Houston Baseball Unveils 2015 Schedule
9/25/2014 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
HOUSTON - Highlighted by 31 home games, 36 in the city of Houston, four first-time opponents and a three-game series at Cougar Field against Alabama, Houston Baseball and head coach Todd Whitting have unveiled an exciting 2015 schedule, announced Thursday afternoon.
For the ninth consecutive season, Houston will open its slate at Cougar Field, having accumulated a winning record of 14-6, which includes three straight weekend sweeps the past three seasons under Whitting - who will begin his fifth season at the helm.
"I'm really excited about this year's schedule," Whitting said. "It is probably one of the most competitive ones we have made since our staff took over in 2010."
Houston will open the season hosting Minnesota on Feb. 13-15. The Cougars and Gophers will meet for the first time since 1987 as they have met 25 previous times.
Houston will play the first five weekends in the city, including a marquee home series against SEC opponent and NCAA-tournament participant Alabama on Feb. 20-22. The last time these two teams met was in 2003.
The home slate for the Cougars will continue with their third straight weekend series at Cougar Field when it welcomes first-time opponent Columbia for a four-game series, set for Feb. 27-March 1.
"Our fans will have a great opportunity to see us play against great opponents here in our city," Whitting said.
The Cougars will then make its 15th straight appearance in the Houston College Classic, dating back to 2001 when it faces Texas A&M (March 6), LSU (March 7) and Hawai'i (March 8) at Minute Maid Park.
"We are definitely excited about continuing to play in the Houston College Classic," Whitting said. "Playing in it does a tremendous job of preparing us for a Regional-type environment against Regional-quality teams. We are very honored to be back in that tournament and what I feel like is the most competitive college baseball tournament in the country this year."
Houston and Buffalo will meet for a three-game set on March 13-15 at Cougar Field before the Cougars make their first weekend road trip outside the city of Houston to meet New Mexico in Albuquerque on March 20-22.
American Athletic Conference play will begin for the Cougars with back-to-back road trips to UCF (March 27-29) and Memphis (April 2-4) to open that portion of the schedule, before returning home to host Tulane (April 10-12) and Cincinnati (April 17-19) the following two weekends.
A trip to USF (April 24-26) and then at Tulane (May 1-3) will follow and wrap up the road schedule for the Cougars, before returning to Cougar Field for the final two weekends of league play to host East Carolina (May 8-10) and UConn (May 14-16).
"The American Athletic Conference is very familiar to us as most of the teams are former Conference USA teams," Whitting said. "You add Tulane and East Carolina to the mix after losing Louisville and Rutgers and I feel like this will now make our conference one of the top conferences in college baseball. Bringing these two teams back in will only boost our league to a new level."
Houston and Rice will meet at three different venues for the second straight season, beginning with a March 17 contest at Cougar Field, followed by an April 14 contest at Reckling Park and a final game on May 12 at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas - home of the Sugar Land Skeeters.
The Cougars swept Rice in the three-game season series a year ago, gaining back the Silver Glove Series trophy for the first time since 2000.
"We will continue the series with Rice and I don't see that series ending anytime soon," Whitting said. "It is a great series with two really great teams. I am really excited to go back to Sugar Land and play at Constellation Field as that was a great way to wrap up that series last season. We had a tremendous University of Houston crowd and we look forward to another great series against Rice this season."
In midweek play this season, Houston will host Texas Southern (Feb. 17), Houston Baptist (March 1), Rice (March 17), Lamar (March 24), Sam Houston State (April 28) and McNeese State (May 5) and travel to Texas State (Feb. 24), Sam Houston State (March 10), Baylor (March 31), Louisiana-Lafayette (April 7), Rice (April 14), and McNeese State (April 21).
Coming off a 2014 Championship title, the Cougars will participate in the American Athletic Conference Championship set for May 18-24 in Clearwater, Fla. at Bright House Field.
QUICK HITS
OUR CITY
• 31 home games; 36 in the city of Houston
• First seven games of the season played at Cougar Field
• 19 of first 21 games played in the city of Houston
• First five weekends played in city of Houston - four at Cougar Field
OPENING WEEKEND
• Houston will host Opening Weekend for the ninth consecutive season
• Cougars are 14-6 all-time during Opening Weekend under Whitting
• Cougars have swept the last three Opening Weekend series under Whitting
COLLEGE CLASSIC
• Houston to make 15th straight appearance in Houston College Classic at Minute Maid Park
• Cougars to face Texas A&M, LSU and Hawai'i
• Reigning College Classic MVP and Cougar Aaron Garza returns for his final season at Houston
• Cougars own a 19-23 all-time record in tournament; has earned seven wins over Top 30 teams
FIRST-TIME OPPONENTS
• Houston has four first-time opponents on the schedule: Columbia, Hawai'i, Buffalo, New Mexico
NCAA TOURNAMENT COMPETITION
• 15 games this season will be played against an NCAA-tournament team from 2014
• Alabama, Columbia, Rice, Texas A&M, LSU, Sam Houston State, Louisiana-Lafayette
| Opponent | All-Time | Last Meeting | |
|---|---|---|---|
| MINNESOTA | H | UM leads 10-13-2 | L, 15-18 - 3/23/87 |
| TX SOUTHERN | H | UH leads 25-0-0 | W, 1-0 (10) - 3/19/14 |
| ALABAMA | H | Series tied at 6-6 | W, 16-8 - 5/31/03 |
| Texas State | A | UH leads 31-16 | W, 7-1 - 4/8/14 |
| COLUMBIA | H | First Meeting | First Meeting |
| HBU | H | UH leads 13-4 | W, 10-2 - 2/27/13 |
| Texas A&M | N | A&M leads 57-109-1 | W, 10-8 - 4/1/14 |
| LSU | N | UH leads 23-20 | W, 12-2 - 6/2/14 |
| Hawai'i | N | First Meeting | First Meeting |
| Sam Houston | A | Series tied 78-78 | L, 4-5 - 4/22/14 |
| BUFFALO | H | First Meeting | First Meeting |
| RICE | H | Rice leads 100-74 | W, 7-3 - 5/13/14 |
| New Mexico | A | First Meeting | First Meeting |
| LAMAR | H | UH leads 50-28 | L, 2-4 - 3/18/14 |
| UCF* | A | UH leads 23-15 | W, 13-8 - 5/23/14 |
| Baylor | A | BU leads 87-64 | W, 7-2 - 3/11/14 |
| Memphis* | A | UH leads 41-16 | W, 6-2 - 3/30/14 |
| UL-Lafayette | A | UH leads 37-12-1 | W, 6-4 - 4/30/13 |
| TULANE* | H | UH leads 34-29 | L, 2-3 - 5/25/13 |
| Rice | A | Rice leads 100-74 | W, 7-3 - 5/13/14 |
| CINCINNATI* | H | UH leads 27-7 | W, 15-1 (7) - 4/27/14 |
| McNeese St. | A | UH leads 48-13 | W, 8-2 - 4/29/14 |
| USF* | A | UH leads 19-11 | W, 5-3 - 4/19/14 |
| SAM HOUSTON | H | Series tied 78-78 | L, 4-5 - 4/22/14 |
| Tulane* | A | UH leads 34-29 | L, 2-3 - 5/25/13 |
| McNEESE ST. | H | UH leads 48-13 | W, 8-2 - 4/29/14 |
| ECU* | H | ECU leads 22-21-1 | W, 9-4 - 5/23/13 |
| Rice | N | Rice leads 100-74 | W, 7-3 - 5/13/14 |
| UCONN* | H | UH leads 3-1 | L, 2-7 - 5/22/14 |
Houston is coming off a 2014 season that saw it ranked No. 11 in the nation to finish the year and notch one of the best seasons in program history, tying a program-record with 48 wins and earning its first trip to the NCAA postseason since 2008. The Cougars were ranked nationally for 13 straight weeks during the season, polling in as high as No. 5 in the nation during week 17.
Houston captured the Baton Rouge Regional title with back-to-back wins over LSU to advance to the Austin Super Regional (vs. Texas) - a first since 2003. 2014 also saw Houston win the American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship tournament title with a win over Louisville. The Cougars posted the nation's No. 1 RPI in non-conference, regular-season play with an impressive 27-5 record.
The 27 regular-season, non-conference wins was the most since 27 in 2002 for the program. Houston posted a home record of 25-8 for the most home wins since Cougar Field was redone in 1995. The Cougars opened 2014 with four straight home weekend sweeps, marking the first time in program history to accomplish that feat. Houston saw itself earn a season sweep of Rice - first since 1991 to reclaim the Silver Glove trophy, which has been with the Owls since 2000.
The Cougars were led by one of the nation's top pitching staffs as senior relievers Chase Wellbrock (5-0, 12 SV) and Tyler Ford (9-0, 4 SV) combined for a 14-0 record and 16 saves. Freshman RHP Andrew Lantrip was named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American and the conference's Rookie of the Year, while eight other Cougars earned All-League honors.
The postseason saw sophomores Josh Vidales and Kyle Survance earn American Baseball Championship and Baton Rouge Regional Most Outstanding Player honors, respectively. Three Cougars were tabbed All-Region led by seniors Casey Grayson and Chase Wellbrock on the First Team and senior Tyler Ford on the Second Team. Off the field, the Cougars continued to excel in the classroom, led by sophomore Justin Montemayor, who was tabbed a First Team CoSIDA Academic All-District award winner.
TICKETS
Houston Baseball season ticket renewals and online purchases will be available soon. Check back at UHCougars.com and/or call the Houston Athletics Ticket Office at (713) GO-COOGS.
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