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Sports

Silver Glove still doesn't fit for UH

Cougars lose to Owls for ninth time in last 13 meetings

by RONNIE TURNER
The Daily Cougar

For another year, Houston will have to settle for being second fiddle to Rice.

The Cougars rallied from an early deficit in the finale of the Silver Glove Series, but it wouldn't be enough to keep them from falling 11-6 to the Owls Sunday at Cougar Field. With the victory, Rice claimed the series, two games to one, and captured the Silver Glove Trophy for the seventh straight season.

Houston appeared to be on its way to a possible comeback after scoring three times in the sixth inning to draw within 6-5. 

However, the Owls, who were ranked No. 7 (Baseball America) coming into the series, responded by scorching the Houston bullpen for five runs in the next two innings to put the game out of reach.

Rice relievers Scott Lonergan (4-0) and Cole St. Clair held the Cougars in check over the final 3.2 innings to send them to their ninth loss in the last 13 meetings between the two teams. "It's like last year's (series loss to Rice)," said Cougar third baseman Dustin Kingsbury, who was named to the 2007 Silver Glove All-Series Team. "You leave the ballpark knowing you could have (won the game) and should have. 

"It's one of the most disappointing things (to lose) to Rice, our crosstown rival. (Things) just haven't gone our way. We just have to try and move on."

Losing to the Owls in heartbreaking fashion has become an all-too-familiar scene for Houston, which hasn't won a Silver Glove Series since the 2000 season.

This series loss particularly hurt because it prevented Houston (19-16, 6-3 Conference USA) from finishing the weekend atop the conference standings. The Cougars are now tied for second place in C-USA with Tulane and Memphis, which both share the Cougars' .667 conference winning percentage. Rice (29-11, 10-2 C-USA) sits comfortably in first place.

Junior right-hander Aaron Brown pitched the Cougars to a 5-2 win Friday night's opener. In the second game on Saturday, Owls pitcher Ryne Tacker returned the gesture by pitching six scoreless innings with nine strikeouts in the Owls' 12-0 (8 inn.) victory.

With the series tied 1-1, the two teams squared off Sunday, each with dreams of winning the Silver Glove Trophy. The Cougars put their hopes in sophomore right-hander Luis Flores, and things got off to a good start after junior second baseman Ryan Lormand put the Cougars ahead 2-1 with a two-out, two-run single in the second inning.

Flores (1-1) quickly unraveled after the Owls chased him for four runs in the top of the fourth. This prompted Cougars skipper Rayner Noble to turn things over to the bullpen. 

That move backfired after Rice tagged sophomore right-hander Chris Wright for three runs in the seventh inning. Rice shortstop Brian Friday led off the frame with a double, and advanced to third on Joe Savery's groundout. 

Jess Buenger drove in Friday with a double to center field, and later scored after Diego Seastrunk singled off Houston sophomore right-hander Barry Laird. One out later, Danny Lehmann crushed an RBI-triple to left field to extend the Owls' lead to 9-5.

Oddly, the bullpen, which had been dependable for the Cougars over the last few weeks, failed miserably against Rice.

"I thought that today when we got some momentum offensively, we just couldn't put a pitcher out there on the mound that could shut out it down," Noble said.

"When you can't do that and keep the momentum in your dugout, it's very hard to win games."

The slate from here on won't get any easier for the Cougars, who play Texas A&M on Tuesday night in College Station before traveling to New Orleans for a crucial C-USA three-game weekend series with Tulane. Both teams are ranked in Baseball America's Top 25 poll.

The Cougars' chances of reaching the postseason and staying in contention for the conference title will hinge largely on their success against these two ballclubs.

"It's all about winning series; you can't look toward (next week)," Kingsbury said. "You have to take it one game at a time, and try to win as many as you can.

"Taking two out of three next weekend on the road (would be big), especially against a team like Tulane, who's in the mix at the top of the conference. That's an important (series)." 

Silver Glove Series notes

With this weekend's series victory, Rice has won 21 consecutive conference series dating back to March 2005 (their last season as a member of the Western Athletic Conference) ... Houston left fielder Jimmy Cesario went 1-for-5 in Sunday's game to extend his career-best hitting streak to 13 games ... Rice center fielder Tyler Henley was hit twice by a pitch this weekend to bring his career hit-by-pitch total to 60, which is a school record ... The Owls posted a .587 slugging percentage as a team for the series ... Houston third baseman Dustin Kingsbury made his 155th consecutive infield start in Sunday's game, which is third-most in school history ... The 2007 Silver Glove Series drew a total attendance of 5,410, the fourth largest series attendance in the 13-year history of Cougar Field.

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