University of Houston
<b>MARSHALL</B>
Early Outburst Lifts Baseball to Series-Opening Win over Marshall
5/15/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 15, 2008
Complete Houston-Marshall (May 15, 2008) in PDF Format 
HOUSTON - The University of Houston baseball team pounded out five hits on the way to five runs in the first inning and never looked back in taking a 6-2 win over Marshall on Thursday during the opening game of a Conference USA series at Cougar Field.
Seven straight Cougar batters reached base in the opening frame to set the tone for the entire game. Senior outfielder Jake Stewart started the rally with a double to right field and scored easily when Bryan Pounds blasted a double off the left-center field wall.
After a walk to Jimmy Cesario and Ryan Lormand's single to right loaded the bases, Zak Presley reached on an error that allowed Pounds to score. Bryan Tully then plated Cesario and Lormand with a single to left center, and Chris Wallace scored Presley with a double to right field for a 5-0 Houston lead.
That would be more than enough for UH starter Wes Musick, who broke a career-long three-game losing streak with a quality outing. The Lufkin native allowed only two runs off two hits and five walks with five strikeouts in 7.1 innings. Musick did not allow a hit until Victor Gomez led off the fifth with a home run, retiring 11 of the first 12 batters that he faced.
Tully batted 3-for-4 with a run and two RBIs and fell just a home run shot of hitting for the cycle, while Pounds batted 2-for-4 with a run, double and RBI. Stewart went 2-for-5 with a run and his team-leading 22nd double to extend his hitting streak to a season-high nine straight games.
With the win, the Cougars improved to 32-21 overall and 12-10 in C-USA games. Marshall fell to 26-26-1 overall and 10-11-1 in league games.
The series continues at 6:30 p.m., Friday before wrapping up at 1 p.m., Saturday. Fans should note that the series concludes on Saturday, a day earlier than league series regularly end. C-USA teams play Thursday through Saturday during the final weekend of the regular season as teams prepare to travel to the C-USA Championship.
Sophomore righthander John Touchton will toe the rubber for the Cougars in the middle game of the series, while Marshall will counter with sophomore righthander Dan Straily.
In addition, all against Marshall will be a part of Little League Night/Day at Cougar Field. All players 12 years old and younger who come to Cougar Field in their Little League jerseys will receive free admission.
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.
Following the Cougars' first-inning explosion, they added another run in the third inning. Tully lined a one-out triple down the left-field line and scored when Caleb Ramsey smashed a two-out, RBI-single into right center.
The Herd put their first marks on the scoreboard in the fifth inning. Gomez led off with a home run to right field to break up the no-hitter and shutout, and Jeff Rowley scored on Ben Jurevicius' RBI-single to left field to cap the scoring for the night.
