Sports

UH finally gets hot

By Emily Davis
The Daily Cougar

Some might take an 11-0 beating by the NCAAis best team to heart. Some might pout or make excuses for why they didnit win the game. 

Not the Cougars.

Instead, UH made up for a dismal loss by doing what it does best ­ sweeping Conference USA opponents. Only this time, the Cougars did it in front of a home crowd.

Mauro Alvarez/The Daily Cougar

"Our approach was different last weekend," junior pitcher Gene Flores said. "We were more relaxed on the field and really found our game."

Fans at Cougar Field thought they were in for a repeat of last Tuesdayis loss to Rice when they found UH down 3-0 in the fifth inning Friday night. 

But ninth-inning heroics by Michael Bourn (.182, 8 hits, 4 RBIs) and company put the finishing touches on a 4-3 win over Alabama-Birmingham in 

Game 1 of what turned out to be a three-game sweep over the Blazers.

So now the Cougars (17-15, 9-3 in C-USA) are two games over .500 for the first time all season and share first place in the conference with No. 23 Southern Mississippi, which took a 2-1 series win from Cincinnati over the weekend.

And UH will attempt to stay on a roll as it hosts Southwest Texas in the first of two non-conference games against the Bobcats this year.

"Being over .500 is a great way to start the rest of the season," said Flores, who will start against SWT. "It really helps us look ahead to our long stretch of conference play coming up."

The teams will face off at 7 p.m. tonight at Cougar Field.

SWT (16-18, 7-4 in Southland Conference) is coming off a 4-0 loss to Sam Houston on Sunday, a team the Cougars rolled over 7-3 on March 25.

UH is hitting .260 as a team and has 14 home runs and 30 stolen bases this season, including a game-winning homer from sophomore Brian Martin (.306, 2 HR, 7 RBI) in Sundayis 3-2 Game 3 win over UAB.

"Weire coming off (some) pretty emotional wins from this weekend," assistant coach Sean Allen said. "Sometimes a team can experience a lull after wins like that. Weire just concentrating on staying consistent so we donit get off track."

On paper, the Bobcats are nearly even statistically, batting .254 with 18 home runs and 29 stolen bases. 

"This is a great ball club that is used to going in and playing teams like us," Allen said. "Theyive played a tough schedule this season so itis going to be a good match-up."

But if UHis pitching staff continues to blow away hitters, SWT will be in trouble. Junior Danny Zell (7-2, 1.95 ERA), who leads the Cougars in wins, allowed only one unearned run in Saturdayis Game 2, while sophomore Ryan Wagner (1-4, 1.86) struck out the side in both the eighth and ninth innings to preserve a 2-1 win.

After todayis game, the Cougars will visit Tulane on Friday before finishing up the Silver Glove Series against Rice on April 16.

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