Cougars
shut out the Bulldogs
By Stuart H. Clements
Daily Cougar Staff
The No. 5 Houston baseball team knocked
the spit out of Fresno State on Tuesday night with an 11-0 combined shutout
that improved the
Cougars' record to 19-7.
Ken Harwerth/The Daily Cougar
Freshman Stuart Musslewhite
scored two runs and had three RBIs in Houston's 11-0 win over Fresno State.
Houston is building a new winning streak
with its four consecutive victories since Friday.
The Cougars sent seven pitchers to the
mound, and held the Bulldogs to only seven hits while racking up 16 hits
and 11 runs of their own,
including five runs that came in the first
inning on just four hits.
"I think we came out and played intense,
but yet at the same time played relaxed baseball," head coach Rayner Noble
said. "It's always nice
to jump out with five (runs) in the first.
That really helps ease any kind of tension that there could be."
Junior Danny Zell was the starter on the
mound for the Cougars, and pitched two innings with two hits, one walk
and three strikeouts.
Zell picked up the win, making it the first
decision of his career at UH. Zell's ERA improved to 4.00.
Sophomore Austin Faught took the hill to
replace Zell. Faught gave up only one hit in his two innings on the mound,
and went three up and
three down in the third inning. A double
play took Houston out of the inning. Faught only faced six batters, and
now has a 3.93 ERA.
Freshman Ryan Wagner pitched the next inning
and went three up and three down with one strikeout to improve his ERA
to 4.00, and was
followed by freshman Taylor Gartz in the
sixth inning. Gartz, who has a 5.40 ERA, gave up two hits to the Bulldogs.
Sophomore Brian Henderson stepped onto
the mound for the seventh inning and demonstrated how much he has improved
since the
beginning of the season.
The Bulldogs got their final two hits off
Henderson and also loaded the bases, but that's as sweet as it got for
Fresno State. Junior Brett
Cooley caught a short fly ball to take
Houston out of the inning.
Juniors Bryan Harris and Jesse Crain pitched
an inning apiece with Crain closing in the ninth. Harris had two strikeouts
and Crain had one.
Each pitcher faced only three batters.
"Our pitchers all did a good job," Noble
said.
Houston's offense was in fine fashion Tuesday.
Stuart Musslewhite nearly completed the cycle: He got a single, a double
and a triple to
score two runs and three RBIs, lacking
only a home run.
Chris Snyder helped Musslewhite out with
a home run of his own to left field, and went 1-for-2 at the plate.
The Cougars hit the road this weekend to
face Conference USA foe Southern Mississippi. Houston and the Golden Eagles
are both currently
5-1 in conference play.
