The Cougars tied up their weekend conference series in game two on Saturday with a 9-8 victory over the USF Bulls.
From the beginning of the game, the Cougars wasted no time setting things in motion when junior outfielder Kyle Survance hit a home run on the first pitch in the top of the first.
The Bulls, however, retaliated with two scores of their own against junior right-hander Kyle Dowdy in the bottom of the first to take the lead.
After a scoreless second inning, junior catcher Ian Rice stood at bat with a 0-1 count before giving Houston its second homerun of the evening, tying the game in top of the third. With freshman outfielder Zac Taylor being walked to first, Survance doubled down right field, advancing Taylor to third and then home after a throwing error by the Bulls second baseman.
Survance would later advance to third on a wild pitch and junior second baseman Josh Vidales would reach first on a fielding error, earning an RBI as Survance scored.
Designated hitter Jacob Campbel would continue the Cougars’ rally as he homered to score Vidales and gave Houston a 6-2 lead in the top of the third.
The Cougars remained scoreless for the next two innings while the Bulls managed to score in the bottom of the fifth. In top of the sixth, however, Houston’s offense would pick back up as a seried of hits lead to a Vidales RBI-single. Houston topped off the inning with a 2-RBI triple from Campbell.
Dowdy’s performance was not as stellar as his previous game, allowing 14 hits, six runs, two walks and one hit-by-pitch through 8.1 innings.
Senior Aaron Garza replaced Dowdy on the mound in the bottom of the ninth and faced three batters and allowed two hits and two runs.
Head coach Todd Whitting would substitute the senior with freshman southpaw, Seth Romero, for the save, striking out the last batter to finish the game.
With Saturday’s win, Houston’s record in the American Athletic Conference improves to 8-6 and 25-18 overall. The Cougars finish the series against the Bulls Sunday at noon.
