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Sports

UH sneaks Game 3 in 16 innings to secure sweep

Memphis was unable to pass endurance test to avoid going 0-3 in series

by RONNIE TURNER
The Daily Cougar

UH and Memphis fought to a 5-5 tie after regulation on Sunday afternoon, but their bullpens refused to yield much after that. Both bullpens tossed five straight scoreless innings after regulation, and both gave up two runs each in the 15th inning to keep the affair going. 

The evening was fast approaching and the only way this one was going to end before night struck was if someone stepped up in a huge way, and it turned out that the player to do it this time would be the same player who has done it for the past two and a half weeks?senior outfielder Matt Weston. With the bases load and one out in the bottom of the 16th against Memphis' senior Drew Jaudon, Weston hit a slow grounder to second base and beat the throw to first by a few steps, allowing freshman Travis Cougot to score the game-winning run from third base on the fielder's choice as the Cougars left Cougar Field with an 8-7 come-from-behind win and a sweep of their three-game series.

"This was just amazing," head coach Rayner Noble said. "I'm just proud of our guys ... we just persevered and hung in there."

After Memphis (21-21, 6-9 C-USA) tagged sophomore right-hander Aaron Brown for two runs in the top of the 15th to take a 7-5 lead, the Cougars responded by putting their first two runners on base against Memphis junior reliever Ben Grisham in the bottom frame. Grisham later yielded a sacrifice bunt to junior Dustin Kingsbury, and was replaced by Lance Scroggins, who struck out junior catcher Brian Temko to set up an at-bat against sophomore Bryan Tully with runners at second and third and two outs. Tully lifted Scroggins' first offering to left field for a two-RBI double that tied the game at 7.

"That was a huge hit by Tully; he came up clutch for us," Weston said. 

Junior right-hander Shea Hancock (2-1, 4.32 ERA) tossed a scoreless 16th to seal a victory that could have been won much earlier by the Cougars. UH (28-15, 12-3) entered the top of the ninth ahead 5-3, but the Tigers tied the game on a two-RBI single from sophomore Chris Newsom off junior closer Clayton Boone. 

"We told ourselves that we would stay out here all day long, and (freshmen) Barry Laird and Brown came out there and put up some zeroes," Hancock said. 

The first two games of the series didn't have nearly as much longevity as the finale. Sophomore Ricky Hargrove dominated the Tigers on Saturday night, tossing eight solid innings and giving up only one run (unearned) on seven hits with eight strikeouts. Memphis tagged Hargrove (6-3, ERA 2.29) for a hit in all but two innings, but couldn't produce much offense after that, stranding 12 base runners on the night. 

UH took a page from the small ball playbook on Friday night, stringing together 10 hits en route to taking the series opener 3-2 on a walk-off game winning RBI-single by Jake Stewart with the bases loaded. Boone (3-1, 2.31) tossed a scoreless top of the ninth to pick up the victory.

With the sweep, UH remains two games behind C-USA frontrunner Rice and moves to four and a half games ahead of third-place East Carolina. The Cougars will finish up their four-game home stand with a meeting against Sam Houston State at 7 p.m. Tuesday night. 

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