Baseball Sports

UH baseball remains hot, takes series against Wichita State

Ryan Hernandez hit home runs No. 7 and 8 on the year over the weekend in UH baseball's series victory over Wichita State. | James Mueller/The Cougar

Ryan Hernandez hit home runs No. 7 and 8 of the year over the weekend in UH baseball’s series victory over Wichita State. | James Mueller/The Cougar

UH baseball picked up its fourth consecutive series win in American Athletic Conference play, taking two of three on the road against Wichita State over the weekend.

The Cougars, who improved to 12-6 in conference play, sit second in the AAC standings with two weeks remaining in the regular season.

Here is a closer look at each game from the weekend:

Game one

After falling behind 3-0 after two innings, UH clawed its way back to take the series opener 7-4.

RBI hits from sophomore right fielder Alex Lopez and junior shortstop Ian McMillan got the Cougars within one run of the Shockers. With the bases loaded and one out in the sixth, freshman center fielder Malachi Lott delivered the big swing of the night, hitting a bases-clearing double down the right field line to put the Cougars in front.

A two-run blast from senior first baseman Ryan Hernandez in the eighth inning added some insurance runs for UH,

Junior right-hander Ben Sears recorded the final six out of the game to pick up his tenth save of the season.

Game two

Pitching struggles plagued UH on Saturday afternoon as Wichita State evened the series with a 12-4 win.

A pair of RBI singles put the Cougars up 2-0 in the third inning, but the Shockers answered with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning.

A Hernandez solo home run and an RBI double from junior DH Brandon Uhse put the Cougars back in front in the fourth.

From there, it was all Wichita State as the Shockers’ offense exploded for 10 runs on seven hits to cruise to a victory.

Junior southpaw Kyle LaCalameto, who got the start on the bump for the Cougars, was responsible six runs and 10 of the Shockers’ hits on his way to picking up the loss.

Game three

Sunday afternoon’s rubber match featured a ton of offense from both sides.

Sophomore catcher started things off with a two-run shot to left in the first to give UH the early lead.

Wichita State second baseman Brock Rodden answered with a two-run homer in the bottom half of the inning to even things up.

Down 3-2, the Cougars strung together a six-run third inning which appeared to blow the game open. Once again, the Shockers responded and cut the deficit to one run after five innings of play.

The Cougars tacked on three runs in the sixth, extending the lead to four runs.

Sears came out of the bullpen and recorded the final 13 outs, allowing just one run, to seal an 11-8 UH victory.

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