Cougar bats are hitting .272 with 31 home runs this season. | Thomas Dwyer/The Cougar
With just three games left in their season, the baseball team welcomes the No. 10 Tulane University Green Wave to Darryl & Lori Schroeder Park for the final series of the year. Tournament seeding is on the line as the Cougars play their most important series of the season.
The Cougars are currently in fifth in the conference standings, but a series sweep could catapult them to second place just in time for the American Athletic Conference tournament next week. Losing to Tulane will bring UH’s baseball team to last place.
The Cougars enter the series with a 32-20 record that has seen them go 10-10 in conference play. The Green Wave come into Thursday’s matchup at 35-16 overall and 13-6 in AAC play.
Ranked opponents have been no match for the Cougars. They have defeated No. 13 Rice University, No. 21 Louisiana-Lafayette University and No. 20 Tulane in the last three weeks.
Despite struggling in the offensive department for a large part of the season, the Cougars have found their stride recently, scoring 47 runs in their last six games.
A vital component to the Cougars’ offense is freshman first baseman Joe Davis. He leads the team with 11 home runs, a freshman record, and 50 RBI.
To secure a series win, the Cougars will need to continue to have great pitching.
Freshman right-handed pitcher Mitch Ullom will likely start one of the games over the weekend. Ullom has been a surprise for Cougars’ fans all season by posting a 6-3 record and 2.12 ERA. The freshman also leads all Cougar pitchers with three complete games this season.
Sophomore Seth Romero has been dominant in his starts this season, going 5-4 with a 2.37 ERA. Hitters have struggled against Romero, managing just a .178 batting average against the right-hander.
In an unusual format, the series is set to run Thursday through Saturday. The scheduling allows the Cougars to travel Sunday to Clearwater, Florida for the AAC tournament. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Thursday.
