UH baseball’s rough start to the 2023 season continued over the weekend as the Cougars were swept by Oklahoma. | Raphael Fernandez/The Cougar
The UH baseball team struggled in a three-game series with Oklahoma over the weekend, dropping all three games to fall to 5-10 on the new season.
Game 1
Friday’s series opener began with the Cougars competing formidably, but Oklahoma went on a rampage, and UH suffered a 13-1 battering.
Oklahoma put a run on the board in the first inning to take the early lead, but Houston was able to stave off the Sooners strengthening their lead in the following series of innings.
On a solo home run to left field, junior third baseman Zach Arnold put UH on the board, leveling the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the third inning.
Arnold’s homer proved to be the only saving grace for the Cougars.
Oklahoma proceeded to bring two runs home in the following inning, and scored six runs in the fifth inning to pull away to a commanding 9-1 lead.
UH had no answers, and the Sooners were not done, piling on a few more runs to finish the series opener.
Game 2
Things didn’t get much better for UH in Saturday’s rematch, losing to the Sooners 8-3.
In the first inning, the Cougars were the ones to get on the board first thanks to a double to right-center field by junior designated hitter Alex Lopez.
However, Oklahoma followed with another commanding series of innings, bringing seven runs home unanswered.
In the eighth inning down 8-1, UH made a final push, scoring two runs. However, it was too little, too late, and UH lost the second game of the series.
Game 3
In the final game of the weekend series, UH finally showed some signs of life, nearly completing a six-run comeback before falling 7-6 in the series finale.
The first run of the game was scored by Oklahoma, coming on a solo right-field home run.
In the fourth, UH answered with a run on a fly-out from sophomore left fielder Cameron Nickens.
The fifth inning saw the Cougars take a slim 2-1 lead thanks to an RBI single by redshirt senior infielder Ian McMillan.
But the Sooners had an answer.
In the sixth and seventh innings, the Sooners scored six total runs, once again putting themselves in the driver’s seat for the third straight matchup against UH.
UH did not give up so easily.
UH put up four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, scoring runs on a single from junior infielder Nick Collins, an Arnold out and a double from junior catcher Anthony Tulimero, the latter bringing home two runs.
UH’s eighth-inning performance was enough to put them within one run, trailing just 7-6, but the Cougars were unable to tie the game and ended up losing the Sunday matchup.
