by James Beltran
Staff Writer
The Houston Cougars displayed their resilience Wednesday night at Cougar Field, picking themselves off the deck from their loss the night before to Texas A&M, and whacking the Lamar Cardinals 13-6.
The Cougars have not had a losing streak since they dropped two in a row to Northwestern State in the fourth and fifth games of the season.
Houston starting pitcher Jerret Sykes got off to a rough start, allowing five runs in the first three innings as the Cardinals raced to an early 5-3 lead.
The UH offense, though, got Sykes off the hook with its big six-run frame in the third.
The Cougars batted around in the inning, punishing Lamar pitcher Jon Davis with eight hits and nine consecutive batters reaching base.
Houston coach Rayner Noble then installed his bullpen to finish off the game. The combination of Robert Dieudonné, Jeremy Swindell and Tommy Marik successfully built a wall around the Cougars' lead, holding the Cardinals' offense to three runs in the final six innings.
Houston had two home runs in the game, including one from third baseman Dustin Carr. His drive over the 375-foot mark in left field was his ninth of the season, giving him sole possession of the team home run lead over Goefrey Tomlinson. Jason Schreiber also connected on a long ball, his sixth of the year.
Schreiber said he was expecting a different type of pitch on his home run swing. "It was a fastball inside," he said. "It was something I just reacted to."
Noble said every win is important.
"These are big wins," he said. "We've got to get to about 35 or 36 wins to end the season."
UH bumps its record up to 26-13 as it now prepares for three against Memphis.