by Andrew J. Ferraro
Staff Writer
In an error-filled slugfest this weekend at Cougar Field, the 22nd-ranked Houston Cougars (18-9 overall, 7-2 Conference USA) pulled off wins, 6-4 Saturday and 14-11 Sunday, over the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles (18-8, 5-4 C-USA) after losing Friday's opener 9-7.
Thanks to some gutsy pitching by senior Robb Kirkland Sunday, Houston was able to stop the bleeding after squandering a 13-2 lead after seven innings.
After falling behind 1-0 early, the Cougars responded with a four spot in the bottom of the first on four hits.
UH starting pitcher Jeremy Swindell was pulled after just one and two-thirds innings of work, mainly due to control problems.
Southern Miss center fielder Chris Hesse drove in Jared Martin, bringing the Eagles within two.
But that was as close as they got.
The Cougars exploded for eight runs in the bottom of the third inning on six hits.
After sophomore catcher Bruce Rios was hit by a pitch, UH responded with five consecutive singles, including RBI hits from senior second baseman Ryan Ware and junior center fielder Goefrey Tomlinson.
In Rios' second at-bat of the inning, he hit a double, scoring Scott Keithley and Dustin Carr and increasing the UH lead to 12-2.
Senior Tommy Marik provided the Cougars with much-needed relief pitching as he shut down Southern Miss in four and one-third innings, yielding only three hits while striking out three and walking just one.
He also picked up his fourth win of the season and improved his season record to 4-0.
"I had my best stuff of the year today," Marik said. "When you have a big lead like we did, it's really important to come in and execute making the right pitches."
Saturday, the Cougars rallied for three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to overcome a 4-3 deficit.
Again thanks to relief pitching, this time from senior Mark Manbeck, the Cougars held the Eagles scoreless for the final five innings to preserve the win.
Friday night, however, a three-run rally in the bottom of the eighth inning was not enough to earn the victory.
After taking a one-run lead in to the top of the ninth, pitcher Robert Dieudonné was one out away from a victory when USM designated hitter Braxton Whitehead had plans of his own that included winning the ball game. Whitehead belted out a three-run homer to take the only win of the series from Houston.
"It's just another confidence booster for us to take two of three from a pretty good team," said junior center fielder Goefrey Tomlinson. "Overall, it was a pretty good series."
It was a good Spring Break for the Cougars, too. UH won three of four games last week, beating 16th-ranked South Florida two of three times March 21-23 in Tampa and beating Central Florida Wednesday in Orlando.