Baseball
Preview: Baseball Travels to Baylor for Tuesday Showdown

Cougars and Bears set to meet for second time this year

March 11, 2013

HOUSTON -- The University of Houston baseball team will travel to Waco to take on Baylor in a 6:35 p.m. Tuesday showdown at Baylor Ballpark. The Cougars and Bears will meet for the second time this year and first of two meetings this week as Baylor comes to Houston for a 6:30 p.m. Saturday contest at Cougar Field.

AT A GLANCE SERIES HISTORY
Logo Houston
(12-4)
Roster
Stats
Schedule 		AT

Baylor Ballpark
Waco, Texas

Baylor
(7-9)
Roster
Stats
Schedule 		Logo All-Time: Two teams will meet for the 149th time on Tuesday, second time this year and first of two meetings this week.
Series History: Baylor owns all-time series, 87-61.

Tue., March 12  6:35 p.m. // TV: NoneNotes
ª LIVE VIDEO
ª TWITTER 		ª GAMEDAY CENTRAL
ª GAME NOTES 		Probable Starters:
Houston: RHP Aaron Garza (1-0, 3.52 ERA)
Baylor: TBA 		Houston and Baylor last met in the College Classic on March 2 with the Cougars earning a 15-4 win on a 10-run rule in seven innings at Minute Maid Park.

 
Houston hits the road with a 12-4 record and a 5-2 mark away from Cougar Field.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Houston is coming off a four-win week, having swept the midweek series with Penn State, while taking two out of three from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi all at home. The Cougars plated 48 runs in the five games and - led by junior Caleb Barker (.455, 10 H, 4 R, 9 RBI, 2 HR, GS) and sophomore Michael Pyeatt (.583, 7 H, 2 R, 3 RBI). Houston freshman Jake Lemoine improved to 4-0 this week after earning two more wins - one as a reliever and one as a starter. Also picking up wins were juniors Daniel Poncedeleon (1-2) and Tyler Ford (1-0), while freshman Grant Slaughter notched his first career save.
 
QUICK HITS ABOUT HOUSTON
·      Houston is 12-4 with a 3-1 away record
·      Cougars have won nine of its last 11
·      Team is hitting .283 with 150 hits, 95 RBI and seven homeruns
·      Houston has drawn 77 walks and 13 hit-by-pitches for a .380 on-base percentage
·      Six Cougars are hitting over .300, led by Pyeatt (.400), Davis (.387), Barker (.344)
·      Barker leads with 19 RBI, followed by junior Frankie Ratcliff with 13 and freshman Kyle Kirk with 12
·      Ratcliff paces the team with 17 walks and freshman Josh Vidales with 14
·      Houston pitching staff holds a 3.77 ERA, led by Lemoine's 0.52 ERA
·      Lemoine paces the team with a 4-0 record, while senior Austin Pruitt is 3-1, while sophomore Aaron Garza (1-0), juniors Daniel Smith (1-0), Tyler Ford (1-0), senior Matt Hernandez (1-1) and junior Daniel Poncedeleon (1-2) each have wins
·      The Cougars have three saves with juniors Chase Wellbrock, Tyler Ford and Slaughter with one each
·      The staff has fanned 102 hitters and walked just 35
 
QUICK HITS ON BAYLOR
·      Baylor enters Tuesday's contest with a 7-9 record and a 5-5 mark at Baylor Ballpark
·      The Bears have dropped their last three contests in a series fall to Illinois
·      Baylor is hitting .254, led by Nathan Orf's .431 and Duncan Wendel's .333
·      The team is averaging 4.3 runs per game (69) and 8.3 hits per game (132)
·      Baylor's pitching holds a 4.34 ERA as a squad, led by Dillon Newman's 1.82 and 2-0 record
·      Ryan Smith leads the team with three saves
·      The staff has fanned 94 hitters and walked 74
 
BREAKING DOWN THE LAST OUTING
Houston and Baylor last met on March 2 at Minute Maid Park in the Astros Foundation College Classic. The Cougars earned a 15-4 win over the Bears in seven innings, led by a first inning grand slam off the bat of junior Jonathan Davis. The Cougars were able to take advantage of a season-high 14 walks in the win - tying a College Classic record. Freshman Josh Vidales drew four walks of his own to break the single-game Classic record. Senior starter Austin Pruitt earned his third win of the year with a seven strikeout effort in 6.0 innings.
 
PROBABLE STARTERS
Houston: RHP Aaron Garza | 1-0 | 3.52 ERA | 15.1 IP | 12 K | 0 BB
Baylor: TBA
 
SERIES HISTORY
Houston and Baylor will meet for the 149th time in school history on Tuesday. The Bears currently own the all-time series at 87-61, but the Cougars garnered a 15-4, 7-inning win at the College Classic on March 2 of this year. In Waco, Baylor leads the series, 36-28. The last time these two teams met in Waco was back on April 3, 2007 with Baylor earning a 12-6 win over the Cougars.
 
Tuesday's meeting will be the second this year and first of two this week as Baylor makes its way to Cougar Field on Saturday for a 6:30 p.m. contest.
 
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 host New Orleans on Friday (6:30 pm) and Sunday (1 pm) and Baylor on Saturday (6:30 pm) at Cougar Field to open a stretch of eight straight home games.


 

 

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