The Cougars’ pitching staff seemed to have little difficulty recording the first two outs against USA Today/ESPN No. 11 Texas A’M on Tuesday night, but snagging the third out was another story.
The Aggies tagged the Cougars for 17 hits in a 13-6 win at Cougar Field, scoring 11 of their runs with two outs. Texas A’M, which claimed its tenth consecutive win, jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in the first inning, and capped off its wild offensive night by scoring eight runs over the final five innings.
UH (19-11) saw its three-game winning streak snapped and its pitching staff experience another pitfall in a season full of them. Freshman starter Jared Ray had the roughest outing, surrendering seven runs (two earned) on 10 hits and zero walks in 4 2/3 innings. The three relievers who followed failed to stop the bleeding, combining to give up six runs (five earned) off seven hits.
"We didn’t pitch very well when we got two strikes on guys, especially with two outs," UH head coach Rayner Noble said. "That’s a good ballclub over there (in Texas A’M), and you’ve got to make quality pitches when you get them down."
Ray’s demise came early with Texas A’M (27-6) chasing him for five runs in the first inning. He almost escaped damage after getting a 1-2 count on Aggies junior first baseman Luke Anders in a two-out, bases-loaded situation, but Anders stroked a two-run single to right field to give Texas A’M a 2-0 lead.
The next batter, junior catcher Brian Ruggiano, followed with a deep fly ball that wasn’t hit particularly hard, but landed over the wall in left field for a three-run homer.
The homer dropped Ray into a hole that the Cougars couldn’t dig him out of.
"I think it was a just a matter of pitches were being elevated, and I think if he just keeps the ball down a little bit better, then those turn into more of a ground ball than flares," Noble said.
Ray’s counterpart, sophomore right-hander Scott Migl, gave up two runs over the first three innings, but settled down to toss a career-high 7 2/3 innings. Migl, a Houston native, gave up five runs (two earned), but three of those came in the bottom of the eighth when the game was well out of reach.
"Migl did a nice job for them," Noble said. "He walked a few guys, but he made the pitch when he needed to make it."
The Cougars’ only bright moment of Tuesday night’s game came when junior right-hander Ricky Hargrove entered the game in the top of the ninth, making his first appearance since pitching in an NCAA regional elimination game against Oklahoma on June 3, 2006.
Hargrove, who missed all of last season with a shoulder injury, faced four batters and gave up one run on one hit.
"I can’t even describe how happy I am," said Hargrove, who has struggled to regain his former velocity this season. "I haven’t throw in a game in I don’t know how long, and it felt great to get back out there. I think that arm strength will build as I’m able to pitch more."
The Cougars head to San Marcos today to face Texas State at 6:30 p.m.
