Feb. 9, 2007

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HOUSTON - University of Houston righthander Aaron Brown held No. 20 Baylor to only one hit with five strikeouts over five shutout innings to help lead the Cougars to a 4-2 win over the Bears on Friday during the first day of the Houston College Classic at Minute Maid Park.

Brown, who improved to 1-0 with the win, flirted with danger at times, giving up four walks and allowing at least one runner to reach second base in every inning. However, the League City native timed his strikeouts well and took advantage of a double play in the third inning to earn the victory.

Brown was part of a solid pitching performance by the Cougar staff, which did not allow Baylor's second hit until the seventh inning. Sophomore reliever Barry Laird threw two innings of shutout relief, while fellow sophomore Chris Wright picked up his first career save, retiring all four batters he faced after the Bears cut the Cougar lead to 4-2 with a runner on second in the top of the eighth inning.

The Cougars (2-0) jumped out to a 1-0 lead after one inning and appeared to break the game open with three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. For the second straight game, the UH offense was impressive, racking up 13 hits. Sophomore DH Jimmy Cesario went 3-for-4 with a run, double and RBI, while senior third baseman Dustin Kingsbury batted 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs.

Senior first baseman Josh Stirneman also finished the night 2-for-4 with an RBI to lead the UH offense, which recorded at least one hit in all but one inning and outhit the Bears 13-5.

Baylor starter Randall Linebaugh collected the loss and fell to 0-1 after giving up a run off five hits with a pair of strikeouts in four innings.

Outfielder Ben Booker finished with two RBIs to lead the Bears offense.

The Cougars, who recorded their third consecutive win over Baylor, continue their stay at the tournament when they face Texas A&M at 3:30 p.m., Saturday. UH wraps up the tournament at 11 a.m., Sunday when it squares off against No. 6 Arizona State.

Fans can hear the game live on UHCougars.com with former Cougar letterwinners Nick Torina and Pat Cauley calling all the action. Fans can follow live stats by clicking on the "Gametracker" link on the front page of UHCougars.com or on the Schedule and Results page off the Baseball main page.

Freshman southpaw Donnie Joseph is scheduled to make his first collegiate start against the Aggies. Joseph threw one inning of relief with a strikeout in Tuesday's win over Stephen F. Austin.

Texas A&M (1-1) comes into the game after falling 5-4 to No. 6 Arizona State earlier Friday at the Houston College Classic. Sophomore righthander Kyle Thebeau is scheduled to make his first start of the 2007 season against the Cougars.

The Cougars struck for the game's first run in the first inning. Ryan Lormand was hit by a pitch to lead off and moved into scoring position following Jake Stewart's sacrifice bunt. Two batters later, Kingsbury slapped an RBI-single into center field to hand the Cougars a 1-0 lead.

The score remained that way until the fifth inning when the Cougars struck for three runs off four hits. Cesario, Kingsbury and Stirneman rapped out three consecutive RBI-singles as the Cougars saw five straight batters reach safely at one point in the frame.

Cougar pitchers kept the Baylor offense in check until the eighth inning when the Bears struck for a pair of runs, courtesy of Booker's two-out, two-run single to right field.