It is no secret that a high percentage of the Lone Star State’s college sports fans are wearing either Texas’ burnt orange or Texas A’M’s maroon and white. Today, UH hopes to turn Cougar Field into a sea of Scarlet and Albino White.
At 6:30 p.m., the Collegiate Baseball No. 19 ranked Cougars will host the No. 12 Aggies for the 157th time in school history. The Aggies hold the all-time series lead with a record of 103-52-1.
"I think momentum is a huge factor," senior second baseman Ryan Lormand said. "Any time you can sweep a conference opponent, especially being at home, I think the momentum is going to be in our favor."
Lormand is coming off a 7-for-12 weekend, scoring five runs and driving in three. He is now hitting .336 on the season, good for fourth on the team, along with 40 hits and 27 RBIs.
Senior infielder Bryan Pounds will also attempt to keep his bat hot (.431, 6 HR and 38 RBIs on the season) as he faces Texas A’M. Pounds doesn’t feel the Cougars will be intimidated when they face the popular opponent.
"It’s always fun playing Big 12 (Conference) teams. There’s nothing better than playing big ball clubs," Pounds said. "I think we match up with anybody. If we play our game we can play with anybody."
Head coach Rayner Noble agrees.
"I think our guys look forward to those types of environments," Noble said.
Houston (19-10) will send freshman Jared Ray to the mound tonight. Ray will make his fifth start of the season and is still looking for his first decision of the season. In his last start, he pitched 5 1/3 innings giving up four runs on nine hits to Rice.
"Ray will get an opportunity to mature a little bit hopefully against the Aggies and throw the ball like he’s capable of throwing it," Noble said.
The Aggies (26-6) will send sophomore right-hander and St. Pius graduate Scott Migl out to face the Cougars. Migl is 1-1 on the season with a 5.47 ERA. He threw just three innings in his last start, giving up three runs on six hits against Texas-San Antonio.
Texas A’M has won nine consecutive games heading into Houston and will be no easy opponent for the Cougars. Their offense leads the Big-12 with a .321 batting average and is second in the league with 248 runs and 34 homeruns. They also lead the conference in fielding percentage at .972.
