Houston baseball made a statement over the weekend, brutally sweeping Grambling State.
The Cougars outscored the Tigers 46-9 in the series and have scored 102 runs in the past seven games.
Junior infielder Cade Climie, who played outfield during the series, went 4-for-7 with three home runs, one of which was a grand slam, seven runs scored and seven RBIs.
“Started the year a little slow. It was hard at first. The guys kept pushing me up, lifting me up to help be where I need to be,” Climie
said.
With the win, UH improves its record to 11-4 and nabs its fourth series win of the season.
Houston wins the opener in grand fashion
The Cougars took home the first game in grand fashion, 17-5, thanks to two grand slams on Friday. It was the first time the Cougars hit two grand slams in the same game since Jake Stewart accomplished the feat in 2008.
Climie got the first grand slam in the first inning to give UH a 6-0 lead.
Three innings later, sophomore outfielder Tre Broussard hit a grand slam of his own in the fourth down the left field line and over
the wall to make it 15-1 Cougars.
Before the second grand slam, senior infielder Aaron Lugo made a 3-run home run in the bottom of the third, making it 9-0.
Climie made the team’s final home run of the night, a lead-off long ball to make it a 16-1 game.
“We feel good. This is what we expected going into the year, and I think we are starting to fire on all cylinders,” Climie said.
Grambling looked like they were attempting to make a comeback late in the game, with four runs scored between the seventh and eighth inning, but it was just a consolation as Houston won the one-sided affair.
Junior pitcher Paul Schmitz got the win to go 3-1. He pitched five innings, striking out two batters, allowing just three hits and one earned run.
Houston wins game two in a shutout
A rinse-and-repeat of the last game, only this time the Tigers couldn’t muster up a single point as Houston destroyed Grambling State, shutting them out 16-0 to take game two on Saturday.
An all-around performance from the Cougars on both sides of the ball saw them get their first shutout win of the season in another demolition of the Tigers.
“It feels good, especially getting conference play next week,” McGinnis said.
UH’s offense was on point during the game, turning 15 hits into 14 RBIs.
The Cougars hit four more home runs. Climie and sophomore catcher Riley Jackson hit back-to-back homers in the bottom of the third.
Redshirt sophomore first baseman Xavier Perez hit a solo home run in the fifth. And Broussard made a 3-run homer in the seventh inning for his second of the series to make it 18 runs scored off eight home runs.
Grambling’s offense was kept quiet, as they only made two hits the entire game.
For the first time since March 6-8 2013, Houston recorded 10+ runs in a three-game stretch.
Senior pitcher Graysen Drezek got the win to go 2-0. He pitched six innings, striking out four batters, giving up only two hits, and
allowing no runs.
Junior infielder Connor McGinnis went 3-4, with three runs scored and two RBIs.
Perez went 3-5, with two runs scored and four RBIs.
Cougars bring out the brooms as they sweep Grambling
Despite not dominating to a degree like the last two games, UH won, 13-4, to sweep away the Tigers on Sunday.
This marks the team’s first series sweep of the season and their fourth series win.
The Cougars went full metal mayhem in the second inning and scored 10 runs, including back-to-back RBI singles, a 2-run single and three walks when the bases were loaded to take an 11-0 lead.
Grambling would score four runs between the fourth and fifth innings, but Houston still led 13-4 at that point.
Despite the Cougars going the last four innings without scoring a run, the Tigers couldn’t muster anything thanks to strong pitching and
fielding from Houston, as they completed the sweep.
The Cougars have scored 10+ runs in consecutive games for the first time since April 2002 when they beat Texas A&M 10-0 on April 9, 2002 and then swept Memphis Apr. 12-14 by scores of 15-1, 15-3 and 16-6.
Graduate pitcher Antoine Jean got the win to go 2-0. He pitched 1.1 innings, striking out three batters.
Sophomore pitcher Diego Luzardo got his first save of the season. He pitched three innings, striking out five batters and having only
one hit against him.
Junior infielder Tyler Cox went 2-3, with two runs scored and three RBIs.
“Four wins in a row, going into a big game against Sam Houston and then Big 12 play is absolutely huge. Just building on that momentum,” Cox said.
UH will look to keep the good times rolling as they travel to Huntsville on Wednesday, Mar. 12, to take on Sam Houston in the second game of the Don Sanders Cup. Then, they will return home for their first Big 12 season series against Texas Tech from Mach 14- 16.
