Baseball
PREVIEW: Baseball Travels to Face All-Time Rival Sam Houston State on Tuesday

Cougars make first road trip of 2013 with a 2-1 record

Feb. 18, 2013

HOUSTON -- After earning a series win over Northeastern during Opening Weekend, the Houston Baseball team will make its first road trip of 2013 when it travels to Sam Houston State to take on the Bearkats at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Don Sanders Stadium in Huntsville, Texas.
 

AT A GLANCE SERIES HISTORY
Logo Houston
(2-1)
Roster
Stats
Schedule 		VS

Don Sanders Stadium
Huntsville, Texas

Sam Houston State
(1-2)
Roster
Stats
Schedule 		Logo All-Time: 153rd meeting all-time; ranks third in program history (168 vs. Rice, 165 vs. Texas A&M)
Series History: Tied at 76-76

Tuesday, February 19  6:30 p.m. // TV: NoneNotes
ª LIVE STATS
ª LIVE VIDEO 		ª LIVE AUDIO
ª GAME NOTES 		Probable Starters:
Houston: RHP Aaron Garza
Sam Houston State: RHP Tyler Eppler 		Houston will hit the road for the first time in 2013 to face non-conference rival, Sam Houston State. Aaron Garza will be making his season debut.
The Cougars return to action with a 2-1-season record and meet the Bearkats with a 1-2 record. The meeting will be the first of two between the two schools this season. They meet again at Cougar Field on April 2.
 
QUICK HITS ABOUT HOUSTON
·      Houston is hitting .283 as a team with 28 hits and 14 RBI.
·      Freshman Josh Vidales, who was named C-USA Hitter of the Week, leads the way with a .500 (6x12) average with three runs scored.
·      Junior Caleb Barker paces the Cougars with four RBI, while freshman Justin Montemayor belted his first collegiate homerun in his first at-bat to finish the first three games with a .778 slugging percentage.
·      Houston is 4-4 in stolen bases and drew 11 walks and five hit-by-pitches in the first three games.
·      7 Cougars reached base in all three games and four recorded a hit in each game.
·      At least four freshmen were in Houston's lineup at all times.
·      Houston is 2-0 when leading after eight innings and vs. right-handed pitchers.
·      Senior RHP Austin Pruitt holds a 0.00 ERA through his first 6.0 innings after garnering a win in his season debut.
·      Senior LHP Matt Hernandez also earned a win in his debut, tossing 6.0 innings, allowing just two runs with five strikeouts.
·      Freshman RHP Jake Lemoine, junior RHP Chase Wellbrock and sophomore RHP Logan Piper all pitched at least an inning of work out of the pen and didn't surrender an earned run.
·      Houston sophomore RHP Aaron Garza will make his first start of 2013 after compiling a 5.77 ERA and a 2-5 record his freshman season. He made 10 starts and pitched 39.0 innings with 28 strikeouts.
·      Houston's pitching staff holds and ERA of 3.33 with 23 strikeouts and seven walks.
 
QUICK HITS ABOUT SAM HOUSTON STATE
·      Sam Houston picked up a win at Texas State (10-9), but fell to No. 31 Missouri State (3-2) and Tulane (2-0) over the weekend for a record of 1-2.
·      The Bearkats are hitting .234 as a team, but have four players hitting over .300.
·      Anthony Azar leads the way with a  .364 clip on a 4-for-11 effort with three RBI in the first three games.
·      Only one starting pitcher lasted 5.0 innings as Andrew Godail earned the no decision for that effort.
·      Picking up the team's only win was Logan Boyd, a reliever, who tossed 2.1 innings.
·      Sam Houston State's staff holds an ERA of 4.85 with 30 strikeouts and 22 walks.
·      Bearkat head coach David Pierce was a Cougar Baseball letterwinner from 1984-85.
·      Assistant Coach Sean Allen also played for the Cougars from 1998-2001.
 
PROBABLE STARTERS
·      Houston: RHP Aaron Garza | 2-5, 5.77 ERA, 10 GS, 39.0 IP, 28 K (2012 stats)
·      SHSU: RHP Tyler Eppler | 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 AP, 1 BB (2013 stats)
 
SERIES HISTORY
·      Houston and Sam Houston State will meet for the 153rd time in the school history.
·      The 152 previous meetings ranks third all-time as the Cougars have met Rice 168 times and Texas A&M 165 times.
·      The two teams are currently tied at 76-76 in the all-time series after splitting the 2012 series.
·      Houston took Game 1 of the 2012 series, 12-2 at Cougar Field, but fell 5-4 in Huntsville when SHSU was ranked No. 24.
 
NORTHEASTERN SERIES HIGHLIGHTS


STAY CONNECTED
Stay up to date with all Houston Baseball news and highlights by following us on Twitter @UHCougarBB or on Facebook at /HoustonCougarBaseball. Fans can also follow head coach Todd Whitting @toddwhitting on Twitter.
 
UP NEXT
Houston will continue its early season road tour this weekend when it travels to Texas State for a three-game series in San Marcos, Texas. The series is set to begin at 6:30 p.m., continue at 2 p.m. Saturday and conclude at 12 p.m. Sunday.


 

 

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