After claiming their third series win in a row and a tie for first place in the American Athletic Conference, the Cougars are set to return to Cougar Field at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday to take on the Sam Houston State Bearkats in a non-conference match-up.
The Cougars are now 29-15 on the year and 9-6 in AAC play as they are tied with the Memphis Tigers, the USF Bulls and the East Carolina Pirates for first place in the conference. All but the Bulls have 29 wins on the year outside of conference.
The Cougars look to move to 30 wins against the Bearkats, though; the last time the two teams met, Houston left with 17 runs on 19 hits to take down Sam Houston.
The Cougars’ offense looks to come alive against the Bearkats again as they are coming off an 11-hit, six-run effort to close out their series against the Bulls. The offense has been spearheaded by junior catcher Ian Rice’s on-base streak of 13 games and the conference-leading tie of junior outfielder Kyle Survance and freshman shortstop Connor Wong with four triples each.
Freshman pitcher Seth Romero represented the Cougar pitching staff well against the Bulls, as he tied his career-high nine strikeouts and earned the honor of American Pitcher of the Week.