May 16, 2007

HOUSTON - The University of Houston baseball team wraps up its 2007 regular season this weekend as it plays host to Southern Miss in a pivotal Conference USA series at the friendly confines of Cougar Field.

The series begins with 7 p.m. games on both Thursday and Friday before wrapping up at 1 p.m., Saturday. Fans should note the change in the starting day of the series. The last weekend of the C-USA regular-season is always played in that format as teams prepare their travel plans for the annual C-USA Tournament with the 2007 edition being played May 23-27 at Greenville, N.C.

With a successful weekend against the Golden Eagles, the Cougars could play their way into a No. 2 seed at next week's C-USA Tournament if everything falls into place in UH's favor. In addition, the Cougars look to do well this weekend to increase their chances of landing an at-large berth to the NCAA postseason.

UH comes into the game as winners of three of their last four games, including a 6-4 victory at area-rival Sam Houston State on Tuesday. In that game, the Cougars jumped out to a 6-1 lead and held off a furious rally to record their 11th straight win against the Bearkats.

Cougar Baseball games can be heard live on UHCougars.com with former UH letterwinner Nick Torina calling the play-by-play action and Pat Cauley providing color analysis. To access the free broadcast, fans should click on the "Schedules and Results" link on the baseball main page. From there, fans can click on the "Audio Broadcasts" link, which will bring up the 2007 radio schedule.

Fans also can follow live stats via the Internet by clicking the "Gametracker" link on the UH front page or on the Cougar Baseball schedule page. Tuesday's game will not be broadcast on the Internet at UHCougars.com.

Thursday's game will be televised live on CSTV, the fourth time during the 2007 season that the Cougars have been featured on television. The Cougars look to continue their success in those games, posting a 2-1 record in front of a television audience with wins over No. 5 Rice and at No. 23 Tulane.

Carter Blackburn will call the play-by-play action with Scott Pose providing color analysis.

Junior righthander Aaron Brown makes his 14th start of the season when he toes the rubber during the series opener Friday. This season, the League City native has posted a 6-4 record with 51 strikeouts and a 4.54 ERA in 78.0 innings.

He is tied for the team lead in wins and ranks second among all Cougar hurlers in ERA, strikeouts, innings pitched and opposing batting average (.261). Brown was named the C-USA Pitcher of the Week on April 23 after striking out seven with only five hits allowed in seven shutout innings at No.23 Tulane during the series opener on April 20.

In his last game, Brown collected his second save of the season after tossing the final 0.2 innings during the Cougars' 6-4 win at Sam Houston State on Tuesday. He entered the contest with UH clinging to a 6-2 lead with the bases loaded and only one out in the bottom of the ninth but eventually induced a foul out and struck out the final batter to end the game.

In his last start, Brown allowed three runs off seven hits and three walks with a pair of strikeouts in 3.1 innings. However, he did not pick up a decision during the Cougars' 11-7 win at Memphis during the series opener on May 11.

Friday's game will be Brown's second appearance but first career start against the Golden Eagles. During that time, he picked up the loss after allowing four runs off three hits with two strikeouts and a walk in 1.1 innings during the 2006 series finale on April 16, 2006.

Sophomore outfielder Jimmy Cesario continues to lead the Cougars and rank second in C-USA with a .370 batting average, while sophomore catcher Luis Flores is tops with nine home runs. Senior third baseman Dustin Kingsbury, who will start his 172nd consecutive game in the Cougar infield Friday, leads all UH sluggers with 47 RBIs.

For the 11th consecutive season, the Cougars will face Southern Miss on the baseball diamond. The Cougars own a 22-13 (.629) lead in the all-time series, which began in 1990 but has been played at least three times every season since 1997.

The series has been balanced in recent history with both teams splitting the last eight games. The Cougars enjoyed tremendous success against the Golden Eagles early in the series, winning 14 of 17 games during one stretch.

The Cougars are 6-3 (.667) all-time in C-USA series against Southern Miss with sweeps coming in 1998, 2000 and 2001. However, the Golden Eagles can boast of the most recent success, winning three of the last four series. The Cougars' series win at Hattiesburg in 2006 snapped a three-series losing streak to USM.

The Cougar offense erupted through the first two games of the 2006 series at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field, winning 24-7 and 13-5. Things appeared to be going the Cougars' way in the series finale as UH jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two-and-a-half innings, but the Golden Eagles rallied and broke a 6-6 tie in the sixth inning on the way to a 14-7 win in the finale.

The Cougars are 9-6 (.600) all-time against the Golden Eagles at Cougar Field.

Southern Miss (34-19, 11-10 C-USA) comes into series after sweeping Dallas Baptist in a non-conference series last weekend in Hattiesburg. Those wins pushed the Golden Eagles' winning streak to six straight games and eight of their last nine.

First baseman Trey Sutton leads USM with a .364 batting average, while Michael Ewing is tops with 43 RBIs. Catcher Trey Cuevas leads all USM sluggers with 10 home runs.

Senior righthander Ryan Belanger is slated to start the series opener on the mound. This season, Belanger has compiled a 6-4 record with 73 strikeouts and a 2.62 ERA in 86.0 innings.