Freshman infielder Will Pendergrass drove in two of the four runs for UH baseball in the loss to Texas A&M. | Andy Yanez/The Cougar
Houston pitching combined to give up eight walks and hit three batters in the Cougars 9-4 loss to No. 25 Texas A&M Tuesday night at Schroeder Park.
UH had a chance to blow the game open early, loading the bases with no outs in the bottom of the first inning, but the Cougars only managed to get one run out of it.
The Aggies responded in the top of the second with an offensive explosion. With the bases juiced and no outs, nine-hole hitter Kalae Harrison stepped to the plate and belted a grand slam just over the reach of UH left fielder Tyler Bielamowicz, who was inches away from robbing Harrison of a home run.
UH sophomore starter Ben Sears was knocked out of the game after just one inning of work. Sears struggled to find his command, issuing four walks and hitting a batter.
A&M added to its lead in the fourth, plating two more runs to go up 6-1.
The Cougars responded in the bottom of the fifth, scoring three runs on four hits highlighted by freshman infielder Will Pendergrass’ 2-run single to make it a 6-4 ballgame.
But the Aggies answered right back, scoring two runs in the top of the sixth and added another in the eighth to cruise to a 9-4 victory.
Sears took the loss for the Cougars while freshman Mason Ornelas earned the win for the Aggies.
