Fox 26′s Mark Berman reports that UH has received a verbal commitment from Southlake Carroll kicker Ty Cummings.

Cummings helped Southlake Carroll take home the 5A state title this season.

Sammy Brown is like a lot of students at UH. He transferred from another school, got his act together and is now one step closer to realizing his professional dreams.

After leading the nation in tackles-for-a-loss as a senior, Brown signed with the St. Louis Rams on Saturday.

“I never doubted myself,” Brown said. “I knew I wanted to go pro since Pee Wee football.”

Brown’s road to the NFL has not always been the smoothest, but he has overcome all of the obstacles and now has a chance to win a spot on the Rams’ roster.

In high school, Brown lost his mother and lived with his aunt, who he credits as one of his major inspirations.

Brown didn’t take the SAT or ACT in high school and opted to go to junior college at Mississippi Gulf Coast.

He excelled there on the football field and drew offers from several schools. UH was his first recruiting visit and his first time to fly on a plane.

“For my first football visit here, that was my first plane trip,” Brown said in November. “I was like, ‘I’m not going on any more football visits.’

“I’m still scared.”

Brown admits that he didn’t come to UH in shape and that he broke a lot of plays in his first season, but in the season leading up to his senior season, Brown grew by leaps and bounds.

“When I first came up, the coaches said I wasn’t lifting hard or wasn’t lifting properly, so they used to always get onto me,” he said. “This year I got a different workout partner. This year I started working out with George (Bamfo) and Phillip (Steward), and they pushed me and I got stronger and faster.”

Brown’s change in attitude and maturity was noticable in senior year.

“I wish I could take credit for it,” former UH defensive coordinator Brian Stewart said in November. “He just came in this summer and pushed himself. He finally got past that wall, that wall where he’d say, ‘I’m tired.’ When you can push yourself past that wall, he finally got past that. And then, now busts his tail so much now that he gets on other people for not running to the ball. He wouldn’t have said anything last year.

“It looked like sometimes last year, he was so undisciplined that if the play broke out that way, he might as well have just grabbed a Coke and sat down because he wasn’t going to chase the ball unless he thought he could get the guy.”

Brown’s work ethic carried over beyond the football field as well.

“Once he realized that, he really started pushing himself past that wall,” Stewart said. “He was even doing better in class — he was actually going to class. It’s funny how a lot of times that doesn’t happen — better in the classroom and on the football field — usually that doesn’t correlate. But I think he’s at that point where he feels good about his plan and himself where he’s comfortable in the classroom and going to class.”

Brown finished his senior season earning All-Conference USA First Team honors and playing a major role in UH’s 13-1 season.

Brown wasn’t drafted this weekend, but for him it’s just another obstacle to overcome.

“It feels good, but I still have to prove myself,” Brown said. “I still feel like an underdog no matter what I do.”

The University of Houston was the only school to finish in the top 25 and not have a player drafted —  six other Conference USA schools had players selected. The NFL Draft came and went quietly for the Cougars’ outgoing seniors.

In the immediate hours following the draft, that changed. Seven UH players were signed to NFL teams as free agents.

Quarterback Case Keenum and defensive lineman David Hunter signed with the Houston Texans. Receiver Patrick Edwards signed with the Detroit Lions. Linebackers Sammy Brown and Marcus McGraw signed with NFC West teams, the St. Louis Rams and Arizona Cardinals. Running backs Michael Hayes and Bryce Beall signed with the San Diego Chargers and the Dallas Cowboys, respectively.

Getting calls from teams was a relief after waiting out the draft.

“It was a weight off my shoulders,” Hayes said.

“It feels great just to get the call. It was a lot of worries gone. You really don’t know what’s going to happen and what team is going to call.”

Being drafted carries a certain prestige with it, but most of the players shrugged it off.

“I think it’s good for us just to pick the best situation possible for us to make the team,” Hayes said.

“We’ll go in with a chip on our shoulder to show that we’re those guys that should have been drafted, we just have to show that.”

Carrier on the mend

Receiver Tyron Carrier did not sign with a team yesterday, but he is ahead of schedule recovering from surgery for a torn ACL.

After tying the NCAA record for kickoff returns, Carrier should get some attention as a return specialist.

Haley Outon hit her 16th home run of the season in the Cougars’ 5-0 win against Houston Baptist on Wednesday. Outon is tied for the second most home runs this season in Conference USA and third in slugging percentage. She is also three home runs away from tying the UH single-season mark.

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Haley and Diedre Outon both have butterfly tattoos.

A little over two years ago, the Outons lost their mother to cancer, and it is a way for them to keep her close to them.

“Butterflies are her symbol,” Haley said. “When things go (well), it’s just a way for us to say ‘Mama Outon’s here.’”

It has inspired Haley to major in health, hoping to eventually work with children with cancer as a specialist.

On Wednesday, the day before her mom’s birthday, Haley crushed her team-leading 16th home run in the Cougars’ 5-0 win over Houston Baptist.

Haley and Diedre have formed a potent battery combination for the Cougars this season. Diedre, a pitcher, has gone 10-5 with a 2.96 ERA, while Haley is hitting .351 with a .769 slugging percentage.

Haley wasn’t always a catcher though.

“My mom caught her (Diedre) until she was nine,” Haley said. “Then (a ball) tipped off of my mom’s glove and broke her nose. It was my turn and that’s how I became a catcher.”

Becoming a catcher has come with a learning curve, but Haley has made great strides from her freshman to sophomore season.

“Being a freshman, I think she was a little overwhelmed a lot of times as all freshmen are, trying to figure it all out, getting used to a new system,” head coach Kyla Holas said. “This year she’s so much more calm, participated so much more in everything that we’re doing and engaged a lot better.

“Right now, we’re really working on those dynamics. Haley in general as a catcher, how she can have a repertoire with each pitcher, how different they are, what each one needs. Again, I think that’s just something with time you’re going to see her just get better and better.”

Last season as a freshman, Outon hit .259, but had 14 extra-base hits in 147 at bats. This year, she has 24 extra-base hits in 134 at bats and is tied for second in Conference USA in home runs and third in slugging percentage.

“I learned that sometimes going full speed for me at the plate is out of control, so I need to stay in control and go 80 percent of my 100 because 100 is out of control, but 80 percent is simple, smooth and gets the job done,” Haley said.

With 16 home runs, Haley has a shot to set the UH single-season mark of 19 hit by Laurie Wagner in 2008. With 21-career home runs, if she keeps this sort of production up over her final two seasons at UH, she also has a chance to catch career-leader Kristen Glowacz, who hit 47 home runs for the Cougars between 2002-05.

“She’s not only our catcher and leader in the bullpen, offensively she’s one of those kids,” Holas said. “She’s a sophomore. I think you’re just seeing the base of what she can do. She has so much more in her and I think she’s going to have a very successful career.

“I hope that our team success can do enough to give her some of the national recognition that she really deserves.”

UH managed only one hit and one run in the first four innings of the game.  Holly Anderson scored that run on Haley Outon’s bases loaded walk.

Anderson reached base with a two-out walk.  She advanced to second when Ashleigh Jones reached on a fielder’s choice.  Melissa Gregson then walked to load the bases.

It wasn’t until the fourth inning that the Cougars received their first hit. Diedre Outon pinched hit and singled for designated player Sydney Gerbracht. Diedre later stole second base but was stranded there.

The bats finally came alive in the fifth inning thanks to Haley’s three-run home run. It was her 16th this season. The home run put Haley in third place in Cougar history for home runs in a season.  She is just three behind Laurie Wagner who hit 19 in 2008.

Anderson extended her hitting streak to 15 games to lead off the fifth inning. Gregson reached on an error setting up Haley’s opposite field home run.

Bailey Watts dominated in the circle against the Huskies. She gave up only four hits which were spread out between four different innings.

Watts pitched the complete game shutout without allowing a walk, and struck out five.

She improved to 11-7 on the season and dropped her ERA from 2.48 to 2.19.

The Cougars have an important series this weekend against UCF.  The two teams share a 12-6 conference record which ties them for third place.

UH will have to work hard in a short amount of time to be ready for the series.

“We need to make sure we are playing the best ball that we can,” Holas said.

“We don’t have a lot of time to prepare and we have a lot of work to do.”

The three game series begins with a doubleheader Saturday at noon in Orlando, Fl.  The final game is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Sunday.

Following a sixth place finish at the Conference USA Championships and the completion of their regular season, the Houston Cougars golf team now readies for the possibility of postseason play.

“We just need a tournament where all five of us perform at our best,” freshman Roman Robledo said. “If we do that, we’re going to be at the top of the leader board.”

Robledo, who led the youthful Cougars in tournaments played (12) and scoring average per round (72.92), was one of the bright spots during a season of building towards the future.

“Our goal was obviously to improve each and every week,” head coach Jonathan Dismuke said. “We got to compete at a very high level and made some huge strides.”

Houston’s highest finish of the 2011-2012 campaign came in the form of a first-place tie at the Fighting Irish Gridiron Classic during late September. Individually, junior James Ross and sophomore Curtis Reed rounded out the top three statistically for the Cougars with scoring averages of 73.07 and 73.67 respectively.

“Curtis is definitely the talkative one … He eases the team,” Robledo said. “He’s very practice oriented and I’ve been able to learn a lot about my short game from him.”

Houston now sits and awaits their NCAA postseason fate with the 81 teams and 45 individuals who qualify to compete at six NCAA regionals sites being announced May 7. Regardless of the outcome, Robledo and the Cougars are positive about the direction of the program.

“We struggled in a couple tournaments but overall we’re heading in the right direction,” Robledo said. “I think we’re going to be a good contender going into next season.”

Last week at the C-USA tournament UH tennis earned a win against Southern Mississippi State 4-0, to advance to the quarter-finals but lost to No. 53 Tulane 4-0, which snapped their five match win streak and ended Houston’s season.

“I thought we came out and played Southern Miss very well, and against Tulane doubles was very crucial,” head coach John Severance said.

“At the end of the day we were leading the third, fourth, and fifth positions and felt we could (have) won those games … We were tied at the leading doubles points and just couldn’t pull out the win.”

The Cougars finished the regular season 13-7, (14-8 overall), which included four close 4-3 losses.

“Our schedule was a lot more demanding this year than last year. Other than the 4 losses to ranked teams, we lost to very good schools most of the time 4-3 and it would have been nice to grab a few more wins, but overall I’m proud of what this team did this year.” Severance said.

UH is also losing seniors Giorgia Pozzan and Laura Ring who were enormous pieces to Houston’s success the past few seasons

“A lot of credit to Giorgia. She came here and was a leader and really helped the team compete, and Laura made the best of her second opportunity and enjoyed her season here,” Severance said.

Pozzan leaves with a career singles and doubles record of 98-38 and ranks third in program history with her win percentage while Ring has a doubles record of 34-12 in three years with Houston.

“Next season I only look for UH tennis to get better, we have a good team and we’ll make some additions but we’ll have to wait and see,” Severance said about next season.

An eight-run second inning powered the Cougars to a 12-4 run-rule victory over Texas Southern on Tuesday at Cougar Softball Stadium.

Haley Outon started the inning with a walk and stole second and third base.  Jennifer Klinkert drove her in with a double to center field.

Jennifer Hooker, filling in at first base for the injured Jamie Edwards, knocked in two runs with a single.

Outon came to bat again in the inning and capped off the eight-run inning with a two-run home run, her team-leading 15th of the season.

But the Tigers weren’t out of the game just yet. TSU has the fourth highest team batting average in the nation and their bats came to work in the third inning. They scored two runs on three hits off freshman pitcher Summer Groholski to cut the deficit to 8-2.

The Cougars answered the attack by scoring four runs in the bottom of the inning to pad their lead to 12-2.

Melissa Gregson hit a two-run home run and finished the game batting 2-3 with two runs scored and five RBI.

TSU tried to extend the game in the fifth inning but scored only two runs.

UH is now 14-0 against their cross-street rival and have run-ruled TSU in 13 straight games.

Groholski threw a complete game and gave up eight hits and four runs while striking out two to improve to 7-4.

All 11 batters that played in the game for UH reached base.  Nine reached base by a hit, one reached on an error and the other hit by pitch.

Despite the gaudy offensive numbers, head coach Kyla Holas believes there is still room for improvement.

Holas stressed better pitch selection and execution.

“Offensively we need to get better, we have to choose strikes,” Holas said.

“We have been working really hard on our bunting and our base running and I thought neither of those showed up today.”

UH has a chance to improve in those areas tonight against Houston Baptist.  The game is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. This is the second ever meeting between the two teams with the Cougars taking a 6-0 victory over the Huskies.

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The Cougars finished sixth at the Conference USA Tournament on Tuesday at Texarkana Country Club.

UH finished 25 shots behind winner Memphis, who finished five under. Central Florida finished two shots behind them. East Carolina took third at five over, and UAB and SMU tied for fourth at nine over.

Coming into the final round of play, freshman Roman Robledo was tied on top the leaderboard, but ended up tying for fifth after shooting a 76. Robledo opened the final round with bogeys on four of the first five holes, and totalled seven bogeys for the round. Robledo finished with a score of 214 (-2) and was named to the All-Tournament Team.

Last season, sophomore Curtis Reed also tied for fifth and was named to the All-Tournament Team. This season, Reed shot a 74 in the final round to finish at 220 (+6) to finish 20th.

On May 7, the NCAA will announce the 81 teams and 45 individuals that qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

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Freshman Roman Robledo is tied atop the leaderboard and has the Cougars sitting six shots back of the top three heading into today’s final round of the Conference USA Championship.

Robledo opened with a 70 and followed by shooting a 68 in the second round at the par-72 course at Texarkana Country Club in Arkansas to stay even with Central Florida’s Greg Eason.

Robledo birdied four on the back nine, and six total in the second round.

The Cougars were tied for fifth after one round of play after shooting 292 as a team, but slipped to sixth with a 296 score in the second round.

“Overall, individually, we’ve done pretty well,” Robledo said. “We hit the ball well.

“Hopefully we’ll do better tomorrow.”

Helping Robledo carry the Cougars is sophomore Curtis Reed, who is tied for 12th.

Reed opened with a 69, tied for the second best first round score.

He slipped in the second round though, shooting a 77, bogeying four of the final five holes in the second round.

Junior James Ross has also had a solid showing for the Cougars, sitting at three-over after shooting scores of 74 and 75 in the opening rounds.

The Cougars other two golfers competing, Bryn Flanagan and Jesse Droemer, sit in 43rd and 53rd place, respectively.

“As a team, we all need to have a low round and show what we really have,” Robledo said.

“We need to be more aggressive, smarter targets, get the ball closer to the hole. If we can get four good scores in it would definitely boost our confidence.”

Weather has not been an issue thus far for the Cougars, despite some wind during play.

“The wind definitely played a factor,” Robledo said. “But it’s nothing that we haven’t dealt with before this season.”

Flanagan opens the final round for the Cougars at 8 a.m., followed by Droemer at 8:10 a.m., Ross at 8:20 a.m., Reed at 8:30 a.m. and Robledo at 8:40 a.m.

“We’re definitely going the right way,” Robledo said.

“We’re driving well, hitting the ball well. It’s just putting shots together.”

On May 7, UH will learn if the Cougars qualified for the NCAA Tournament. 81 teams and 45 individuals are invited to compete.

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“I think we did well, we had some athletes perform at their season’s best and we had a really solid relays, especially at the 4×400,” head coach Leroy Burrell said.

The men’s 4×100 meter relay team grabbed first place with a time of 40.16, becoming the sixth fastest time in program history for that event. The team consisted of Isaiah Sweeney, Errol Nolan, James Lang, and Mark’Quiz Frazier.

“We had some struggles there with injuries and of course the absence of Isaiah Sweeney, who was with football. He is back and I think we will be really strong,” Burrell said.

The men’s 4×400 meter relay team took first place with a time of 7:36.92. Sophmore Drevan Anderson-Kappa, and freshmen Anthony Coleman, Mark Fernando and Yonas Tesfai made up the young team.

Burrell said that he and his staff always felt the 4x400m team is an NCAA-caliber team.

“We are finally healthy and improving week in and week out, so we feel that team is up and going real smooth now,” Burrell said.

The women’s 4×100 meter shuttle hurdle team also snatched first place with a time of 54.49, as they participated for the first time in that event. The athletes on the team were Sade-Mariah Greenidge, Amber Sellers, Alicia Perkins, and DeMeeka Jones.

Another first place finish was added by the women’s 4×400 meter relay team, setting a season’s best time of 3:38.70 in the invite elite division. The team consisted of Whitney Harris, Brittany Wallace, Ciera Johnson and Ngozi Onwumere.

Burrell said that the 4×400 team has a little way to go, but they are definitely moving in the right direction.

“We have some athletes who were injured and some who have not being able to perform at the levels we feel they should,” Burrell said. “Athletes like David Boyd, Doug Kelly, Grecia Bolton, we were able to get them out there healthy and they performed very well.”

Cougars make a splash with recruiting class

The Cougars signed nine student-athletes to National Letters of Intent on Thursday, including Pennsylvania’s top boys track athlete of the year.

“We are very excited about Eric Futch. Obviously he heads our class,” Burrell said. “We have some work to do on the women’s side, but besides that we have made this one of the best classes that we have had.”

The highlight of the 2012 signing class, Futch is the 2011 Gatorade Pennsylvania’s boys athlete of the year.

The men’s team added six student-athletes: Pennsylvania’s Futch; Houston’s Ahmed Ali,  who ranks number one nationally in the 200m; Isaac Williams of Willingboro, N.J., currently ranked number one in the high jump during New Jersey’s 2012 outdoor season; Rio Grande’s Alejandro Garza; Royse City’s Joseph Beck, and Kingwood’s Josh Spiehler.

On the women’s side they added two distance runners in Meagan Shockley and Selena Sierra from Bridge City and Round Rock, respectively. Also sprinter Ashley Johnson from Silsbee.

Burrell said that the expectations are high for this class and expects the new athletes to make an immediate impact.

“We have a really good group and a lot of athletes returning as well, so we feel good where we are and the direction of the program,” Burrell said.

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The Cougars failed to take control of the top spot in Conference USA this weekend, falling in two of three games to first-place Tulsa.

UH (27-18, 12-6) now finds itself two games back.

Houston fell 3-2 in the opener.  Bailey Watts received the loss despite giving up no earned runs in a complete game effort.

The Cougars started quickly, scoring in the top of the first inning.  Leadoff hitter Holly Anderson opened the game with a single.  She later stole a base and scored on Melissa Gregson’s hit to center field.

But in the third inning, Kendra Cullum’s error aided the Hurricane’s three-run inning, which ultimately was the difference in the game.

Haley Outon’s 13th home run of the season in the fourth inning started a comeback, but the Cougars stranded two runners to end the threat.

UH managed to take game two behind freshman pitcher Summer Groholski.  She earned her first conference win to extend her record to 6-4.  She pitched seven strong innings and gave up no earned runs while striking out three.

The four-run third inning pushed the Cougars to a 5-2 victory of the Hurricanes.  UH hit two home runs in the game.  Freshman Jamie Edwards knocked in the first run with her solo homerun in the second inning and Outon hit a two-run homer in the third.

The Cougars’ sloppy play in the rubber game of the series was too much to overcome as they lost 5-3 to Tulsa.

UH stranded eight runners and committed three errors in the game.

Anderson was the top performer for the Cougars over the weekend. She batted .857 (6-7) with two walks and two runs over the three-game set and extended her hitting streak to 13 games.

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The Cougars claimed their first Conference-USA series victory of the season this weekend against Marshall.

In what was essentially a game to stay out of last place, the Cougars emerged victorious, winning 4-3 on Sunday at Cougar Field.

“For us to win two one-run ball games — two pretty dramatic games — at home, (will) hopefully will be a big boost for our ball club,” head coach Todd Whitting said. “It’s been a while since we won a series, so it’s good to get a series win.”

Marshall got on the scoreboard first, scoring two runs in the top of the second, but the Cougars cut the lead in half with a Jacob Lueneberg RBI single to center that scored Jonathan Davis, who reached earlier in the inning on a walk. The Thundering Herd and the Cougars both scored in their respective halves of the fourth to keep it a one-run game, 3-2.

With one out in the fifth inning, Price Jacobs reached base on a wild-pitch strikeout. He advanced to second on another wild pitch and scored on a Landon Appling single to left center to tie it at 3-3.

The game remained tied until the bottom of the eighth when Taylor White was intentionally walked to load the bases and set up a double play. But Price Jacobs sent a fly ball deep to the right-field foul territory that allowed Davis to tag up and score from third.

“I think the key was to just keep playing,” Whitting said. “They just kept fighting, fighting and fighting. When you do that, most of the time you’re going to win.”

Chase Wellbrock pitched 6 1/3 innings in relief of starter Matt Hernandez and allowed one run on six hits with four strikeouts.

In the series opener, the Cougars came out on top, 3-2. UH took an early 2-0 lead in the third inning after Appling led the frame off with a single to left field. Appling then stole second and third base and was driven in on a Chase Jensen double. The next batter, Casey Grayson, drove in Jensen with a single to left.

The Thundering Herd scored a run in the sixth inning and another in the eighth to knot it up at 2-2, but the Cougars would not be denied. With two outs in the inning, Appling singled to center and then stole second base. After a Lueneberg single to short, Jensen followed with the game winning RBI single up the middle.

Saturday’s game was another tight game, but it wound up as a reversal of fortunes for the Cougars, as they dropped the game 4-3. After Marshall scored an early run in the top of the fourth, UH responded in their half of the frame with three runs to take a 3-1 lead.

But the lead would not hold up as Marshall scored runs in the sixth, seventh and ninth to steal the game away from the Cougars.

The Cougars get an extended break with no mid-week game and get back in action on Friday when they head to Birmingham, Ala. to take on C-USA foe UAB for a three-game series.

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“We knew we needed to win out to secure good seeding and that’s exactly what we did,” head coach John Severance said.

UH finished the regular season 13-7, its 10th straight winning season and eighth under Severance.

The Cougars will meet up with Southern Miss today in Memphis, Tenn.

The Cougars played a tougher schedule this season in a bid to claim a national ranking and it should pay dividends in the tournament.

“Going into the conference tournament, I think we’re a more disciplined team, we don’t make the same mistakes we did earlier in the season and have cut down on the errors,” Severance said.

“We’ve had a lot of close matches this season and sometimes the breaks didn’t go our way but we battled and that showed a lot about this team.”

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“I had a great feel for the coaches and I wanted to be closer to home,” said Morris, who is from Alexandria, La. and attended Bolton High School.

As a sophomore, Morris, 6-0, averaged 16.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists and three steals per game in 31 games for the Blue Devils. In his two seasons at KCKCC, Morris led the Blue Devils to a 45-18 record. His play earned him a spot on All-Jayhawk Conference Second Team.

“We are thrilled to have Brandon join our Cougar family. He is an explosive lead guard with great court vision,” head coach James Dickey said. “He can defend as well as score. Brandon will add experience to our backcourt.”

Morris chose UH over Seton Hall, Mississippi State and Missouri State.

The Cougars have one scholarship remaining that they will most likely use on another post player.

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As a sophomore, Texada was an impact player for HBU, leading the team in scoring (12.3 ppg), rebounding (7.7 rpg) and shooting percentage (50.7).

Texada was recruited by Buchannan at HBU while he was their head coach.

As a freshman under Buchannan, she earned a spot on the Great West Conference All-Newcomer Team, averaging 8.6 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.

Texada will be eligible to play in Jan. 2013.

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With 15 games left on the conference schedule, the team can’t afford to have many more losses. The first three of those C-USA games will come this weekend as the Cougars welcome Marshall to Cougar Field. The series is slated to get underway on Friday at 6:30 p.m.

“It’s a huge series for us,” head coach Todd Whitting said. “We have to get things turned around in conference play. We have an opportunity against a conference opponent to improve our place in the standings and start climbing the ladder towards the top.”

Marshall (13-23, 1-8 C-USA) and UH (12-22-1, 1-7-1) sit together at the bottom of the standings, and while their records may not indicate it, both teams play a resilient brand of baseball.

“The team did a tremendous job of battling back on Sunday to tie that game after being eight runs down and then they did the exact same thing (Tuesday),” Whitting said. “We battled late, had a chance to win the game, but it just didn’t work out for us. We just don’t seem to catch any breaks right now.”

And they can’t expect to catch any breaks against Marshall either. Though The Herd isn’t a top contender, Whitting said, they aren’t going to roll over for the Cougars. He expects a tough series and knows that it’ll be a challenge.

“Marshall, on paper, doesn’t look like a very good team, but they gave Rice all they wanted last weekend up at Marshall,” Whitting said. “Every conference game is important, every non-league game is important, we just need to start winning as many of them as we can.”

UH and Marshall both come limping into the series, with each team having lost four straight games.

Leading The Herd at the plate is Nathan Gomez. He leads the club in hits, double and RBIs with 43, 12 and 30, respectively. He is also second on the team with a .321 batting average.

The Cougars have been getting more production at the plate as of late, scoring 18 runs in their last four games. In Tuesday’s loss, three players had two-hit games.

Both teams have had disappointing seasons thus far, but one team will emerge from the series with an upper hand of making it to the C-USA tournament in Pearl, Miss., while the other will be on the outside looking in. The top eight teams are invited to the C-USA tournament and Houston currently holds the eighth position.

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Holly Anderson earned C-USA Hitter of the Week honors, batting .562 to go with six runs and five steals.

Hendrick Rosemond/The Daily Cougar

The battle for first place in Conference USA continues as the Cougars play first-place Tulsa.

UH (26-16, 11-4 C-USA) is tied with UAB for second place in C-USA and are just one game behind Tulsa in what has become a logjam at the top of the standings.

The weekend series features the top two hitting teams in conference play and the only two teams with a combined average higher than .300.

The teams are also on top for scoring. Tulsa averages 5.34 runs per game and UH averages 5.25.

The Cougars pitching staff will need to keep junior outfielder Caitlin Everett off of the base paths in order to stop the Hurricane’s attack. Everett bats .387 and has an on-base percentage of .431. Once on base, she wreaks havoc with her speed. Everett has stolen 30 bases in 34 tries, which is good for sixth best in the nation. She also has scored a team-high 42 runs.

Anderson earns weekly honor

For UH, infielder Holly Anderson has gotten hot at the right time. The Conference USA Hitter of the Week has a 10-game hitting streak and had three multiple-hit games, while scoring six runs and stealing five bases.

UH has struggled on the road this season posting a record of 4-7 away from Cougar Softball Stadium. Tulsa is 11-2 at home.

Not only would wins against Tulsa (30-9, 12-3) move UH up the conference ladder, the Cougars would also gain more notoriety nationally.

Tulsa is ranked 34th in RPI while Houston are just behind at 46th.

The series kicks off at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, with the game being televised on Fox Sports Net. Game two is set to play at 5:30 p.m. with the last game of the series coming Sunday at noon.

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“We are thrilled to have Brandon join our Cougar family. He is an explosive lead guard with great court vision,” Dickey said. “He can defend as well as score. Brandon will add experience to our backcourt.”

Last season as a sophomore, Morris, 6-0, averaged 16.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists and three steals per game in 31 games for the Devils.

Morris visited the campus last weekend.

“I had a great feel for the coaches and I wanted to be closer to home,” Morris said.

Morris is from Alexandria, La. and chose UH over Seton Hall, Mississippi State and Missouri State.

The Cougars will have one scholarship remaining that they will most likely use on another post player.

If the Astrodome were to vanish tomorrow, like poof it’s gone like magic,  would you notice?

Would your daily life change in any significant or insignificant way? No, most likely not.

It would be nice if the fate of the Astrodome was a simple, “Should we keep it or blow it up?” kind of situation, but it’s not. The once one-of-a-kind arena is now a financial burden and will be whether it stays or goes, just how much of a burden is the question.

“It’s time to make a decision on the Astrodome and move forward,” County Judge Ed Emmett said to the Houston Chronicle.. “Once Commissioners Court makes a decision, just given the cost, we’re going to have to go to the voters and say, you agree or you don’t agree with this? The alternative could well be, ‘If you don’t like this best solution then it’s coming down.’”

As early as November, residents of Harris County will be able to vote on the future of the “Eighth Wonder of the World.” The county still owes $29.9 million  for the original construction of the building. Paying that cost is unavoidable, but what residents can decide is how much more of their tax money will go towards the Dome’s salvation or doom. To implode the Astrodome will cost a pretty penny, but to keep it around or even revive it in some other form would be even more expensive.

According to the Houston Chronicle, a 2010 report suggested that it would cost $78 million to demolish the Astrodome. But similar structures like the Kingdome in Seattle and the RCA Dome in Indianapolis were demolished for $10 and $13 million, respectively, so that figure might be exaggerated.

Getting rid of it would be the easy answer — stop the bleeding.

But it’s not so easy to just obliterate a structure that has played an important role in the cultural history of the city and UH athletics. The Cougars began playing football at the Astrodome in the 1965 season, and the Dome was also the home of the “Game of the Century” where No.2 UH took out No. 1 UCLA and John Wooden in the first primetime nationally televised college basketball game.

A KUHF report estimates that renovating the Dome to be back in usable condition would cost “upwards of $300 to $500 million.”

The Dome has been an important symbol for our city and a landmark unlike anything else when it opened. But, is it worth hundreds of millions of dollars to revive just so more money can be sunk into it to keep it up and running? Then there is the question of what to do with it if it was saved – the Astros aren’t moving back in.

Things come and go; people come and go; stadiums come and go. If the Yankees can knock down Yankee Stadium, then I think it’s ok to cut our financial losses and say goodbye to the Dome. It’s legacy is secure. It was a revolutionary structure and a part of the city’s history and culture, but to keep it sitting like a long-dormant volcano is not worth the cost.

sports@thedailycougar.com