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Sports

Cougars go 1-2 in series against Pepperdine

Neither side could stop bats in Sunday's four-hour game

By Tom Carpenter
The Daily Cougar

Pepperdine slammed 21 hits to overcome freshman Kori Williams' second-inning grand slam and the Cougars' 18-hit barrage as the Wave (5-4) jerked an 18-12 win from UH (2-5) to capture the weekend series from the Cougar pinstripers 2-1. 

Home plate umpire Rob Johnson, portraying a blind prophet, ominously forecasted disaster for the home team when he booted three Cougars from the game before two innings of play slipped into the record books. 

Players and coaches can't argue called strikes and balls, and Johnson took umbrage that everyone in the stadium heckled him for his strike zone that appeared to be wider than the girth of his britches.

The Cougars responded to Johnson's heave-ho tactics by banging out seven hits to score seven runs in the bottom of the second to grab a short-lived 7-2 lead. The Wave tied the game with five runs in their next at-bat.

"I felt like we were in control," UH head coach Rayner Noble said. "Then we went out and just didn't pitch. I think that this was an aberration. We're a better pitching staff than we showed today."

The crowd's enmity toward the pouting Cassandra behind home plate vaporized when Pepperdine exploded for seven runs in the top of the fifth to take a commanding 14-7. The Cougars scored four runs late, but the comeback attempt was blunted when the Wave scored twice in the sixth and eighth innings to forge an 18-8 lead.

Della Grotta (1-1) earned the win for the Wave with four-plus innings of five-hit ball while Gene Flores (0-2) took the loss for the Cougars.

UH and Pepperdine established season highs in hits, runs and RBI in a game that lasted four hours and left 21 runners stranded on the bases.

The teams combined to hit 11 doubles and three home runs, and the outfielders on both squads displayed amazing athleticism running down long drives blasted over their heads to make leaping catches at the wall. 

"It was a great day for hitting today," Noble said. "On a day like today you've got to keep the ball low, and we didn't do that."

Pepperdine came from behind in Saturday's match-up to snatch a 6-3 win from the Cougars after Houston finally scored first in a game.

Hard-luck starter freshman Ricky Hargrove (0-2) absorbed his second loss of the season when the Wave loaded the bases in the top of the third on a slow roller that never made it out of the infield followed by a Texas-leaguer just beyond the glove of leaping second baseman Kevin Roberts, then a dribbling seeing-eye single to right.

Pepperdine pushed across four runs to take a 4-2 lead on their way to the 6-3 final score. Paul Coleman (1-0) picked up the win by surrendering only two runs on six hits in five innings.

The Cougars struck first in the second inning when designated hitter Chris Joseph walked and shortstop Dustin Kingsbury doubled him home. Third baseman Stephen Whalen knocked Kingsbury in with a two-bagger and the Cougars led out of the gate for the first time in 2005.

The Cougars loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth when Roberts and right fielder Mark McGonigle and pinch hitter Matt Farrington walked. Whalen got the RBI when he was hit by a pitch and Roberts scored. Wave reliever Steve Kline fanned pinch hitter Cody Waller to end the threat.

"We'll get better," Noble said. "That's the sign of a team that's going places. We need to use this as a learning experience and not dwell on it too long. We got a little spunk to us. We just have to play our ‘A' game and look sharp every time we step on the field."

In the opening game of the series Friday, Justin Vaclavik pitched two innings of one-hit ball to earn the win in the Cougars' 5-3 victory. Starter Brad Lincoln pitched six strong innings, giving up only three runs on eight hits. Aaron Brown got the save. 

"Houston has an unbelievable program and a great reputation. We didn't know what to expect when we came in here," said Wave head coach Steve Rodriguez. "We really concentrate on making sure that we're tough outs. Our guys battled hard this weekend, and luckily we took two out of three."
 

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