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Baseball Rally Falls Short at No. 22 San Diego on Saturday
March 17, 2007
Houston-San Diego Boxscore (March 17, 2007) in PDF Format SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Kevin Hansen's one-out, RBI-single in the bottom of the ninth lifted No. 22 San Diego to a 5-4 win over the University of Houston baseball team in the middle game of a non-conference series at Cunningham Stadium on Saturday. The loss spoiled a valiant comeback by the Cougars, who scored two runs in the top of the ninth to force USD to bat in the bottom of the inning. In the final frame, Logan Gelbrich led off with a double to right field and moved to third after Daniel Magness' sacrifice bunt. After a walk to Mike Metzger loaded the bases, Hansen smashed a double through the left side of the infield to claim the win. The Cougars appeared to grab all the momentum in the game in the top of the ninth inning with a pair of runs to tie the game. Bryan Tully led off with a towering home run to center field to pull the Cougars to within a run, and Luis Flores followed with an infield single to shortstop. After Bryan Pounds' sacrifice bunt, Flores moved up a base when Zak Presley reached on a USD infield error. Ryan Lormand then lined an RBI-single into right center to plate Flores and tie the game at 4-4. The Cougars continued to threaten, putting runners at second and third with only one out. But Felix Fanaselle lined out into an unassisted double play to Hansen at third base to end the threat.
Tully collected the loss and fell to 1-1 after giving up a run off two hits and a walk without recording an out. USD reliever A.J. Griffin picked up the win and improved to 4-1, despite allowing three runs off five hits in three innings. Dustin Kingsbury went 3-for-4 with an RBI, while Lormand batted 2-for-5 with a run, double and two RBIs in the losing effort. Luis Flores also batted 2-for-3 with a run to lead the Cougars, who outhit San Diego 9-8. Gelbrich batted 2-for-4, while Hansen finished the night 2-for-4 with the game-winning RBI for the Toreros. With the loss, the Cougars fell to 11-11 overall, while San Diego improved to 17-9. The series wraps up at 3 p.m. (CDT) Sunday. Cougar Baseball games can be heard 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. Sophomore righthander Luis Flores makes his third straight weekend start during the San Diego series finale on Sunday. This season, Flores has posted a 1-0 record with 11 strikeouts and a 5.19 ERA in 17.1 innings of work. Flores joins Tully as two-way players on the 2007 Cougar team. In 2006, Flores was named to the Freshman All-America First Teams by Baseball America, Rivals.com and Collegiate Baseball. In his last start, Flores allowed three runs off nine hits with three strikeouts in 6.2 innings of work during the series finale against Princeton on March 11. However, the Del Rio native did not pick up a decision as the Cougars rallied late to take an 8-3 win over the Tigers. Sunday's game will be Flores' second career against San Diego. In 2006, Flores allowed only two runs off nine hits in 8.1 innings. However, he did not pick up a decision as the Cougars won the game in the bottom of the ninth on Bryan Tully's walk-off homer. In addition to his pitching duties, Flores also is a regular in the Cougar lineup. This season, he has posted a .254 batting average with a team-best five home runs and 10 RBIs. While he has mostly competed at catcher, Flores also has made starts at pitcher, left field, right field and third base. The start at third base was the latest on his list, coming during the middle game of the Princeton series on March 10. For the second straight game, the Toreros struck in the second inning, taking advantage of a Cougar infield error and Daniel Magness' sacrifice fly to center field for a 1-0 lead. The Cougars tied the game in the next half inning with an unearned run of their own. Lormand reached on a USD infield miscue and moved into scoring position following Felix Fanaselle's sacrifice bunt. Two batters later, Kingsbury lined a two-out, RBI-single up the middle to tie the game at 1-1. USD regained the lead in the fifth inning, thanks to two hits and a Cougar error. James Meador reached on a leadoff single, moved to second base following Hansen's single and scored on a fielder's choice and infield miscue for a 2-1 Torero advantage. The Toreros added two more runs in the sixth inning to break the game open. After Buschini led off with a double and Sean Nicol was hit by a pitch, another Cougar error in the infield allowed both runners to score for a 4-1 USD lead. The Cougars cut that lead in half in the next half inning. After reaching on a fielder's choice, Zak Presley scored easily when Lormand blasted a double off the wall in center field to trim the USD lead to 4-2. |
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