Sports

Cougars turn corner right into Fort Worth

By Emily Davis
The Daily Cougar

Head coach Rayner Noble found his team somewhere along the Ohio River last weekend. And he discovered they could swim.

Lorrie Novosad/The Daily Cougar

With a Conference-USA series sweep at Cincinnati that included double-digit wins in all three games, Noble and his staff saw the Cougars morph back into the club that opened the season with a No. 10 ranking.

But the ship didnit stop there. UH came up big with a 7-3 win over Sam Houston on Tuesday, extending its winning streak to a season-high four games.

The much-anticipated turnaround has arrived.

"We have had a rocky start," said assistant coach Todd Whitting, whose team improved to 12-13 after Tuesdayis game. "But weire getting back on track in plenty of time to come out strong again this season."

Despite a less-than-perfect month (4-7 until sweeping Cincinnati), the Cougars were strong in two close losses to No. 1 Rice.

Now UH heads to Fort Worth to take on Texas Christian in another three-game C-USA series (6:30 p.m. today and Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday) and will rely on its history of strong road performances at TCUis new Lupton Stadium.

"The road is not a disadvantage to us," Whitting said. "These guys adapt to the road environment well and are excited about playing in TCUis new stadium."

Leading the Cougars into the weekend will be junior pitcher Brad Sullivan, who struck out a season-high 13 batters in the Cougarsi 13-2 Game 1 win over Cincinnati. It was Sullilvanis fourth consecutive start with at least 10 strikeouts.

Also planning to throw some heat this weekend is junior Gene Flores, who notched his first win of the season on Tuesday against Sam Houston. Flores (1-1), normally a starter, will come out of the bullpen this weekend.

"The win on Tuesday was great because it was my first one," Flores said. "It is a little late in my career since I am a junior, but it will get me going. Now Iim ready to work the bullpen and keep my skills up."

While the pitching performances have been strong during the winning streak, itis the Cougarsi bats that have really come alive. UH has recorded at least 10 hits in each of the last four games, with junior Hyung Cho (two home runs, three RBIs against Sam Houston) swinging the hottest stick. Cho has homered in the last three games and leads the team with five.

"Texas Christian is one of the best teams in the conference," Flores said. "But with our hitters performing like they are, this weekend will have some great games."

TCU is the second-best team in the league, to be precise. The Horned Frogs (17-11, 5-1 in C-USA) took Oklahoma by the horns in an 11 inning, 4-3 win on Tuesday. 

Led by first baseman Chris Nueman, who had the game-tying RBI (his 24th of the season) against the Sooners, TCU has won four straight and is 14-4 at home this year.

"They have a great pitching staff and are playing well so far," Whitting said. "But we are coming out ready to play and looking for another win."

After this weekendis games, the Cougars will visit Rice on Tuesday before returning home to play Alabama-Birmingham on April 4.

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