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Sports

UH gets the last laugh in series finale

Touchton tosses a career-high seven innings in 10-3 victory 
over the Miners

by CHRIS ELLIOTT
The Daily Cougar

Houston finished its three-game series against Alabama-Birmingham with an exclamation point, running through the Blazers in a 10-3 victory in Sunday's series finale a Cougar Field. 

UH freshman right-hander John Touchton (3-2) had one of his more impressive showings of the season, allowing three runs over a career-high seven innings while tossing only 76 pitches. His performance, combined with the Cougars' ability to capitalize off three UAB errors, helped UH win its Conference USA series two games to one.

"We were kind of embarrassed after the way we played Friday (in our 10-5 loss) and fans didn't get their money's worth," senior third baseman Dustin Kingsbury said. "That was our theme for the next two days … give the fans what they come out here to see and that's good, error-free baseball and good pitching." 

Kingsbury finished 1-for-4 at the plate with a run scored and 2 RBIs. He played a key part in the Cougars' offensive rally in the bottom of the first.

Junior second baseman Ryan Lormand led off the frame with a walk. He stole second base, and advanced to third on UAB catcher Danny Sawyer's errant throw. Sophomore designated hitter Felix Fanaselle walked to put runners on the corners with no outs.

Sophomore left fielder Jimmy Cesario cracked a double to deep left field that drove in Lormand and tied the game at 1. Kingsbury followed with a single through the left side to score Cesario and give UH (17-14, 5-1 C-USA) its first lead of the game.

The Cougars scored four runs in the first to take a decisive early lead.

UH head coach Rayner Noble said his team's ability to take advantage of the Blazers' defensive mistakes was integral in taking the series finale.

"We have to be that way," Noble said. "We can't let the opposition get away with mistakes. They also walked a lot of guys, and we just took advantage of their wildness."

In Saturday's 10-4 win, the Cougars broke out the bats, and got strong pitching from freshman Wes Musick (5-3). The left-hander allowed three runs over five innings, and was the beneficiary of some sparkling defensive plays. 

Those defensive plays kept the Blazers (16-18, 4-2 C-USA) from posting a serious rally.

"When we make plays like that, the momentum's on our side and we just get things going and that's what we need when we play games like this in conference," Musik said Saturday. 

The Cougars were dropped 10-5 Friday night in the series opener. Junior starter Aaron Brown (4-2) gave up six runs on 10 hits and five walks in four innings of work.

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