University of Houston Athletics
Baseball Begins Fall Practice on Monday
9/12/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Sept. 12, 2003
HOUSTON - The University of Houston baseball team begins preparations for the 2004 season with the start of fall practice Monday at Cougar Field.
More than 30 players, including 17 returning letterwinners, will take part in fall drills, which runs for 16 days through Oct. 2. Practice should begin around 3 p.m. each day - weather permitting -- with intrasquad scrimmages expected to be a large chunk of the team's workout schedule. The practices are open to the public, and fans are invited to attend.
Monday's start date for fall practice is earlier than usual for the Cougars, who have begun workouts around Oct. 1 in the past. However, head coach Rayner Noble said that this year's start will be better for his team.
"Our pitchers have been throwing and I didn't want to have them stop and start again," said Noble, who begins his 10th season at the helm of the Cougar program. "I wanted to keep them moving in that direction and then give them an extended break before the season."
With the loss of much of last year's pitching staff which set a school single-season record with 605 strikeouts, fall practice is a good time for all players to step up and impress coaches and teammates.
"We have to replace some important people that we lost last year," Noble said. "That means an opportunity for some of the younger players and new guys."
Noble and assistant coaches Sean Allen and newcomer Kirk Blount - who will be working in his first season with the Cougars in a full-time capacity - will evaluate players throughout the workouts.
"The fall is to prepare the guys for what they need to do in the spring," Noble said. "For pitchers, we want them to have an understanding of how to throw pitches, where to throw pitches, velocity ranges. For the hitters, we look at their approach and how they go about their business."
The Cougars finished the 2003 season with a 37-30 record and advanced to the championship game of the NCAA Super Regionals for the third time in the last four years.
For that impressive achievement, UH finished among the Top 25 in all four national polls, including a spot at No. 16 in Collegiate Baseball's poll.
Freshman outfielder Travis Tully returns as the team's leading hitter after batting .350 with nine doubles and 28 RBIs a year ago during his first collegiate season.
The Cougars also will be boosted by the return of infielder/relief pitcher Brett Cooley. After straining his hamstring in late February, Cooley was sidelined for the majority of the 2003 season. In 2002, he tied the second-highest mark in UH history with 18 home runs.
On the mound, junior Garrett Mock enters the 2004 season as UH's only returnee from the starting rotation. A year ago, Mock recorded a 5-4 record with 66 strikeouts and a 4.50 ERA in 86.0 innings of work.
UH opens the 2004 season in Houston but at the Minute Maid Park College Classic on Feb. 13-15. The Cougars meet Kansas State at 11 a.m.. Feb.13, and follow that with a 3 p.m. showdown against Texas Tech on Feb. 14. UH closes out their stay at the tournament at 6 p.m., Feb. 15, against Texas.
