April 6, 2008

Final Stats

Houston-UCF Game Book (April 6, 2008) in PDF Format

HOUSTON - The University of Houston baseball team scored five runs in the first inning and never looked back again on the way to a 14-7 win over No. 25 UCF on Sunday during the finale of a Conference USA series at Cougar Field.

After falling behind 1-0 in the first half inning, the Cougars scored at least two runs in each of the first three innings, with five-run innings in the first and third frames, and were never threatened again.

The Cougars pounded out a season-high 19 hits and posted 14 runs in a game for the fourth time during the 2008 campaign. Every Cougar starter had at least one hit in the game while eight players enjoyed multi-hit games.

Senior infielder Bryan Pounds went 3-for-6 with a double, three runs and an RBI and has hit safely in 25 of the 27 games in which he has played. Senior second baseman Ryan Lormand went 3-for-5 with three runs, two stolen bases and three RBIs, while senior reliever/outfielder Bryan Tully batted 2-for-5 with a run, double and RBI.

Freshman shortstop Blake Kelso went 2-for-6 with a double, two runs and an RBI to extend his hitting streak to 11 straight games. Sophomore catcher Chris Wallace batted 2-for-4 with a run and three RBIs, while freshman outfielder Matt Murphy batted 2-for-5 with a run. Sophomore infielder Austin Goolsby batted 2-for-5 with two RBIs, and sophomore outfielder Zak Presley finished the day 2-for-4 with a run, triple and two RBIs.

Tully came out of the bullpen to earn the win after allowing three runs off three hits and two walks with a pair of strikeouts in three innings.

UCF starter Carmine Giardina collected the loss and fell to 2-1 after giving up seven runs off 10 hits and a walk with two strikeouts in only two innings.

First baseman Evan Stobbs went 3-for-4 with two runs, a home run and a game-high four RBIs to lead the UCF offense, which rapped out 11 hits in the game. Shortstop Eric Kallstrom went 2-for-4 with a run and RBIs, while DH Robert Lara batted 2-for-3 with a run in the losing effort.

With the win, the Cougars improved to 19-10 overall and 5-1 in C-USA games. The Cougars also won their fifth straight game against a ranked opponent, the first time that feat has been accomplished since 2002. UCF fell to 22-11 overall and 2-7 in C-USA.

The Cougars also earned their first C-USA home series sweep since winning three straight against UCF on May 5-7, 2006.

The Cougars return to action at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, when they play host to No. 16 Texas A&M at Cougar Field. Fans can hear Cougar Baseball games live at UHCougars.com by clicking the appropriate links. Jeremy Branham will call the play-by-play action while former letterwinner Pat Cauley provides color analysis.

Fans always can follow live stats by clicking on the Gametracker link.

UCF grabbed its first lead of the series in the first inning when Brandon Romans' two-out single and a Cougar miscue in the outfield allowed Ryan Richardson to score from first base.

However, the UCF lead would not last long. Kelso and senior outfielder Jake Stewart led off with back-to-back singles and teamed up on a double steal before Pounds single to right field allowed Kelso to score and knot the game at 1-1. Two batters later, Lormand lifted a sacrifice fly into center field to plate Stewart.

After a walk to Chris Wallace and a single from Murphy, Goolsby smashed an RBI-single through the left side to plate Pounds. Zak Presley then lifted a looping single into shallow right center to plate Wallace and Murphy for a 5-1 Cougar advantage.

UCF added a single run in the top of the second when Stobbs' sacrifice fly plated Auer, who led off with a double.

In the next half inning, the Cougars added two more runs on back-to-back RBI-singles from Lormand and Wallace.

The Cougars broke the game open with five more runs in the third inning, thanks to three hits and a pair of UCF infield errors. Wallace highlighted the rally with a two-run single, while Kelso added an RBI-double in the frame.

In the fourth inning, Richardson drew a bases-loaded walk, and Stobbs blasted a two-run home run to right field in the fifth inning to pull the Cougars to within 12-5.

Goolsby handed the Cougars a 13-5 lead in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI-single to left field that plated Lormand, who led off with a single to left.

In the sixth inning, Pounds led off with a double to left center and scored easily on Tully's RBI-single to right field.

UCF added single runs in the seventh and eighth innings, thanks to Stobbs' RBI-single and a bases-loaded walk to Kallstrom, respectively, but could muster no more offense in the game.