Sports

Noble changes time of first Silver Glove game

Cougar Sports Services

The UH baseball team wants to compete against other schools, not against other UH programs. With that in mind, Cougar baseball head coach Rayner Noble announced Wednesday he was moving up the start time for Tuesdayis game against Rice to 3 p.m. to avoid a conflict with a menis basketball game.

Lorrie Novosad/The Daily Cougar

The Cougars, scheduled to open the Silver Glove Series against the crosstown rival Owls at Cougar Field, would have originally taken the field at 7 p.m., but the basketball team hosts Saint Louis at 7:30 p.m. at Hofheinz Pavilion.

Nobleis team has been off since Sunday when it concluded play at Bash at the Beach in Malibu, Calif. The Cougars lost two-of-three over the weekend (beating only host-school Pepperdine and losing to California-Santa Barbara and Washington).

The team entered the season ranked in the top 11 by four major preseason polls: No. 11 by Sports Weekly/ESPN and Baseball America, No. 10 by Collegiate Baseball, and No. 7 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. In 2002, the Cougars tied a school record for the most wins (48) and advanced to the NCAA Super Regional Championship game for the second time in three years.

But the Cougars will enter the Astros College Classic at Minute Maid Park with a 1-2 record. They face No. 10 Baylor at 3 p.m. Friday, Alabama at 11 a.m. Saturday and Texas A&M at 7 p.m. Sunday. Tuesdayis game against Rice will be the seasonis first game at Cougar Field.

All three games can be heard on KAXF-FM 88.3 or on the Web at uhcougars.com.

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