Cougars capture elusive Silver Glove

Freshman third baseman Jordan Stading missed home plate on his first slide after Rice junior catcher John Reeves missed the tag. Stading scampered back before to the bag before Reeves could get him out and scored a run during a 6-2 win that allowed UH to earn the Silver Glove. | Caitlin Hilton/The Daily Cougar

When Rice’s Ford Stainback hit a weak ball towards UH’s third baseman, Jordan Stading, the casual relay from third to first finished off the game and brought the Silver Glove back to the University of Houston for the first time in 14 years.

Then came the very audible bedlam.

The yelling and waving of skyward-extended paws against the backdrop of a scoreboard that read 6-2 in UH’s favor was the reaction to UH’s 20th win of the season against No. 10 Rice.

“This team’s got a lot of heart, and this meant a lot to them tonight. You can downplay it all you want, but it’s a big deal,” said head coach Todd Whitting. “It’s hung over our head for a while, and I’m really happy for our kids and our fans. The fans have been wanting this for a long time, and I’m proud for this group that they get to bring that trophy back over here for the first time in a long time.”

The turning point of the game happened early by baseball standards, when, after Rice scored two runs in the top of the first, UH got a second chance in the bottom of the first inning after second baseman Ford Stainback dropped the ball on what could have been a double or possibly a triple play that would have killed any form of UH momentum. Instead, UH put up six runs behind a double by second baseman Josh Vidales and a Stading single.

“Well, that was a great game tonight. We go out and give up two in the first and come back to answer back with not two but six,” Whitting said.

UH hitting was solid through the lineup as sophomore right fielder Kyle Survane went 2-4, and Vidales put in two RBI with a 1-4 night.

“It was kind of a rough start with them going up two to nothing, but with the hitters we have and the approach we have at the plate, I think we can go down at any point in the game and come back and win,” Vidales said.

UH started David Longville, a junior right hander, who went 4.1 innings, striking out four and walking one before being relieved by senior lefty Tyler Ford. Ford continued his dominance from his previous appearance against Rice by going 4.2 innings, striking out two, walking none and only allowing two hits while getting his third win of the season.

Rice, a top-five-ranked RPI team that has amassed a few lopsided scores, was handcuffed against Cougar pitching and athletic UH defensive plays that kept any Rice scoring threat from ever materializing.

The game, which saw only three hits after the frantic first inning, was a living example of UH’s winning formula: timely hitting accompanied by overpowering pitching, with the fortune and timing to have both turned on their crosstown rival before the start of conference play on Friday.

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