After a defensive and offensive cooldown midway through the Cougar vs Wildcat matchup, Houston gave up five runs in the seventh inning, giving Arizona a five-run lead it never surrendered. | File Photo/The Cougar
A seventh-inning meltdown on defense, in which the Cougars gave up five runs, led to Houston’s 10-6 loss against the Arizona Wildcats on Sunday afternoon at Hi Corbett Field.
Freshman left fielder Rey Mendoza had the hot bat for Houston early, hitting an RBI single in the third and launching a 1-1 pitch over the right-field fence in the fifth, which marked the first home run of his career.
Sophomore outfielder Brad Burckel gave the Cougars a 4-3 lead in the top of the sixth with a solo shot to right field before the wheels fell off the team.
Houston’s pitching, which had held Arizona to only three runs on four hits over the first five innings, and the rest of the Cougars’ defense fell apart from the sixth inning onward.
The Cougars allowed seven runs, only two of which were earned due to two Houston errors, and seven hits during the stretch between the sixth and eighth inning.
Houston, who’s offense went cold after the sixth inning as well, threatened to make a rally in the ninth as the Cougars scored a run on junior first baseman Ryan Hernandez’ RBI single to cut the deficit to four.
The Cougars brought in junior Brett Cain to pinch-hit with two men on and two outs, but he popped out to second to end the game.
The Cougars dropped two out of three games in Arizona for the weekend and fall to 5-9 on the season.
