April 25, 2005

HOUSTON - The University of Houston baseball team looks to build on its winning ways when it meets No. 14 Rice at 7 p.m., Tuesday in Game Four of the annual Sterling Bank Silver Glove Series at Reckling Park.

After dropping the first game of their Conference USA series last weekend against USF, the Cougars stormed back to win the final two games of the series and claim their third C-USA series victory of the season.

The Cougars (18-21) will be playing for pride against the Owls as Rice already has won the 2005 Silver Glove Series by winning each of the first three games this season. However, all three games have been close affairs and were decided by a combined total of six runs, including a pair of one-run games that went to extra innings in each of the first two games.

Tuesday's game can be heard live on KLVL 1480 AM or over the Internet at www.UHCougars.com with former UH letterwinners Nick Torina and Pat Cauley calling all the action. Fans also can follow play-by-play action by clicking on the "Live Stats" link at www.UHCougars.com.

Freshman righthander Aaron Brown makes his second start in as many weeks when he takes the hill against the Owls. This season, the League City, Texas, native has pitched to a 1-0 record with 11 strikeouts and a 5.79 ERA in 14.0 innings of work.

In his last outing, Brown was dazzling while making his first collegiate start. He pitched five hitless inning with one strikeout against area-rival Sam Houston State and faced only one batter over the minimum while earning his first collegiate victory. After retiring each of the first 10 batters that he faced, Brown allowed a walk in the fourth inning but retired the next five Bearkat batters.

At 6 feet, 6 inches tall, Brown is the tallest member of the 2005 Cougars team and is the progam's tallest player since pitcher Bryan Moore measured in at 6 feet, 8 inches in 1999.

This will be Brown's third appearance against the Owls in 2005 but his first start. During that time he has given up two runs off two hits for a 10.80 ERA in 1.2 innings of relief. He allowed two runs of two hits in 1.1 innings of relief during the Series opener on Feb. 15 and then pitched 0.1 innings of relief with a hit batter in the third game of the Series on March 29. Tuesday's game will be his first outing in Reckling Park.

Junior infielder Kevin Roberts jumped into the team lead with a .354 batting average after last weekend's series against USF, while sophomore Dustin Kingsbury tops the team with five home runs and 37 RBIs. In addition, Kingsbury brings a career-best 12-game hitting streak into Tuesday's game against the Owls.

For the 34th consecutive season, the Cougars will meet Rice on the baseball diamond. In addition, this is the eighth straight year that these two teams have met with the Silver Glove Trophy on the line.

Rice owns a 67-64 (.511) lead in the all-time series, which began in 1948 but has been played at least twice every season since 1972. The Owls enter Tuesday's game on a five-game winning streak against the Cougars, matching their longest in the all-time series.

The Owls already have won the Silver Glove Series for the fifth consecutive season after winning each of the first three games in 2005. However, those games have been decided by a combined six runs, including one-run losses in 10 innings in each of the first two games.

Rice owns a 38-24 (.613) lead in the all-time series against the Cougars at their home facility. In addition, the Owls have won five straight games at Reckling Park. UH has not won at Rice since taking a 5-2 win on June 7, 2003, in the first game of the 2003 NCAA Regional at Reckling Park.

Rice (29-14) comes into the game on a three-game winning streak after sweeping Western Athletic Conference rival Louisiana Tech last weekend at Reckling Park.

Joe Savery leads the Owls with a .396 batting average, while Josh Rodriguez is tops with six home runs. Adam Rogers paces Rice with 36 RBIs.