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Sports

Coogs show they can play tough

Houston played hard-fought games against Baylor, OSU, Texas A&M

Off the Wall

Tom Carpenter

The Boys of Summer jostled for respect with their neighbors and friends in the season's first skirmish at the Minute Maid Classic on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. They came out of it with a bloody nose, a black eye and scraped knuckles from the haymaker they landed that knocked Texas A&M right out of the top 10.

Baylor (3-0) swept through the tournament to claim the Minute Maid Classic title by knocking off UH (8-6), Tennessee (3-2) and Rice (6-1). Rice (2-1) claimed the runner-up spot while Houston, Tennessee, Oklahoma St. and Texas A&M finished 1-2.

The Bears used great pitching and near-flawless play to whip Tennessee and Rice after their 8-6 triumph over the Cougars in the season opener for both teams.

The Bears looked to be in mid-season form as they amassed 16 hits against the Cougar pitchers and did all the small things right in the field, like laying down perfect bunts to move the runners ahead and hitting the cut-off man to nail an exuberant base runner.

The Cougars scored more runs against the Baylor pitchers than Rice and Tennessee combined, but the relentless Bear attack nicked and sliced the Cougars for single runs four times and two runs twice. That much bleeding doomed the Cougars' valiant comeback attempt in the bottom of the ninth when the Cougars scored twice.

Junior pitcher Matt Farrington's three-run shot in the fourth silenced the Baylor faithful as the Cougars dug their way out of a 5-0 hole to pull within one at 5-4. But Baylor etched out single runs in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings to salt the win.

The lynchpin of the series for Houston was Game 2 against Oklahoma State. Freshman starter Ricky Hargrove deserved a better fate after giving up only five hits and two runs in six innings of work in his collegiate opener. 

Early season jitters forced the Cougars into three errors in the first two innings that allowed Cowboy runners to move into scoring position. OSU used the extra at-bats to scratch out two runs and then held on to edge the Cougars 3-2 in spite of getting out-hit by UH 7-6.

Like all Raynor Noble-coached teams, the Boys of Summer refused to quit. When, after 20 innings of play, they finally grabbed their first lead of the season against Texas A&M in the Minute Maid Classic finale, the Cougars never looked back.

UH scored twice in the fifth and added another in the eighth to pad their lead to 6-1 going into the ninth. 

The Aggies flailed at Cougar pitching all day, collecting only six hits off Farrington, sophomore Shea Hancock and junior Kevin Roberts. Roberts' toss to first on a tap back to the mound sealed the Cougars win and sent the Aggies plummeting out of the top-10 rankings.
 

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