After losing five of six, pitcher Taylor Hammack and the Cougars opened up the conference portion of their schedule in convincing fashion with a weekend sweep against Tulane. The Cougars continue their road trip tomorrow against Texas A&M. | Newton Liu/The Daily Cougar
The Cougars used solid pitching and timely hitting to turn the tide and sweep the Tulane Green Wave on Sunday in New Orleans.
UH was assisted by three games of consistent pitching where all of the starters pitched a minimum of seven innings and career-long outings.
“We’ve been talking to the pitching staff about going late into games for us,” head coach Todd Whitting said. “When you throw strikes and manage counts, it gives you the ability to go deep into games.”
With the wins, the Cougars (15-14, 3-0 C-USA) put an end to their three-game skid and sit on top of the early conference standings.
The sweep marks the seventh straight year that the Cougars have won their conference series opener and their first conference road sweep since April 2009.
“To start league play 3-0 gives the team a lot of confidence going into this week,” Whitting said. “It’s a huge boost for our ball club. We have to learn from what we did good and bad this weekend.”
In the series finale Sunday the Cougars erupted offensively to beat Tulane 9-0. Pitcher Mo Wiley (2-1) had eight innings while shutting out Tulane (18-10, 1-5 C-USA) on nine hits.
The UH offense opened up the scoring in the third with four runs when Caleb Ramsey hit a two-RBI double with the bases loaded. Chase Jensen then followed suit and hit a two-RBI single to right field.
The Cougars added two runs in the fourth, one run in the fifth and two in the seventh to balloon the lead to 9-0.
Taylor Hammack pitched a scoreless ninth frame to preserve the UH victory.
Saturday’s game featured the second impressive UH pitching performance in as many days as the Cougars downed Tulane 5-2.
Jordan Lewis (3-0) pitched seven-and-one-third innings and allowed two runs on nine hits. Dakota Dill entered the game in relief of Lewis and pitched a scoreless final one-and-two-thirds of an inning to cement the win and earn his fourth save.
UH got on the scoreboard right away, scoring one run in the first inning. They added another run in the fourth and then two in the fifth after M.P. Cokinos hit an RBI double and John Cannon hit a sacrifice fly.
Tulane scored once in the sixth inning and once in the eighth, but the UH pitchers shut down any inklings of a rally.
Landon Appling led the way for the Cougars offensively, going three-for-four at the plate and scoring two runs.
The series opener featured the first of the UH brilliant pitching performances as Matt Creel (4-3) and the Cougars shut out Tulane 2-0. Creel set the tone for the pitching staff when he went seven innings, allowing no runs and only three hits.
Jordan Mannisto relieved Creel, going the final two innings without giving up a hit and earning his second save of the season.
UH will need to continue its strong play as they travel to take on No. 5 Texas A&M at 5:05 Tuesday in College Station.
