Wrestling Report
 

By Anna Sivadasan
Daily Cougar Staff

When a team has more errors than runs scored, it's definitely not its night.

And that was the case Tuesday at Cougar Field as the No. 21-ranked Baylor Bears scored six runs in the first three innings, hit three homers and capitalized on four UH errors to defeat No. 24 Houston 7-2.

"They played well," UH head coach Rayner Noble said. "They hit the ball hard and hit our mistakes.

"It was a bad game altogether, and the errors didn't help," he said.

UH got off to an auspicous start early in the first inning. The Baylor offense, which came into the game having scored 36 runs in its last three games, didn't take long to get on the scoreboard. In the top of the first, lead-off hitter Jon Topolski was hit by a pitch, and second baseman Eric Nelson followed with a two-run homer to the right of starter Shane Nance for a 2-0 Baylor lead.

Shortstop Jace Brewer added an RBI single in the second and the Bears scored three in the third on a solo homer by left-fielder Mark Cogdill, an RBI single by third baseman Preston Underdown and an RBI double by Brewer.

The Cougars scored their two runs in the second on a Mike Medrano bases-loaded, two-run single. But for most of the night, the UH offense squandered the countless opportunities to climb back into the game.

After Medrano's clutch two-out hit brought Houston to within 3-2, UH put runners at second and third in the frame but could not bring either runner home.

In the fourth, the first two batters, Eric Lee and Aaron Melebeck, reached first with walks, but once again, neither scored as Baylor, with the help of a double play, escaped the inning unscathed.

And the story was the same in the sixth as Kris Wilken and Jarrod Bitter led off with back-to-back singles, but neither crossed home plate as Baylor's Daren Bartula struck out the next two batters and shortstop Brewer made a great play up the middle to take a hit away from Justin Syfert.

"We had people in position to score," Noble said. "Either their pitchers stepped it up or we tightened up at the plate. We didn't hit their mistakes. They made quite a few bad pitches that we didn't do anything with, and we should have."

UH was limited to seven hits in the game as only four Cougar batters (Medrano, Bruce Rios, Wilken and Bitter) collected hits.

"I don't think they did anything special," Medrano said. "They were throwing the ball straight, and we didn't capitalize on it. We just had a bad day with the sticks."

Having come into the game winning its last three, intensity should not have been a problem, but apparently it was. 

"The starting pitching sets the tone, but you still have to pick your self up and we just came out a little flat," Rios said.

Nance (1-2) suffered the loss for the Cougars while Baylor's Josh Scott (4-1) came into the game in relief and pitched 4 1/3 innings to pick up the win. 

With the victory, the Bears won their 11th consecutive game to improve to 13-4 overall. UH drops to 8-5 on the season and will play at No. 15 Cal State Fullerton for a three-game series this weekend.