LaLima shines in nine-hole as Houston splits back-to-back midweek games to Southland Conference

In wrapping up its season-long nine-game road trip and beginning a five-game homestand, Houston baseball split back-to-back midweek contests over Southland Conference programs April 28-29. 

But amidst the ups and downs of the stretch, sophomore infielder Jackson LaLima provided sparks to the Cougars’ offensive output out of an almost-unlikely spot.

The approach? It’s simple: “Getting on base, for sure,” LaLima said.

Taking that simple focus out of the Cougars’ nine-hole, he translated it to batting .455 with three homers over his last 11 at-bats dating back to April 25. 

Now that Houston enters the final three conference series, LaLima’s late-season production is just one piece of what the Cougars need clicking to crawl back into Big 12 tournament contention, as their season is on the line with 11 games remaining. 

Former Cougar DeJesus, Jacks’ bullpen chops Houston at Jaycees Field

Missed opportunities were defined by Houston’s 3-for-13 mark with runners on against Stephen F. Austin’s bullpen. For every time coach Matt Vanderburg went to a fresh arm when faced with a jam, it appeared to work in the Lumberjacks’ favor.

Only LaLima accounted for the Cougars’ scoring efforts up to the seventh inning, while former Cougar and senior infielder Coby DeJesus created the bulk of Stephen F. Austin’s 5-2 win Tuesday at Jaycees Field in Nacogdoches, Texas, its first win over Houston since April 21, 2009.

DeJesus, a nearby Diboll native who spent the first three seasons of his collegiate career at Houston, capitalized out of the Lumberjacks’ two-out rally in the home first, after freshman right-hander Caden Cooper retired the first two batters on 10 pitches. 

For the second straight batter, Cooper was one strike away from retiring the side before DeJesus took an 0-2 hole into center field for a two-run single, putting SFA up 2-0 early. 

Four innings later, LaLima contributed the game’s last two-out RBI, singling home senior infielder Antonelli Savattere to cut Houston’s deficit in half at 2-1. 

The home sixth, however, saw game-defining separation from the Lumberjacks off junior right-hander Alex Solis’ bases-loaded, no-out jam. 

Senior infielder Rodric Black began the scoring chain with an RBI single through the left side, which wound up as SFA’s difference.

Subsequently, senior outfielder Cooper Schneider tacked on a sacrifice fly to score DeJesus before sophomore outfielder Cermodrick Bland put the final touches on SFA scoring with an infield RBI single, giving the Lumberjacks a commanding 5-1 lead.

To answer in the seventh, LaLima clubbed his eighth homer of the season, a one-out solo shot deep to left to cut Houston’s deficit to 5-2. But SFA’s bullpen held its efforts firm, holding the Cougars to two for their next 10 at the plate as senior left-handed pitcher Jack James held on for his second save of the season. 

Houston’s fourth straight loss to cap off the nine-game road trip became a blemish on its resume as its 10th Quad 3 loss in 16 opportunities. It also put the Cougars at seven games below .500 for the first time since May 1, 2021, a season in which they finished 19-34 overall. 

A night of fours propel Cougars past McNeese in home bounce-back

In baseball, great things often come in sets of four. 

In an effort to avoid falling further below .500 in their return to Schroeder Park, four Cougars out of coach Todd Whitting’s bullpen combined for 14 strikeouts, with senior right-hander Harrison Boushele composing half of them in four shutout innings. 

Combined with senior infielder Cade Climie’s first-career four-hit game, it amounted to Houston’s 4-2 win over McNeese Wednesday night, snapping a four-game losing streak endured from its previous road trip. 

Climie’s feat put him at 10-for-25 over his last six games, a span in which he also doubled his season home run total to eight. 

Between two of Climie’s hits accounting for the Cougars’ first and final scoring efforts of the night, LaLima contributed his fourth RBI over his last four games out of the nine-hole. 

In doing so, he connected on Magnolia, Texas native and redshirt freshman right-hander Elliott Burrows’ 2-0 pitch deep to left for his ninth homer of the season and second in back-to-back games, putting Houston up 2-0 in the third. 

But senior infielder Carsten Sabathia III provided a productive difference tacking on an RBI groundout in the seventh to make it 3-0. 

This proved crucial with McNeese down to its final out, as graduate outfielder Isaiah Keller clubbed a two-run homer to right, cutting the Cougars’ deficit in half at 4-2. 

However, junior right-hander Richie Roman’s efforts sufficed to put the final touches on Houston’s quality bullpen outing, also securing the third winning decision for freshman right–hander Connor Udland. 

Up next, the Cougars, at 19-25 overall, will look to continue their five-game homestand in the win column. At three games back of the final seed to contend for the Big 12 tournament, they’ll seek to gain ground in the standings, hosting Cincinnati for a three-game series beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday, May 2 at 1 p.m.