University of Houston
9-6
California
9-6
Baseball Needs 11 Innings To Knock Off Cal, 12-9
3/17/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 17, 2010
Berkeley, Calif. - They needed 11 innings to do it, but the University of Houston baseball team knocked off California, 12-9, Wednesday afternoon at Evans Diamond to improve to 9-6 on the season.
With the score knotted 9-9, Houston closed out the 11th inning with a bang. Chris Wallace led off with a walk and Dakota Dill came into pinch run. After a sacrifice bunt moved him to second, Matt Creel's RBI single to left field gave Houston the 10-9 lead. But with two outs, Zak Presley secured the Cougars win with a two-run home run in push the Cougars' lead to three, 12-9. The long ball was Presley's first of the season and the team's 10th of the year.
The Cougars only need pitchers Creel and William Kankel to finish out the contest, and they did just that. Creel improved to 2-0 on the mound and Kankel earned his first save of the season.
Houston now stands at 1-0 in extra inning contests this season and are 3-1 in the all-time series with the Golden Bears.
The Cougars jumped out to the early lead, scoring a single run in the second inning. Creel started things off with a single to right center with one out. Back-to-back walks by Jake Runte and Presley loaded the bases before Blake Kelso's RBI single through the left side sent in the first Cougar run.
Codey Morehouse added to the Cougars' run total, hitting his first home run of the year, a two-run shot over the left field fence in the third inning. He plated M.P. Cokinos, who reached base on a double down the left field line.
After a scoreless fourth, Austin Gracey led off the fifth inning with a triple to right center and then scored on the next at bat, a Joel Ansley double down the right field line. Cokinos then moved Ansley to third with a single to short center field and Wallace's fielder's choice scored the Cougars fifth run.
Ansley then led off the seventh with a single through the middle and scored on Cokinos' double to deep left center. Wallace followed that up with a double to the right field corner, putting two runners in scoring position with no outs. Cokinos then scored Houston's seventh run in the inning, off Morehouse's groundout to third base.
The Golden Bears came storming back in the bottom of the seventh, scoring eight runs to take their first lead of the contest. The Cougars battled back, however, scoring the tying run in the ninth inning. Matt Murphy's RBI single to right field scored Caleb Ramsey who reached base on a single to center field.
UH was able to hold the Golden Bears scoreless in the home half of the ninth inning before taking the lead once again in the 10th, when Presley scored on an error by the Cal catcher. This time the Golden Bears answered in the bottom of the inning to tie the score before Houston took control in the 11th inning.
James Conlee earned his first start of the season for Houston and put in a solid five innings. He held the Golden Bears scoreless on just three hits. Mo Wiley and Codey Morehouse went three innings of combined relief, giving up eight runs on nine hits before Creel and Kankel closed out the contest.
UP NEXT
Houston will wrap-up its road trip with a three game series against Arizona State. Friday and Saturday's games will start at 8:30 p.m. and the finale on Sunday will start at 3 p.m. The Sun Devils are 16-0 on the year, including a 6-5 win over Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday. The Cougars have played ASU 12 times in the program's history, six of those games under head coach Rayner Noble. They hold a 3-9 overall record in the series and 2-4 in with Noble at the helm.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Creel, Matt (2-0)
L: Lowden, Michael (0-1)
S: Kankel, William (1)
Batting:
2B: Ansley, Joel 2 ; Cokinos, M.P. 1 ; Wallace, Chris 1 ; Runte, Jake 1
3B: Gracey, Austin 1
HR: Morehouse, Codey 1 ; Presley, Zak 1
RBI: Kelso, Blake 1 ; Murphy, Matt 1 ; White, Taylor 1 ; Ansley, Joel 1 ; Cokinos, M.P. 1 ; Wallace, Chris 1 ; Morehouse, Codey 3 ; Creel, Matt 1 ; Presley, Zak 2
SH: Murphy, Matt 1 ; White, Taylor 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gracey, Austin 1 ; Ansley, Joel 2 ; Cokinos, M.P. 2 ; Ramsey, Caleb 1 ; Dill, Dakota 1 ; Morehouse, Codey 1 ; Creel, Matt 2 ; Presley, Zak 2
SB: Presley, Zak 1
CS: Runte, Jake 1
Batting:
2B: Krist, Chadd 1 ; Renda, Tony 1 ; Matthews, Darrel 1
3B: Matthews, Darrel 1
RBI: Guinn, Brian 1 ; Oh, Danny 1 ; Canha, Mark 1 ; Krist, Chadd 1 ; Renda, Tony 2 ; Rodriguez, Devin 1 ; Matthews, Darrel 2
SH: Bunting, Chad 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Guinn, Brian 1 ; Oh, Danny 1 ; Canha, Mark 1 ; Krist, Chadd 1 ; Renda, Tony 1 ; Rodriguez, Devin 1 ; Booker, Austin 1 ; Bosco, Jimmy 1 ; Matthews, Darrel 1
SB: Guinn, Brian 1 ; Booker, Austin 1
CS: Semien, Marcus 1
HBP: Canha, Mark 1
