Senior first baseman Ryan Hernandez hit his third home run of the season in UH baseball’s series-clinching win over Western Carolina on Suday. | James Mueller/The Cougar
UH baseball went 2-1 in its three-game series against Western Carolina over the weekend at Schroeder Park.
Game One
On Friday, the Cougars opened their series versus Western Carolina with a convincing 13-3 victory.
Western Carolina got on the board first off a double to left field that brought a run home in the top of the first inning.
In the bottom of the first, the Cougars responded as sophomore right fielder Alex Lopez reached home on a right-field double by redshirt sophomore catcher Anthony Tulimero.
In the second inning, the Cougars took control, scoring two runs. The first was on a solo home run by freshman outfielder Malachi Lott while the second was on a double by junior left fielder Brandon Uhse.
Western Carolina scored a run on a solo homer to left field in the third inning. In the fifth inning, it hit another left-field solo home run to even the score at 3-3.
The Cougars once again took control of the game in the sixth inning, this time with four total runs including two scores on wild pitches and a home run by redshirt sophomore third baseman Zach Arnold.
Entering the seventh inning, the Cougars led by a score of 7-3. They continued to put the game away for good in the seventh, scoring six total runs and not looking back.
UH ended the inning with a 13-3 lead, the dominant margin that held for the final two innings.
Game Two
In Saturday’s matchup against Western Carolina, the Cougars struggled, dropping the second game of the series 6-3.
Western Carolina scored a run in the top of the first inning off a home run. After UH went scoreless in the bottom of the opening inning, Western Carolina scored another run in the second on a muffed throw.
Tulimero scored UH’s first run of the game on a wild pitch, making the game 2-1 in Western Carolina’s favor. In the third inning, Arnold scored – also on a wild pitch – to even the score at 2-2.
In the fourth inning, Western Carolina began to take control of the game beginning with plating a run in the fourth and continuing with two runs in the sixth inning to take a 5-2 lead. In the eighth, it would put a final run on the board off a double.
UH scored a single run in the eighth inning on a solo homer by Arnold, but it was not enough to spark a comeback. The Cougars dropped the second game of the series 6-3.
Game Three
In Sunday’s finale of UH’s series against Western Carolina, the Cougars sealed the series in their favor with a strong 6-1 showing.
UH got on the board first, scoring two runs in the first inning, the first on a fly out and the second on a double by senior first baseman Ryan Hernandez.
Western Carolina scored a single run in the second on a left-center double, a score that proved to be the squad’s only run in the final game of the series. It was also the last run for either team until the sixth inning, when Hernandez hit a solo home run to give UH a 3-1 lead.
In the eighth inning, the Cougars put away the game for good with three more runs, the first on a wild pitch and the latter pair on a single by Lott.
The Cougars won the game 6-1 and took the home series against Western Carolina 2-1.
