Today’s matchup against Sam Houston State marks the first contest of a four-game road trip for the Cougars. Away games have been unkind to the Cougars so far this season, as they have mustered up just six wins out of 14 tries. | Aaron Cisneros/The Daily Cougar
The Cougars will take a break from conference play as they hit the road to take on Sam Houston State in Huntsville.
Head coach Todd Whitting will stick with a new lineup that produced runs and propelled the Cougars to a come-from-behind win Sunday.
“Sometimes you have to mix things up a little bit to get the results you want,” Whitting said. “I was really proud of the guys that we put in the lineup. I thought that we got after it really well. They came out swinging the bats, put up a few runs and helped us win the game.
“I’ll stay with this lineup against Sam Houston for sure.”
The Cougars have had a problem with playing up or down to the level of competition this season. They hope not to see a repeat performance of last week’s game against Lamar where they admittedly did not bring its best effort.
“I don’t think that looking past Sam Houston will be an issue,” Whitting said. “We can’t look past them. They are as good as or better than we are.”
Whitting said that he likes the Cougars’ chances of being successful this week, but he knows that the Bearkats will prove to be a worthy adversary.
“We have to show up with our A game,” Whitting said. “That program up in Huntsville is really good.”
The Cougars (17-17, 4-2 Conference USA) have struggled recently, but they are still among the four teams tied for first place in C-USA.
“We’re where we want to be,” Whitting said. “It’s a long road, but I’m happy with where we are at right now.”
Sam Houston (22-12, 8-7 Southland Conference) has won five of its last seven games and is tied for fifth place in its conference.
The Bearkats are led offensively by designated hitter Chris Andreas who leads the team with six home runs, 13 doubles, 36 RBI and a .637 slugging percentage.
Codey Morehouse will take the mound as the Cougars’ starter. In his last appearance, Morehouse lasted 7 2/3 innings, and assisted in the defeat then No. 5-ranked Texas A&M.
The Cougars took the all-time series lead, 75-74, with their 9-3 victory over Sam Houston earlier this season.
The game begins at 6:30 p.m. at Don Sanders Stadium. UH will resume conference play when it travels to Huntington, W. Va. on Friday to face Marshall in a three-game series.
