The Cougars will be hoping to even their record on their four-game road trip with a win against the Cowboys. | File photo/The Cougar
The Cougars travel to Lake Charles, Louisiana on Tuesday to take on the McNeese State University Cowboys. Tuesday marks the final game of the Cougars’ road trip, where they’ll look to reach an even record for the four-game stint after losing a series to the No. 19 East Carolina University Pirates.
During the first two games of the weekend, the Pirates were able to silence the Cougar bats. Over two games, Houston managed to scratch just two runs. Senior Justin Montemayor was one of the lone bright spots in the Cougar offense. Montemayor hit .500 and notched Houston’s only RBI of the first two games.
The Cougars woke up in the series finale, however, thanks to timely hitting by senior Josh Vidales and redshirt sophomore Connor Hollis, as well as stellar pitching from freshman Mitch Ullom. The combined effort helped the Cougars avoid a series sweep with a 6-1 victory.
“That was a big win for us today against a really good ECU team,” said head coach Todd Whitting in a Sunday news release. “That is one of the better teams in the country. To come in here and scrap one after falling into a little bit of tough luck during the first two days was big. Mitch Ullom was huge for us today. I thought he pitched really, really well. Bubba (Maxwell) coming out of the bullpen was really good.”
The Cougars are now 17-10 this year and tied in the loss column with their 2015 season at this point in the calendar.
McNeese State is coming off of a tough extra-innings loss to Northwestern State University. The Cowboys got a run in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to extra innings, but an RBI single to center field would be the downfall for the Cowboys as they fell 8-7.
First pitch is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday at Cowboy Diamond field. After the matchup, the Cougars return home to host the University of Central Florida Knights in an American Athletic Conference weekend series Friday through Sunday at Darryl & Lori Schroeder Park.
