Park on Friday evening.

Ekness (2-2) threw his first quality start of the season tossing 6.0 innings while allowing the only hit in the bottom of the second inning. The right-hander earned his second win for the Cougars (22-16, 7-3) while Miller tossed three hitless innings for Houston while striking out a career-high five batters and earning his first career save. Memphis' (19-19, 3-7) Carson Stinnett (2-1) earned his first loss of the season throwing only 1.0 inning and allowing two runs to score.

Game Highlights:

Josh Ekness and Maddux Miller combined for a one-hit shutout. It was the first time Houston has shut out a team since May 17, 2019, when the Cougars silenced UCF in the final regular season conference series.
The combined one-hitter from Josh Ekness and Maddux Miller was the first time the Cougars have combined for a one-hitter since 2016 with Seth Romero and Tanner Lawson one-hit GWU on March 26.
Zach Arnold and Justin Murray extended their reached-base streaks to 34 straight games. Arnold has reached base in every single game he has played in while Murray has found his way on base in every game since his second Cougar appearance.
With an RBI single, Justin Murray extended his hit streak to 16 games. His 16-game streak is the longest hit streak this season.
With 11 hits in the game, the Cougars have recorded 20 games this season with 10+ hits including seven of the last nine games.
Justin Murray set a new career-high three stolen bases. He now has nine on the season.

Player Highlights:

Josh Ekness: W, 6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K
Maddux Miller: S, 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0R, 1 BB, 5 K
Drew Bianco: 3-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 2 2B,
Alex Lopez: 2-5, R, 4 RBI, HR

Key Innings:
1st | Houston immediately took action to open the game. A double from junior third baseman Zach Arnold put a runner aboard before junior utility player Alex Lopez send a ball over the fence for a 2-0 advantage to start the game.

3^rd | After plating a run in the second, the Cougars continued their scoring streak as two straight singles put runners on the corners. For his 15^th-straight hit, junior first baseman Justin Murray singled through the right side to bring senior outfielder Brandon Uhse home. Houston tacked on its final run of the inning on a groundout to the pitcher making the score 5-0.

6^th | In the sixth, Houston scored another two runs. A single from sophomore outfielder Malachi Lott brought home senior shortstop Ian McMillan before Lopez laced his second hit of the game sending the ball into the outfield to score graduate transfer Drew Bianco.

Two strikeouts followed by a groundout to Arnold in the bottom of the ninth completed Houston's 8-0 shut out win against the Tigers.

UP NEXT:
The Cougars play the second game of the series on Saturday with the first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with a radio broadcast on The Varsity Network.

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Team Stats

Drew Bianco

Zach Arnold

Alex Lopez

Malachi Lott

Players Mentioned

Zach Arnold

Drew Bianco

Josh Ekness

Alex Lopez

Malachi Lott

Ian McMillan

Maddux Miller

Justin Murray

Brandon Uhse

Players Mentioned

Zach Arnold

Drew Bianco

Josh Ekness

Alex Lopez

Malachi Lott

Ian McMillan

Maddux Miller

Justin Murray

Brandon Uhse

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