The Cougars picked up their third straight series win Sunday and moved into a tie for first place in the AAC as they took down the USF Bulls for the deciding win of the series in a 6-2 victory.
Trailing by one, Houston was scoreless through the first four innings. In the top of the fifth with one out, the Cougars rallied as junior Ian Rice doubled down left field. Junior Ashford Fulmer was walked, leading to a 2-RBI triple from junior outfielder Kyle Survance, giving the Cougars a 2-1 lead.
Houston added one more run in the inning as junior second baseman Josh Vidales flied out to centerfield for a sac-fly, scoring Survance.
USF answered with one run in the bottom of the sixth, but Houston responded with two runs of their own. Rice hit a double to left center and advanced to third with a sacrifice bunt by Fulmer. Survance scored Rice with a single and Vidales doubled to left center to score Survance.
Houston’s freshman starting pitcher Seth Romero pitched for six innings, recording seven hits, two runs and nine strike outs through his tenure on the mound.
Junior Patrick Wiegel replaced the southpaw, facing only one batter for a walk. Weigel was later replaced by freshman Aaron Fletcher, who pitched for three innings, giving up two hits with no runs, no walks and only one strike-out for the save.
With the Cougars winning two games of the conference series, their record improves to 9-6 in the American Athletic Conference; their overall record improves to 29-15. Houston will return home to face off against the Sam Houston State Bearkats on Tuesday at Cougar Field.
It’s amazing that the Cougars are in first place with so many injuries this season. I can only imagine what this season would have been like had everyone been healthy.