Cougars Conquer the Green Wave for Series Sweep

NEW ORLEANS – With a 17-11 win against Tulane, the Houston baseball team secured the series sweep on Sunday afternoon at Turchin Stadium and maintained its first place standing in the American Conference.

The Cougars (31-20, 15-5) rallied from behind for the second night in a row to sweep the Green Wave (14-37, 7-14). Houston's Braden Forsyth (2-0) pitched 3.1 innings allowing only one run to score for his second win of the season while junior utility player Justin Murray tossed the final 2.1 innings to secure his ninth save of the season. Tulane's Cristian Sanchez (0-6) recorded the loss for the Green Wave.

Game Highlights:

The Cougars have now secured seven-straight series conference wins. The last time the Cougars had won their first seven-conference series was in 2006 when they won every series. Outside of the conference match ups, Houston's series wins dates back to the Minnesota contest when the Cougars swept the series from March 17-19.
The sweep was the Cougars' second of the season and the first in conference play.
With the win, the Cougars maintained their first-place position in the American Conference standings.
The 17 runs Houston scored was the second time this season the Cougars have scored 17 runs after plating 17 against Praire View A&M on March 7.
Justin Murray was perfect at the plate for the second time this season. The junior previously went 5-5 at Memphis on April 23.
Justin Murray earned his ninth save of the season and seventh in the conference. He currently leads the conference in saves.
With the start at shortstop, Ian McMillan has now started 129 consecutive games and has taken sole possession of No. 6 all-time at Houston.

Player Highlights

Justin Murray: 2-5, R, 4 RBI, 2B, SF; S, 2.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1K
Ian McMillan: 2-3, 3 R, 2B, 2 BB
Cameron Nickens: 3-6, 4 RBI, 3B
Braden Forsyth: W, 3.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 K

Key Innings:
3^rd | After surrendering a run in the bottom of the second, the Cougars rallied to bring four across in the top of the third. A bases-loaded walk from senior outfielder Brandon Uhse brought Houston's first run home. Junior third baseman Zach Arnold then tabbed a sacrifice fly to center field to bring senior shortstop Ian McMillan home before Murray laced a double down the left field line for graduate transfer Drew Bianco and Uhse to cross home plate for a 4-1 lead.

6^th | After Tulane brought across seven runs and took the lead in the bottom of the fourth, Houston began to chip away at the lead. Arnold was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring across the first run which was immediately followed by an RBI single from Murray. Sophomore outfielder Cameron Nickens slotted the ball to right field as Uhse scored. Murray capped the scoring in the sixth sliding home on a Tulane wild pitch to make the score 11-8.

8^th | Houston maintained its lead despite the Green Wave threatening and bringing the score within one in the bottom of the eighth at 12-11.

9^th | With the bases loaded for the third time in the game, sophomore outfielder Malachi Lott notched a two-RBI single to center field sending McMillan and junior utility player Alex Lopez both home for a 14-11 lead. After multiple defensive changes for the Green Wave, Arnold reached on a catcher's interference and Lott advanced to second to again load the bases. Murray sent a ball to left field allowing Bianco to come home before a Nickens triple brought home two more runs securing the score at 17-11. Murray retired the side in the bottom of the ninth and the Cougars took the win.

UP NEXT:
The Cougars will complete their season-long series against Sam Houston on Tuesday with a game at Constellation Stadium in Sugar Land, Texas. The series is currently tied 1-1 and Tuesday's game will be the deciding game of the Don Sanders Cup. The game will have a live radio broadcast on The Varsity Network.

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Team Stats

Cameron Nickens

Justin Murray

Ian McMillan

Brandon Uhse

Players Mentioned

Zach Arnold

Drew Bianco

Braden Forsyth

Alex Lopez

Malachi Lott

Ian McMillan

Justin Murray

Cameron Nickens

Brandon Uhse

Players Mentioned

Zach Arnold

Drew Bianco

Braden Forsyth

Alex Lopez

Malachi Lott

Ian McMillan

Justin Murray

Cameron Nickens

Brandon Uhse

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