May 29, 2003

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The University of Houston baseball team opens play at 2 p.m., Friday, at the NCAA Regional at College Station when it faces No. 2 seed Alabama.

The game will be a rematch from earlier this season when the Cougars claimed a 7-2 win over the Crimson Tide during the second day of the Minute Maid Park College Classic in Houston. That win extended the Cougars' winning streak over Alabama to three straight games.

Fans can catch the action over the Internet at www.UHcougars.com with pregame slated to begin about 15 minutes before the first pitch.

This marks the fifth consecutive season and the 16th time in school history that the Cougars have advanced to compete in the NCAA postseason.

The Cougars will meet the winner or loser of the game between No. 1 Texas A&M and No. 4 Oral Roberts at a time to be determined Saturday. The winner of the College Station Regional will meet the winner of the NCAA Regional at Houston (Rice's Reckling Park) in the NCAA Super Regional on June 6-8 with a berth to the NCAA College World Series on the line.

Junior righthander Brad Sullivan is slated to throw for the Cougars in the Regional opener. This season, the Nederland, Texas, native has thrown 149 strikeouts, second in UH single-season history and only nine strikeouts away from breaking his own record of 157 strikeouts in 2002. In addition, he has added a 6-6 record with a 2.58 ERA and .190 opposing batting average to rank among the C-USA individual leaders in all four categories.

Junior third baseman Hyung Cho remains the Cougars' offensive leader with a .356 batting average, 13 home runs and 58 RBIs. The Toronto, Canada, native is poised to become only the ninth player in school history to win the team's Triple Crown.

Freshman outfielder Travis Tully is second on the team with a .342 batting average and has posted the highest batting average by a Cougar freshman since J.J. Matzke in 1993.

Alabama comes into the NCAA Regional after winning the SEC Tournament championship last weekend. The Crimson Tide has won five of its last six games.

Sophomore southpaw Brent Carter is scheduled to throw for the Crimson Tide. This season, he has assembled a 9-5 record with a 3.33 ERA in 18 games. Carter was the losing pitcher at the Minute Maid Park tournament on Feb. 15 after allowing four runs (three earned) off seven hits with four strikeouts in 4.1 innings.

Outfielder Beau Hearod leads the Crimson Tide with 20 home runs and 80 RBIs, while fellow outfielder Travis Garner is tops with a .363 batting average.

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Live streaming video for all of the NCAA Regional at College Station games will be available on the Internet through Aggie Ultimate Access, a subscription service offered through Texas A&M's official web site www.AggieAthletics.com.

Fans can sign up to see the games live by going to AggieAthletics.com and clicking on the link to Aggie Ultimate Access. Video feeds will be available about 15 minutes before game time. The cost of the subscription is $49.95 per year or $4.95 per month. Video is best viewed with a high-speed (broadband) Internet connection.