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Sports

UH hits the road hunting for revenge

by LOUIE VERA
The Daily Cougar

After claiming a Conference USA series win over Alabama-Birmingham over the weekend, Houston will face Stephen F. Austin University at 3 p.m. today at Jaycees Field in Nacogdoches.

The Cougars are scheduled to face crosstown rival Rice for a three-game set this weekend, but they're not looking past the Lumberjacks.

"What's on our mind right now is Stephen F. Austin," UH head coach Rayner Noble said. "They put a cruncher on us last year, beating us 3-2 and cutting our chances of being a No. 1 seed (in the 2006 NCAA Tournament). We know how tough it is to play there. We have to just keep doing what we're doing, which is scratching for runs and getting decent pitching." 

The Cougars are 17-14 overall and own a solid 5-1 Conference USA record. UH has won six of its last eight games. 

SFA has also won six of its last eight games but dropped two of its last three against Northwestern State this weekend. The Lumberjacks (18-16, 6-6 Southland Conference) have been stellar at home with a 12-2 record. 

Senior left-hander Lance Luetge will make his ninth start of the season in tonight's game. This season, Luetge has a 4-2 record with a 4.40 ERA and 32 strikeouts.

The two teams last met in Houston's season opener Feb. 6 at Cougar Field. The Cougars handedly took down SFA 15-6.

On the mound for the Cougars will be freshman left-hander Donnie Joseph (0-0, 7.42 ERA), who has served as both a start and a reliever this season. Through 11 appearances (six starts), Joseph has yet to record a decision.

Joseph's biggest worry will be the bat of Lumberjacks catcher Steven Hill, who is leading the team in three major batting categories: batting average (.382), home runs (12) and RBIs (46).

The Houston offense will counter with sophomore outfielder Jimmy Cesario, who leads the Cougars with a .364 batting average and is currently swinging a hot bat, going 7-for-14 with six RBIs in his last three games.

Senior infielders Josh Stirneman and Dustin Kingsbury are tied for the team lead in RBIs with 28. Both endured last season's upset loss to SFA. 

"We don't forget things like that," Kingsbury said. "Some of the guys are new, but a lot of guys were here for last year's game."

Kingsbury said that UH took the Lumberjacks for granted last year but are more focused this time.

"We went down there and took (the Lumberjacks) a little lightly, and they put it to us," Kingsbury said. "Hopefully, we can take the momentum from (last weekend) and keep building on it. SFA is just another step until we get to play Rice on Friday."

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