The Cougars’ luck ran out at the Astros Foundation College Classic as they fell 13-2 to the University of California-Berkeley. The loss gives the Cougars a 2-1 result for the tournament and an 8-3 record for the season so far.
UH struggled from the beginning as none of the pitchers were able to last three innings.
In his third start of the season, junior right-hander Daniel Poncedeleon surrendered five earned runs in 2.2 innings of work before giving way to a string of relievers.
At the plate, the Cougar offense was paced by freshman infielder Kyle Kirk who put up two hits and knocked in a run. Fellow freshman infielder Justin Montemayor also put up two hits. While left wanting runs, the Cougars still managed to come up with eight hits over eight innings.
“You have to tip your cap to Cal. Cal came out and played really well. (They were) able to put up 20 hits on the board, score early and keep scoring,” said head coach Todd Whitting. “We didn’t play very well. We got down early, and usually our team will fight to make the game close. We had a little bit of a hangover with the two big wins, but that’s going to happen with a yound ball club.”
It was a mixed day for the Cougar defense as junior catcher Caleb Barker threw out a Golden Bear base runner. Junior center fielder Landon Appling made several plays with his glove in the outfield.
“I like our club,” Whitting said. “We are going to have games like this. That’s the difference between playing at the Division I level, there are no games you can take off.”
