Cougars drop series to No. 15 West Virginia, drop four games under .500 for first time since 2023

Houston baseball came into this past weekend’s series against No. 15 West Virginia in need of conference play success. 

Coming into the series, Houston was a measly 3-12 in conference play and ranked last in the Big 12.

West Virginia, on the other hand, had been enjoying elongated success, heading into the series at 25-8 overall, coming off a win against Penn State and was tied for second in the Big 12 with the UCF Knights.

Houston tasted success against the Mountaineers quickly, as it came across its third win against a top-25 squad this season.

The momentum for the Cougars was short-lived however, as they dropped the latter two games after securing the upset victory in the opening matchup of the three-game series in Morgantown, W. VA.

After putting up double-digit runs in the opener, the Cougars were outscored 14-4 for the remainder of the series.

Houston is now 3-5 in top-25 matchups.

Fields’ first career home run, 4-RBI night pushes Cougars past Mountaineers in opener

Houston collected its third win over a ranked opponent this season when it took down West Virginia 10-7 in the series opener.

Freshman infielder Blake Fields watched his first career home run go over the left field wall in the ninth inning, to give Houston a 10-5 lead and help put away a Mountaineer comeback attempt.

Senior infielder Cade Climie hit his fourth home run of the season as four Cougars had multiple hits in the contest.

Along with Fields, senior infielder Tyler Cox, junior catcher Riley Jackson and redshirt sophomore outfielder Xavier Perez recorded two hits.

Sophomore right-hander Kendall Hoffman earned his second win of the season after striking out two and allowing four earned runs in 6.2 innings. 

Junior right-hander Richie Roman earned the save after striking out three and allowing two runs over the final 2.1 innings.

Four runs coming from Perez, Jackson and Climie’s two-run shot gave Houston a 4-0 lead in the third inning before West Virginia responded with a RBI single from sophomore infielder Matt Ineich.

After Jackson’s second and third RBI and Fields’ two-out RBI double put Houston up 8-1 in the top of the seventh, the Mountaineers responded with four runs in the bottom-half of the inning.

Junior infielder Tyrus Hall’s solo shot cut Houston’s lead to 8-2 before Ineich added another RBI single on two outs. Then, a bases-loaded walk and a run awarded on a catcher’s interference slimmed the Cougar’s advantage to 8-5 as they went to the eighth.

The two clubs exchanged two runs in the final frame, with Houston’s coming off Fields’ aforementioned home run and West Virginia’s coming off graduate outfielder Sean Smith’s two-out RBI single.

Smith scored three runners to lead West Virginia in RBI while Ineich led in hits with three.

Junior right-hander Dawson Montesa was given the loss after allowing five total runs with four being earned off seven hits in 4.1 innings.

Bats go dry for Houston in middle game, West Virginia forces rubber game finale

Houston’s offense couldn’t get much going in the middle game of the series as it scratched across its only run in the seventh inning to fall 7-1.

The run came when senior infielder Antonelli Savattere grounded into a double play to score Climie, cutting West Virginia’s lead to 4-1.

Climie and Fields contributed four of Houston’s five hits in 29 at-bats, as the team hit .172 as a team in the contest. Climie and Fields led the team with two hits each.

West Virginia’s offense, on the contrary, was able to turn it on after four innings of a scoreless tie, scoring all seven runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.

Although he allowed just three hits and tallied seven strikeouts, senior right-hander Paul Schmitz was given the loss after he gave up four earned runs and walked four batters.

When Schmitz was replaced by freshman right-hander Caden Cooper in the sixth with two out, Cooper immediately gave up two RBI singles to help extend the Mountaineers lead to 4-0.

Cooper gave up another two runs before being replaced by junior right-hander Alex Solis, who got out of the inning and didn’t allow another run.

Each of the final seven West Virginia batters in the lineup recorded a hit, adding to a team total of 10 hits. Junior utility hitter Armani Guzman and senior outfielder Brock Wills led the way for the Mountaineers with two hits.

Graduate right-hander Ian Korn earned his third win as he pitched five innings of one-run ball and struck out four batters.

Offense stays cold in series finale, finds just two hits to give West Virginia series win

For seven innings, the Cougars were shut out as West Virginia carried a no-hitter until the eighth inning to beat Houston in the finale 7-3.

Sophomore infielder Jackson LaLima broke up West Virginia’s no-hitter when he sent a double to left field.

Senior infielder Tyler Cox was the other Cougar to find a hit in the game when he singled down the right field line in the ninth.

Houston found itself in a 7-0 hole before finally coming across its first run in the eighth when sophomore outfielder Xavier Perez reached on a fielding error by graduate second baseman Brodie Kresser to score two.

Climie tacked on a sacrifice fly to score junior outfielder Tre Broussard later in the eighth.

The loss was given to freshman right-hander Connor Udland, who allowed two earned runs and walked two batters in his single inning pitched.

Houston had just two hits as a team while West Virginia came across 10.

Sophomore right-hander Chansen Cole was awarded the win to improve his record to 6-1 after he held a no-hitter and struck out five in his five innings.

Four Mountaineers had two hits in the game with Kresser and senior catcher Matthew Graveline smacking home runs.

The Cougars now find themselves four games under .500 for the first time since March 11, 2023, in their final season in the American.

Next, the 17-21 Cougars will make the trip back to Houston when they play Rice at Reckling Park on April 21 at 6:30 p.m.