University of Houston


<b>TULANE</b>
Baseball Outslugs Tulane in C-USA Series Finale on Sunday
4/13/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 13, 2008
Complete Houston-Tulane Game Book (April 13, 2008) in PDF Format
HOUSTON - Freshman shortstop Blake Kelso went 2-for-5 with a home run and career-high four RBIs to lead a 19th-ranked University of Houston offensive attack that pounded out 16 hits on the way to an 11-7 win over Tulane in the finale of a Conference USA series at Cougar Field on Sunday.
With the Cougars trailing 5-3 entering the fourth inning, Kelso highlighted a three-run fourth inning that gave the Cougars the lead for good. His one-out, base-loaded single up the middle plated Matt Murphy and Chris Wallace and knotted the game at 5-5.
Two innings later, the Pflugerville native recorded his second home run - a two-run, opposite-field blast - that turned the Cougars' one-lead lead into a three-run cushion.
Kelso was a small part of a Cougar offensive outburst, which saw all but one starter record at least one hit in the game and six of those starters enjoy multi-hit contests. The Cougars also had at least one hit all but one inning .
Senior infielder Bryan Pounds went 3-for-4 with a run, two doubles and two RBIs and extended his hitting streak to 10 straight games. The Houston native enjoyed a career-long 19-game hitting streak to begin the 2008 campaign and has hit safely in 30 of the 32 games in which he ha played.
Senior outfielder Jake Stewart finished 2-for-4 with a double, two stolen bases and a pair of runs, while freshman utility player Matt Murphy batted 2-for-5 with a run, double and RBI. Sophomore catcher Chris Wallace batted 2-for-4 with a pair of run, and sophomore first baseman Austin Goolsby went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs to lead a Cougar offense, which outhit Tulane 16-13.
Reliever Bryan Tully collected the win and improved to 3-2 after holding the Green Wave to one run off three hits and two walks with a pair of strikeouts in 3.1 innings.
Closer Chase Dempsay limited Tulane to two runs off two hits and three walks with six strikeouts in 3.2 innings. The Baytown native entered the game with runners on first and second and one out and the Cougars clinging to a 6-5 lead but struck out the first two batters he faced to end that threat and then struck out the side in the seventh.
Dempsay earned his team-leading sixth save and tied a UH freshman record set by Robert Dieudonne in 1997.
Sam Honeck batted 3-for-3 with two doubles, three runs and an RBI, while Jared Dyer batted 2-for-5 with an RBI to lead Tulane. Aja Barto went 2-for-2 with two runs and an RBI, while Warren McFadden batted 2-for-5 with a run and RBI.
Tulane reliever Aaron Loup collected the loss and fell to 2-3 after giving up four runs off five hits and a walk in 2.1 innings.
With the win, the Cougars improved to 22-12 overall and 7-2 in C-USA games, while Tulane improved to 24-11-1 overall and 4-4-1 in C-USA
The Cougars return to action at 3 p.m., Tuesday, when they face Stephen F. Austin at Nacogdoches Jaycees Field. The Cougars look to sweep the regular-season series after rallying for a 5-4 win on March 11 at Cougar Field. From there, the team returns to the friendly confines of Cougar Field to play host to Sam Houston State at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday. The Cougars enjoyed a 14-8 win over the Bearkats on March 12 in Huntsville.
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.
For the second straight game, the Cougars put their first mark on the scoreboard in the first inning. Stewart smashed a one-out single up the middle and moved to third following Pounds' double down the left-field line. Ryan Lormand followed with a two-run single up the middle. After a groundout moved him into scoring position, Murphy's double down the right-field line plated Lormand for a 3-0 Cougar lead.
The lead was short-lived as Tulane struck for four runs off four hits. McFadden started the scoring with a one-out RBI-single, was followed by Honeck's RBI-double down the right-field line and continued with Barto's RBI-single to center. After stealing second and third bases, Barto handed the Green Wave a 4-3 lead on Anthony Scelfo's groundout to second base.
The score remained that way until the fourth inning when Scelfo's single through the right side plated Honeck, who led off with a single to center field.
The Cougars regained the lead in the bottom of the frame with three runs off five hits. Murphy and Wallace led off with back-to-back- singles to right field. Following a Tulane pitching change, Presley reached on a bunt single down the third-base line. After a popup, Kelso lined a two-run single up the middle to knot the game at 5-5. Two batters later, Pounds lifted a fly ball that fell down the right-field line to score Presley and hand the Cougars a 6-5 lead.
UH padded its lead in the sixth inning with three more runs. Presley drew leadoff walk and scored two batters later when Kelso blasted the first pitch he saw over the right-field wall. Stewart then was hit by a pitch and stole second and third before Pounds chopped a double down the left-field line for a 9-5 lead.
In the seventh inning, Goolsby extended the Cougar lead to 11-5 when he launched an 0-1 offering over the left-field wall, scoring Wallace, who reached on a one-out infield single.
Tulane threatened in the top of the eighth, scoring runs on Seth Henry's bases-loaded walk and Dyer's RBI-single to left center. But Dempsay forced Rob Segedin to fly out to left field to end the threat and the inning.