University of Houston
Southeastern Louisiana
Houston Falls in Regular-Season Finale
5/18/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
HAMMOND, La. -- No. 20 Houston Baseball rallied late, but fell just one run short in a 5-4 loss to Southeastern Louisiana in its regular-season finale Friday night on the road.
With the loss, the Cougars fell to 33-21, while the Lions improved to 36-20. Houston will take its 33 wins into the American Championship as the No. 1 seed after claiming the American regular-season title following a 16-8 record.
HOUSTON HITS
- Jared Triolo singled in the first inning to extend his on-base streak to 20 games.
- Lael Lockhart Jr. hit his second home run of the year, a solo shot with one out in the sixth.
- Joe Davis belted his team-leading seventh home run of the year and 29th of his career -- moving him into a tie for third all-time with Chris Snyder and just two home runs from tying the all-time record of 31.
TOP OFFENSIVE PLAYERS
Lael Lockhart Jr. | 3x4, 2 R, RBI, HR (2)
Joe Davis | 1x4, R, 2 RBI, HR (7)
Jared Triolo | 2x4, RBI
Tyler Bielamowicz | 1x4, R
Kyle Lovelace | 1x3
Houston, for the second straight night, out hit Southeastern Louisiana, this time, 8-5.
The Cougars were led by home runs from Lael Lockhart Jr. and Joe Davis. Lockhart paced the offense with a three-hit night, tallying two runs and an RBI on his second homer of the year. Davis belted his team-leading seventh home run of the year and drove in a pair of RBI, while Jared Triolo notched another multi-hit game to accompany an RBI.
PITCHING BREAKDOWN
Brayson Hurdsman | 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K
Kyle Ott | 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K
[L] Fred Villarreal | 4.0 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
Aaron Fletcher | 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K
Nolan Bond | 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Houston starter Brayson Hurdsman made his sixth start of 2018 and tossed 2.0 innings, allowing one run on two hits with one walk and a strikeout.
Senior Kyle Ott made a statement, inheriting a jam in the third inning, and escaping without allowing a run.
Sophomore Fred Villarreal took over in the fourth inning and retired 11 straight hitters via the ground out before Southeastern got its first hit off the righty with two outs in the seventh. Villarreal went on to throw 4.0 innings, allowing two earned runs on two hits and a walk. He would unfortunately suffer the hard-fought loss, falling to 0-2 on the year.
Junior Aaron Fletcher made his first relief appearance of the year, allowing a run on one walk and one hit with a pair of strikeouts. Junior Nolan Bond retired the final hitter in the ninth.
KEY INNINGS
3rd | Houston scored first when Tyler Bielamowicz singled into left center and with two outs, he stole second and then scored on an infield RBI-single by Jared Triolo to put the Cougars ahead 1-0.
Southeastern Louisiana tied the game on a pair of hits in the third, but Houston reliever Kyle Ott retired all three hitters in the frame in relief to keep the Lions' threat at bay.
6th | Lael Lockhart Jr. belted his second home run of the year to put the Cougars ahead of the Lions, 2-1 in the top of the sixth.
8th | Southeastern Louisiana scored four runs on a pair of hits and two errors in the bottom of the eighth to jump out to a 5-2 lead.
9th | Lael Lockhart Jr. led off the ninth with a double down the right field line then Joe Davis homered to right field -- his seventh -- driving in two RBI to make it a 5-4 game in favor of the Lions.
ON DECK
The Cougars will travel to Clearwater, Fla. to compete in the American Championship next week. Houston will play as the No. 1 seed and will face the No. 8 seed at 6 p.m. CT on Tuesday, May 22.
STAY CONNECTED
Stay up to date with all Houston Baseball news and highlights by following us on Twitter @UHCougarBB or on Facebook at /UHCougarBB. Fans can also follow head coach Todd Whitting @toddwhitting on Twitter.
