Sports
 

UH falls short on late homer

Red Raiders defeat Coogs in final inning, sweeping season series, thwarting revenge

Cougar Sports Staff

The Cougars came within inches of exacting revenge on the Red Raiders, but those few inches made all the difference.

Josh Haney's leadoff home run in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted Texas Tech to a 12-11 win over UH on Tuesday at First American Bank Ballpark in Midland.

The blast soured what had been a sweet rally by the Cougars, who rallied for three runs in the top of the ninth inning to tie the game. Trailing 11-8 and entering the final inning, UH started its rally when sophomore Kevin Roberts slapped a single to left field. Senior Patrick Breen scored Roberts with his second triple of the evening, a line drive down the right field line.

After a Texas Tech pitching change, UH senior Rob Johnson pulled the Cougars to within a run when his RBI-single up the middle scored Breen. Johnson stole second base to move into scoring position and came around to score the tying run when Red Raider pinch-hitter Thanos Papavasiliou laced an RBI-single up the middle.

In the bottom of the ninth, Haney worked the count to 2-0 and then took a pitch from senior reliever Brandon Roznovsky that sailed over the center-field wall, delighting most of the 5,463 fans that came to watch their Red Raiders.

It was the second consecutive loss for the Cougars in their opponents' final at-bat. Sunday, No. 18 Southern Miss rallied with single runs in the eighth and ninth innings to take the series victory. 

With the win, the Red Raiders swept the regular season series after taking a 12-7 win in 11 innings over the Cougars on Feb. 14 during the second day of the Minute Maid Park College Classic.

Roznovsky collected the loss and dropped to 1-1 this season. Texas Tech reliever Steve Gooch improved to 3-0 with the win despite allowing a run off two hits and a walk in one-third of an inning of work.

Roberts went 4-for-4 with three runs to lead the Cougar offense, which out hit Texas Tech 14-12. Breen, who went 2-for-4 with two runs and four RBIs, tied a UH single-game record with two triples, and Johnson batted 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs and sophomore Brett Logan batted 2-for-3 with a pair of runs in the losing effort.

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