May 5, 2005

HOUSTON - The University of Houston baseball team looks to continue its winning ways when it plays host to Conference USA rival Saint Louis this weekend in a three-game series at Cougar Field.

UH enters this weekend's series after taking a 6-5 win over city-rival Texas Southern in non-conference action Tuesday. In that game, the Cougars rallied from a five-run deficit, scoring six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, and held on the rest of the way to win their 22nd straight game against the Tigers.

With only three C-USA weekend series remaining, the Cougars are currently tied for seventh place and must be successful down the stretch to earn a berth in the 2005 C-USA Tournament, held May 23-26 at Hattiesburg, Miss.

The series begins with 7 p.m. games on both Friday and Saturday before wrapping up at 1 p.m., Sunday, at Cougar Field. Friday's game can be heard live on KLVL 1480 AM while both Saturday's and Sunday's contests will be broadcast on

In addition, all three games can be heard live 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.

Junior southpaw Matt Farrington makes his team-leading 13th start in the series opener. This season, the Sugar Land, Texas, native has compiled a 6-4 record with 44 strikeouts and a 3.22 ERA in 72.2 innings. He will be looking to snap a three-game losing skid when he toes the rubber against the Billikens. His last victory came against C-USA rival Louisville on April 8 at Cougar Field.

Farrington is the only Cougar lefthander to start for UH since Brian Henderson started the championship game of the 2003 NCAA Regional at Reckling Park against Rice on June 9, 2003.

In his last outing, Farrington collected the loss in the TCU series opener on April 29 at Fort Worth, Texas, after giving up six runs off eight hits with three strikeouts in 6.1 innings. It was his second loss in four days after falling at No. 14 Rice on April 26 in Game Four of the annual Sterling Bank Silver Glove Series.

In addition to his pitching, Farrington has recorded a .175 (14-for-80) batting average with 13 runs, five doubles and 13 RBIs while playing first base and right field.

Friday's game will be Farrington's second appearance but first start against the Billikens. A year ago, he threw 1.1 innings of relief in the middle game of the series on April 17, 2004, allowing one run off three hits with four strikeouts. However, he did not collect a decision in the 7-3 UH win.

In addition to his pitching duties, Farrington has compiled a .067 batting average (1-for-15) with two runs and two sacrifice bunts against Saint Louis.

Junior outfielder Travis Tully leads the Cougars with a .364 batting average and has hit safely in each of his last eight games. Sophomore shortstop Dustin Kingsbury is tops with five home runs and 42 RBIs.

For the ninth consecutive season, the Cougars will meet Saint Louis on the baseball diamond. The Cougars own a 25-6 (.806) lead in the all-time series, which began in 1952 and has been played at least three times every year since the 1997 season.

A year ago, the Cougars went into the Billiken Sports Center and rallied to win the last two games of the series after dropping a 4-3 decision in the opener. That loss snapped an 18-game winning streak against the Billikens and was the first SLU victory over the Cougars since March 29, 1998.

The Cougars have posted a 12-3 (.800) all-time record against Saint Louis on their home field and are a perfect 12-0 (1.000) at the friendly confines of Cougar Field. UH has not lost to the Billikens in Houston since falling 7-1 on March 9, 1992.

SLU last visited Cougar Field on April 18-20, 2003 with the Cougars winning by 8-2, 8-5 and 4-1 margins in claiming their fourth straight home series sweep against the Billikens.

SLU (11-32, 7-14 C-USA) comes into the series after falling 6-0 to Southern Illinois on Wednesday night. However, the Billikens are on a hot streak in league play after sweeping Memphis last weekend.

Junior outfielder Johnny Sweeney leads the Billikens with a .327 batting average, while senior infielder leads all SLU players with 10 home runs and 42 RBIs.

Freshman southpaw Mark Zielinski was scheduled to start the series opener for SLU. This season, Zielinski has compiled a 2-2 record with 12 strikeouts and a 5.59 ERA in 29.0 innings.