James Beltran
It is a long and vigorous road that awaits Houston, so it had better pace itself.
This is not an option for the Cougars, though, who cannot afford to relax as they narrowly remain in front of the race for the Conference USA regular-season title.
The Cougars are in the midst of a rough stretch, in which they play for six days straight and nine days out of 10.
With five games already out of the way, Houston can see the light at the end of the tunnel as it nears an open date on Thursday.
But the rest will be short-lived. UH must gear up for a pivotal three-game series against the Tulane Green Wave beginning on Friday.
With such a busy week, Houston coach Rayner Noble said he is concerned with the number of innings his bullpen may have to pitch.
"I'm looking for a bunch of innings out of our starters," Noble said. "We need to keep our pitching intact."
The more innings the starters pitch, the fresher the relief will be for the last stretch of the season. Noble said this is vital for the Cougars' success. "It's important we keep our pitching intact," he said.
In all fairness ...
The following is in fairness to the Cincinnati Bearcats, a team I ripped last week for its sub-par performance.
Yes, they are bad. They may not even reach double digits in the win column this season (8-31). However, it is only fair to realize the Bearcats haven't played their fellow tenants in the C-USA basement yet.
There may still be hope for Cincinnati to salvage some wins out of its remaining schedule, as it has yet to face the Alabama-Birmingham Blazers and the Memphis Tigers. The two teams average wins in only 34 percent of their games.
"We're still trying to develop our program," said first-year Bearcats coach Brian Cleary. "I would hope that we could win more than three conference games this season."
Cincinnati has not come up for a breath of air in a while, sinking further into the abyss as its losing streak has been extended to 15 after being swept by the South Florida Bulls last week.
Hitter of the Week
The selection committee has finally grown tired of choosing players from Southern Miss and UH for the award.
The Green Wave is now in the mix with the naming of junior outfielder Craig Brown for C-USA Hitter of the Week.
His 8-for-17 performance helped him improve his batting average to .287 on the year. He also hit two homers, while scoring five runs for Tulane on the week.
Pitcher of the Week
Freshman right-handed pitcher Ryan Baker of the UNC Charlotte 49ers had an ERA of 0.81 in his two appearances last week.
He threw a complete game against the Bulls on April 19, getting the win and improving his record to 3-1 this season with a 2.95 ERA.
Series of the Week
The Green Wave will try and improve on its 20-8 home record when the Cougars make their way to New Orleans for a three-game series Friday through Sunday.
Tulane (12-5 C-USA) can overtake Houston for first place in the conference if it wins the series, but it largely depends on how USM (13-5 C-USA) fares in its weekend matchup against the Louisville Cardinals.
A sweep for the Green Wave will make it tough for the Cougars to regain first place with only six conference games remaining. After Houston, the path to the title becomes easier for Tulane (Saint Louis and Memphis being the last two opponents).
On the other hand, if the Cougars were to win the series, they would be in the driver's seat. Their last six C-USA games are against teams owning the worst two records in the conference (Blazers and Bearcats).
Running of the Bulls
The Bulls have posted a disappointing 9-8 conference record in a season which began with aspirations of championship grandeur.
It is impossible to tell this team has struggled looking at its statistics. USF leads C-USA in eight different offensive categories, including batting average (.329) and runs scored (384).
Its pitching is among the top in the conference also, with its second-place ERA of 4.54.
It is necessary to look deeper than statistics to find the cause for the Bulls' underachieving season. Their downfall has been a 1-4 record in conference games decided by one run.
If they are to improve on their seeding for the conference tournament in May, they will have to find an answer to winning the close games soon.