March 23, 2008

Final Stats

Houston-East Carolina Game Book (March 23, 2008) in PDF Format

GREENVILLE, N.C. -Senior reliever Bryan Tully limited No. 23 East Carolina to only one hit in four shutout innings to help lead the University of Houston baseball team to an 8-5 win Sunday at Clark-LeClair Stadium during the finale of a Conference USA series.

The Cougars (14-7, 2-1 C-USA) jumped out to a 5-0 lead through four innings but saw the Pirates rally to tie the game with five runs, thanks to five walks and three hits. Tully entered the game with the bases loaded and only one out in the fifth inning. After striking out the first batter he faced and allowing a walk that tied the game at 5-5, the Houston native would allow only one hit the rest of the way.

Tully improved to 1-2 after holding the Pirates to one hit and three walks with four strikeouts in four innings. Freshman righthander Chase Dempsay retired the only two batters he faced in the ninth to record his team-leading third save.

Meanwhile, the Cougar offense broke the tie in the next half inning with two runs in the sixth inning and one more run in the seventh. Austin Goolsby smashed an 0-1 pitch to left field to break the tie and hand the Cougars the lead for good in the sixth, and Blake Kelso's one-out RBI single through the right side plated Zak Presley, who followed Goolsby's long ball with a walk and moved to second on a failed pickoff attempt.

In the seventh inning, Ryan Lormand started a two-out rally with a single up the middle and moved to third following pinch-hitter Chris Wallace's single to right field. Matt Murphy followed with an RBI-single to left field for the final margin of victory.

Kelso went 4-for-5 with a run and RBI to lead a Cougar offense, which pounded out 14 hits in the game. Senior first baseman Bryan Pounds, who saw his career-best 19-game hitting streak come to an end Saturday - started another streak on Sunday, batting 3-for-4 with a run and three RBIs, while Murphy went 2-for-5 with an RBI.

ECU starter Justin Bristow collected the loss and fell to 3-1 after giving up seven runs (four earned) off eight hits and two walks with seven strikeouts in 5.1 innings.

No ECU player recorded more than one hit or one RBI in the game as the Pirates were limited to only four hits by four Cougar pitchers. The Cougars return to action at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday when they meet McNeese State at Cowboy Diamond in Lake Charles, Ka.

UH continues a busy week when it returns home to Cougar Field to play host to No. 11 Rice at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday during Game Two of the annual Silver Glove Series. The Owls grabbed a 1-0 lead in the Series after rallying for a 12-11 win on Feb. 27 at Reckling Park.

Fans can hear Cougar Baseball games live at UHCougars.com by clicking the appropriate links. Jeremy Branham will call the play-by-play action while former letterwinner Pat Cauley provides color analysis.

Fans always can follow live stats by clicking on the Gametracker link.

The Cougars struck for the game's first run in the first inning when Pounds' single through the right side scored Jake Stewart, who reached one a one-out double to right center.

Two innings later, the Cougars grabbed control of the game with four runs off two hits and an ECU error. Pounds struck again with a two-run double to left center that scored Stewart and Kelso, and an ECU infield error allowed Lormand and Pounds to score.

In the fifth inning, the Pirates took advantage of five walks and three of their four hits in the game. Jamie Ray and Stephen Batts each rapped out RBI-singles, while Ryan Wood, Brandon Henderson, Kyle Roller drew bases-loaded walks to tie the game.