Anna Sivadasan
Staff Writer
For a team that has lost its last five games, the Cincinnati Bearcats are a welcome sight to the University of Houston baseball team.
The Cougars (18-19 overall, 7-5 in Conference USA) will host Cincinnati (7-22, 1-8) for a three-game series beginning 7 p.m. tonight at Cougar Field.
Both teams have had problems of late. The Bearcats have lost 10 of their last 13 and are mired in an eight-game conference losing streak.
UH is below .500 this late in the season for the first time in two years, having dropped eight of 10 games.
The Cougars are in a three-way tie for second place in C-USA, trailing conference leaders UAB and Tulane by two games.
"I think it's imperative that we sweep this weekend," said Cougar head coach Rayner Noble. "If we can get ourselves to 10-5 going into the UAB series, I think that would be a pretty good place to be."
After posting a record of 12-46 last season, the Bearcats' struggles continue this year.
Cincinnati sits in the conference cellar and has endured losing streaks of nine and seven games this season.
However, UC has won its last two contests, beating interstate rival Dayton twice this week. The consecutive wins over Dayton represent only the second time all year that Cincinnati has won two-straight games.
The Bearcats' problems can be traced to the lack of every aspect of baseball that wins games: hitting, pitching and defense. Cincinnati is batting only .270 as a team, and the pitching staff's ERA is a C-USA-worst 9.71.
UC has also been lackluster defensively, fielding at a .928 clip and committing 73 errors.
Junior shortstop Brandon Moore and freshman second baseman Scott Heller have been two bright spots in an otherwise dismal season.
Moore is hitting a team-best .348 with 10 doubles, 18 runs scored and a .403 on-base percentage.
Heller is batting .320 with 10 RBIs, 23 walks and 31 hits.
UH enters the series having lost three straight conference games.
In the midst of the losing stretch, the team batting average has dipped from .308 to .294.
"We haven't hit well," Noble said. "We need to go to home plate with a little more confidence in swinging the bat."
Sophomore pitcher Shane Nance added, "We have to get great pitching and hitting at the same time so we can get back on a roll.
"There's been some games where we've had great hitting but not very good pitching or great pitching and not very good hitting. We need to start putting all that together."
The Cougars swept a three-game series from the Bearcats last season at Cougar Field, outscoring Cincinnati 30-10 in the three games.
In last weekend's series against Tulane, UC was outscored 41-13 in three games.
Announcement:
The UH community is invited to bring thier children to the annual Easter egg hunt after the game Sunday in the Cougar outfield. It is free for students, but bring your own basket. Happy Easter.