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Sports

Better late than never for UH

Cougars rally to defeat Lamar in extra innings

By RONNIE TURNER
The Daily Cougar

It wasn't pretty, but the Cougars will gladly take Tuesday night's 17-10 (10 inn.) victory over Lamar in Beaumont.

The two teams ended regulation tied at 10 and went to extra innings, but Houston (15-12) wasted little time in taking over the contest. The Cougars sent 11 batters to the plate in the top of the 10th inning and tagged four Lamar relievers for seven runs to put the game out of reach.

That margin proved to be enough for junior right-hander Aaron Brown, who slammed the door shut on the Cardinals in the bottom of the 10th. Brown (4-1) was awarded the victory after holding the Cardinals scoreless in the final two innings.

Brown's late-inning heroics ended a wild affair that lasted 3 hours, 55 minutes and featured a combined 27 hits between the two teams. The victory also extended Houston's winning streak to four games.

If the Cougars had better production from its pitching staff, with the exception of Brown, they might have managed to win the game in regulation.

The Cougars jumped out to a sizeable 9-3 lead after four innings, but things began to fall apart soon thereafter. Lamar (18-11) scored three runs off freshman starter Donnie Joseph in the bottom of the fifth to cut the deficit to three.

Sophomore reliever Chris Wright took the hill to start the sixth, but the Cardinals chased him from the start. Lamar center fielder Collin DeLome (3-for-6, 2 HR, 5 RBIs) provided the exclamation point with a three-run homer to right field that knotted the game at 9.

Lamar pinch hitter Michael Ambort drew a two-out, bases-loaded walk off sophomore reliever Jimmy Raviele in the bottom half of the eighth, and the Cardinals went ahead by a run. However, the Cardinals would lead only briefly.

UH senior third baseman Dustin Kingsbury led off the top of the ninth with a single, and senior first baseman Josh Stirneman (2-for-3, double, 3 RBIs) followed with a walk to put two runners on with no outs. Junior outfielder Bryan Tully later drove in the game-tying run with an RBI-groundout.

The Cougars seemed to carry that momentum into the 10th inning. Freshman outfielder Zach Presley led off the frame with a single and stole second base to move into scoring position. 

Cougar Junior Ryan Lormand punched a single up the middle that scored Presley and started Houston's offensive onslaught against the Cardinals. 

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