May 17, 2008

Final Stats

Complete Houston-Marshall Game Book (May 17, 2008) in PDF Format

HOUSTON - Playing in their final home games, seniors Jake Stewart, Bryan Tully, Ryan Lormand and Bryan Pounds combined for nine hits, nine runs and six RBIs to lead the University of Houston baseball team to a 10-5 win Saturday over Marshall during the finale of a Conference USA series at Cougar Field.

The Cougars scored four runs twice in the game during the third and sixth innings. In each of those frames, Stewart reached safely by a one-out walk or hit and then saw his fellow seniors rap out three straight hits later in the frame to highlight the scoring.

After jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the third inning, Marshall pulled to within a run with three runs in the fourth inning. But the Cougars scored one in the fifth and broke the game open with four runs - courtesy of six straight hits at one point - to earn the series sweep and record their 24th home win of the season, tying the 1999 squad for the most wins at the friendly confines of Cougar Field.

Stewart went 1-for-4 with two runs, while Lormand batted 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs. Pounds batted 2-for-4 with a double, three runs and three RBIs, while Tully finished the day 4-for-4 with two runs, two RBIs and two stolen bases.

In addition to his performance at the plate, Tully earned the win after allowing only two runs off three hits and two walks with a strikeout in three innings of relief.

Sophomore catcher Chris Wallace went 4-for-5 with a double and three RBIs to pace the Cougar offense, which outhit the Thundering Herd 16-10.

Freshman closer Chase Dempsay picked up his team-leading and UH-freshman-record 10th save after throwing 1.2 innings of perfect relief.

Adam Yeager went 2-for-5 with a triple, run and RBI, while Jeff Rowley batted 2-for-4 with an RBI in the losing effort.

Marshall starter Ian Kadish collected the loss and fell to 1-3 after giving up four runs off six hits and two walks in four innings.

The four Cougar seniors, along with senior manager Nike Sheffer and injured pitcher Dereck Cloeren, were honored in pregame activities.

With the win, the Cougars improved to 34-21 overall and 14-10 in C-USA games. The Cougars also earned the No. 4 seed at the 2008 C-USA Championship and will face No. 5 seed East Carolina at 9 a.m., Wednesday during a first-round game.

Marshall fell to 26-28-1 overall and 10-13-1 in league games and will compete as the No. 6 seed against No. 3 Tulane at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday at the C-USA Championship.

Fans can hear all 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.

The Cougars put their first mark on the scoreboard in the fourth inning with a two-out rally. Stewart drew a one-out walk and scored easily when Lormand laced a double down the left-field line. Pounds followed with a double of his own down the left-field line to score Lormand and scored when Tully smashed an RBI-single into center field. After swiping second base, Tully scored on Wallace's RBI-single into center field for a 4-0 Cougar lead.

Marshall wasted little time in trimming the deficit back to one with back-to-back-to-back RBI-singles from Josh Valle, Blake Sanders and Rowley in the top of the fourth.

The Cougars doubled their lead in the fifth inning with a single run with another two-out rally. After a walk to Pounds and Tully's single to right center, Wallace laced an RBI-double down the right-field line to plate Pounds for a 5-3 Cougar lead.

In the sixth inning, the Cougars struck for four more runs off six straight hits. After the first three hits by Zak Presley, Jimmy Cesario and Lormand loaded the bases, Pounds lined a single up the middle to plate Stewart and Cesario. Tully followed with a single to center field to score Lormand, and Wallace's bunt single plated Pounds for a 9-3 Cougar lead.

Marshall answered with two runs in the next half inning, courtesy of Yeager's RBI-triple to right center and Brandon Casamassima's RBI-single through the right side.

The Cougars added a single run in the eighth inning. Tully smashed a one-out single to center, stole second, moved to third following a wild pitch and scored easily on Caleb Ramsey's RBI-single to right field.