Baseball

Cougars hope Silver Glove Series win spurs strong conference season

After a midweek victory against Rice to earn the Silver Glove, UH will shift its focus toward Memphis for the open of AAC play on Friday. | Caitlin Hilton/The Daily Cougar

After a midweek victory against Rice to earn the Silver Glove, UH will shift its focus toward Memphis for the open of AAC play on Friday. | Caitlin Hilton/The Daily Cougar

Coming off their first Silver Glove victory in 14 years, the Cougars expect to improve during their first season in the American Athletic Conference.

No. 17 UH made its mark on the college baseball scene with the No. 1 pitching staff in the nation, in terms of ERA (1.53). The Cougars have backed up their defense with clutch hitting when facing two strikes and two outs.

The Cougars (20-4) are on a five-game winning streak and are looking to last season’s shortcomings during conference play. Head coach Todd Whitting said the win against Rice brought UH more than the Silver Glove.

“It is a signature win, but the main thing about this win is it helps our resume. As far as building the resume for the NCAA tournament, this is a huge win for our RPI. They were top five in any RPI poll you look at, so it’s a big win for us any way you slice it.”

UH opens AAC play at 6:30 p.m. Friday against Memphis for the first of a three-game weekend series. Sophomore infielder Josh Vidales said the 6-2 Silver Glove-clinching win was the right lead into conference play.

“We have a lot of confidence going into Memphis, and we don’t expect anything less than a sweep,” Vidales said. “With the hitters we have and the approach we have at the plate, I think we can go down at any point of the game and come back to win.”

After improving his record to 3-0 on the year, senior pitcher Tyler Ford was happy with the work his team has put in.

“Getting any win is a big deal, but this game showed that our team can beat any team in the nation,” Ford said. “We just need to keep doing what we’re doing, because we’re playing great baseball.”

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