The Cougar offense was in full effect Tuesday drawing a season high 13 walks and recording 12 hits. | Thomas Dwyer/The Cougar
The baseball team tied the Silver Glove season series with Rice University at 1-1 Tuesday night with a 10-0 victory.
Head coach Todd Whitting earned the 200th win of his career with the rout of the Owls.
“It’s nice to be here for that many games,” Whitting said. “They haven’t run me off yet, so that’s good. Hopefully I can get 200 more here really quick. Anytime you do something like that you have to realize you have a lot of people helping you.”
On the mound for the Cougars was freshman left-handed pitcher Trey Cumbie, who made the most out of his third start of the season.
“I thought Trey Cumbie was outstanding,” Whitting said. “I thought he showed a lot of poise for a freshman and that will be big going forward for us.”
Countering with a freshman of his own, longtime Owl Baseball Coach Wayne Graham gave freshman right-hander Zach Esquivel the nod.
Houston dominated the game from start to finish, scoring runs in five different innings.
A sac fly hit to deep center field by senior first baseman Justin Montemayor scored sophomore catcher Connor Wong from third and gave the Cougars an early 1-0 lead.
The Cougars improved to 24-6 on the season when being the team that scores the first run of the game.
UH kept the offense rolling in the third inning by way of a pair of hits from Wong and senior second baseman Josh Vidales. Wong’s RBI double plated two runs to make it 3-0, and Vidales’ single pushed the Cougar advantage to 4-0.
Rice’s Esquivel lasted just three innings, ending his night after allowing four hits and four runs, one of which was earned.
Houston continued to pour it on in the fourth inning when they plated three more runs to increase their lead to 7-0. Sophomore right fielder Corey Julks drove in a pair with a single and freshman first baseman Joe Davis brought in a run on a groundout to third base.
Vidales notched his third hit of the game in the fifth inning when he laced a double to drive in Wong and bring the score to 8-0.
Four consecutive walks coupled with a Connor Hollis single made it 10-0 in the seventh inning.
Patience was key for the Cougars Tuesday as they managed a season high 13 walks against the Owls. Also tallying 12 hits, Houston’s offense was firing on all cylinders.
“We stood up there and took what they gave us, when they threw something over the plate we hit it hard,” Whitting said. “That’s the sign of a good approach and a patient team.”
Cumbie was impressive in his outing going eight shutout innings and allowing only five hits.
“We’ve played better the last couple of weeks, one thing I know about this team is that they haven’t quit and nobody has given up on the season.” Whitting said.’
