Men's Basketball

Ford looks to the futuure

By Keenan Singleton
Daily Cougar Staff

Everyone deserves a second chance.

UH starting pitcher Duncan McAdoo was looking for that chance after having a rocky first start against Southwest Texas last weekend.

"I had a long talk to myself the whole week," McAdoo said. "(UH head) Coach (Rayner) Noble needed someone to step up into the third starter's role. I was a lot more focused this week. He gave me another shot. It really helped my confidence a lot."

McAdoo earned his keep with a solid performance (five innings pitched, two earned runs) as the Cougars (7-3) finished the Hilton Houston Plaza Invitational triumphant over the Sam Houston State Bearkats with a 7-4 victory Sunday afternoon at Cougar Field.

"I had a pretty good curveball today," McAdoo added. "I hadn't thrown any pitches in a while. Five innings is something I can build on. I'm real pleased with my performance."

Still recovering from a nagging hamstring injury, UH outfielder Tyson Schweitzer led the offensive charge as his double sent home Jarrod Bitter, which led to three more runs in the inning.

Jarod Bitter

After halting the Bearkats' rally Sunday with a smash to first base, shortstop Aaron Melebeck also made the most of his second chance when he belted a solo home run over the left centerfield wall.

"I was just waiting for something to drive," Melebeck said. "He (SHS pitcher Ben Parker) left it up there, and I took advantage of it."

True freshman catcher Chris Snyder started his first game of the young season with spectacular results.

"He did fabulous," Noble said. "There were a couple of balls in the dirt that he smothered. He caught like a veteran today."

Oklahoma 3, UH 1

The Cougars fell behind in the second inning to the Sooners as UH pitcher Shane Nance gave up two runs with two outs left in the second inning.

"They got the breaks and we didn't," Nance said. "They didn't hit the ball very hard at all. We played a good game today, the ball just didn't bounce our way."

Cougar outfielder Jason Pekar led off the third inning with a double off the top of the left-centerfield wall that set up a potentially productive inning.

Outfielder Brandon Carraway then forced Pekar to third, but Pekar would advance no further as the Cougars stranded him 90 feet away from the plate.

With one out in the fifth inning, Cougar second infielder Sean Allen scored on a wild pitch, but again the home team would be unable to produce any runs.

The last UH attempt at victory came one inning later as they loaded the bases with just one out.

Cougar infielder Aaron Melebeck lined out to OU firstbaseman Rick Park to halt the surge.

"We had opportunities to score," Noble said. "We just didn't execute when we needed to. It was just a disappointing and frustrating game."

UH 9, Oral Roberts 0

UH pitcher Kyle Crowell trounced Oral Roberts in the first complete game shut-out of his career as he struck-out seven and only surrendered seven hits.

"I've had a couple of opportunities to do it before," Crowell said. "I just got in a nice rhythm and my pitch count was low. I made the pitches when I had to, and I was lucky to come out of the game without any runs."

Eric Lee, Schweitzer and Pekar each homered for the first time this season in the lopsided Cougar victory.