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Sports

Musick close to returning to rotation

by RONNIE TURNER
The Daily Cougar

UH redshirt freshman pitcher Wes Musick could make his return to the starting rotation this weekend after having to miss his last start because of soreness in his left elbow.

The left-hander threw an estimated 40 pitches in a bullpen session Tuesday and said he felt fine tossing his fastball and curveball, noting only slight irritation when throwing changeups. Musick will be evaluated after another bullpen session Friday, and if UH head coach Rayner Noble is satisfied with the freshman's progress, he'll be penciled in as the starting pitcher for Sunday's series finale at Tulane.

Musick said his elbow feels fine and he should be ready to go after a few more days of rehab. That's good news for the Cougars, who can't afford to lose any more arms to injuries.

"We'll see if we can hopefully get him into the action this weekend because we desperately need him. He's statistically our best pitcher," Noble said.

Musick, who missed the entire 2006 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery on his left elbow and right knee surgery, has quietly developed into one of the Houston's best pitching weapons. After nine starts, he is 5-3 with a team-leading 3.16 ERA and 44 strikeouts.

Musick first experienced the elbow soreness following his start against Alabama-Birmingham on April 7. That forced him to sit out his scheduled start against Rice on Saturday, a game the Cougars lost 12-0 (8 inn.). Houston went on to drop the series two games to one.

That left Musick feeling bitter.

"I felt disappointed being (in the dugout) and not being able to help out the team," he said. "It feels like it was my fault that we lost on Saturday or Sunday. I should have started one of the games and maybe helped our team win."

In related news, the Cougars still have no definitive answer on when junior right-hander Ricky Hargrove will make his first appearance of the season. Hargrove, who went down with a right shoulder injury in January, has been on a throwing program for the last few weeks. 

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