UH can’t catch break, loses two straight

It seemed like head coach Todd Whitting was against the world at times during the 2-1 loss to TCU in the finale of the Houston College Classic on Sunday.

In the third inning there was a foul tip that, to the best available observation, wasn’t one. Later in the sixth inning, TCU third baseman Derek Odell veered from to the interior of the baseline and collided with sophomore pitcher Jared West.

Whitting’s issue was not the collision but the fact that it was not called interference. In about an eight-minute span, Whitting argued with the first-base umpire over the call while repeatedly pointing at Minute Maid Park’s large screen. The UH crowd was vocally at Whitting’s literal back as he argued and pointed squarely at the screen as proof that Odell had intentionally moved into West’s path in hopes of getting to first.

“They never even saw it. See, I don’t think they even know what I’m talking about,” Whitting said after the game, which was UH’s second loss in a row. “It’s a judgment call. We thought it should have gone one way; it didn’t. Those are three great umpires, and they called it like they thought they saw it.”

The game produced another solid performance by UH pitching. West threw 5.1 innings and struck out three batters and walked one. West, who allowed four hits during his time on the mound, was let down by several defensive miscues.

“(TCU) scored one run because we can’t play catch,” Whitting said. “The second is just that you have to throw your body in front of that ball. Those aren’t really things you can work on. They were mindset issues.”

As a saving grace, five UH players were named to the All-Tournament team: senior first baseman Casey Grayson, sophomore outfielder Kyle Survance, senior Jacob Lueneberg and junior pitcher Aaron Garza. Garza was the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

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