Staff Writer
For the first time in the Rayner Noble era, the UH baseball team (10-8) has won seven straight games, completing a three-game sweep of No. 20 Michigan by the score of 12-10 at Cougar Field on Sunday.
The Cougars entered the series with a 1-5 record against top 20-ranked teams but beat Michigan to improve to two games over .500 for the first time this season.
"I'm really proud of the guys," UH coach Noble said. "To beat two Big Ten teams, (including Illinois last weekend), especially Michigan because they're ranked, should really give us some confidence."
In a game that was played in gusting winds, UH trailed 10-9 entering the bottom half of the seventh inning but scored three runs to take the lead off of UM pitcher Bryan Steinbach.
The inning started out with two hits that didn't make it out of the infield. Kris Wilken singled and Jason Pekar followed with a bunt hit.
Justin Syfert then smacked a single to right field to load the bases for Shaun Skrehot, who singled in the tying run.
With the bases still loaded, Brandon Caraway singled in Pekar with the go-ahead run. On the same play, Michigan shortstop Mike Kalczynski committed an error that allowed Syfert to score, tacking on an insurance run.
Freshman Kyle Crowell, who was the only pitcher to have any success with the weather conditions, came into the game in the eighth inning, retiring six batters to collect his first collegiate save.
"It (the wind) was pretty bad. I almost got blown over once," Crowell said. "I talked to the pitchers who threw before, and they told me how to locate my fastball in the wind."
The Cougars jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning when Mike Medrano homered to right field on a 3-1 count.
Michigan answered with three runs in the second and six in the fourth, including back-to-back homers by Kalczynski and catcher John Parrish.
UH starting pitcher Jon McDonald didn't get past the third inning, allowing nine hits and six runs. However, because of the wind, some fly balls and pop ups that would normally have been caught ended up being bloop doubles for UM.
"I don't think Jon pitched that bad," Noble said. "They had a lot of flares that ended up as hits."
In the opening game of the series, Shane Nance earned his second consecutive win and Wilken picked up his first-career save as UH won the game 10-5.
With the Cougars trailing 5-4 in the bottom of the fourth inning, UH exploded for six runs to take the lead.
Designated hitter Bruce Rios also homered for the third consecutive game, giving him six for the year.
On Saturday afternoon, the Cougars led 8-1 after five, only to see Michigan score six runs in the sixth inning and add two more in the ninth to take a 9-8 lead.
UH, however, came back with two runs in the bottom of the ninth. Skrehot, who had three hits in the game, drove the ball over the center fielder's head with the bases loaded to win the game 10-9.
For the series, Skrehot finished six for 12. "I'm seeing the ball very well, and I'm hitting good pitches instead of swinging at bad ones."
The Cougars will next play Game 3 of the Silver Glove Series against Rice, 7 p.m. Wednesday at Cameron Field.
The Owls, winners of seven straight, hold a 16-6 record and are coming off a sweep of the BYU Cougars.
The game will mark Houston's fourth straight game against a top 20 team and its 10th overall.
Tuesday: Cougars 12, No. 20 Michigan 10
On deck: Cougars (10-8) vs Rice Owls (16-6) - 7 p.m. Wednesday at Cameron Field
*All home games are free to UH students