Reese Plays Hero, Cougars Take Sanders Cup Opener

HOUSTON – Down 0-2 in the ninth inning, freshman Ace Reese played the hero on Tuesday night with a walk-off double in the ninth inning as the Houston Cougars topped the Sam Houston Bearkats 2-1 at Don Sanders Field from Darryl and Lori Schroeder Park in the first game of the Sanders Cup.

Houston (8-4) got its first lead off baserunner of the game in the ninth inning when right fielder Tre Jones walked and then the Cougars played a little small ball with some help from chaos to get the tying run 90 feet from home.

Pinch hitter Jacob Schoenvogel laid down a sacrifice bunt and rather than go to first base for the out, the Bearkats catcher threw to second base to try and get Jones. The ball trickled into center field and Jones advanced to third on the play. Schoenvogel then stole second base, putting a pair of runners in scoring position.

Reese ripped into the 0-2 pitch up in the zone that clattered off the wall. With Jones scoring easily from third, Schoenvogel got the wave home. Sam Houston's relay throw was in time but the throw was up the line bounced out of the catcher's glove allowing Schoenvogel to score the winning run.

The Cougars had a runner 90-feet from home in the first inning after first baseman Justin Murray legged out a triple. Murray was then caught in no-mans-land on a ball that didn't kick far enough away from the Sam Houston (8-5) catcher and was then tagged out.

Senior Chris Stuart was sensational out of the bullpen for the Cougars, spinning 4.0 scoreless innings of one hit work with eight strike outs – a career-high in both innings and strikeouts.

Houston's pitching staff of starter Dan Wright (1-0), Stuart, sophomores Paul Schmitz and Michael Benzor, and junior Cade Citelli (1-0) struck out 17 Bearkats and limited the visitors to season lows in hits (four). Houston pitchers have struck out 17 batters in back-to-back games.

UP NEXT
The Cougars open Big 12 Conference play against Baylor on Friday at 6:30 p.m. The three-game series will be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ Friday-Sunday. Fans can get a pair of tickets for just $12 for Friday's game. Fans that attend the men's basketball game on Saturday can bring their ticket to the baseball stadium ticket office to get into the game for free on Saturday for its 6:30 p.m. start.

BUY TICKETS
Don't miss any of the action, purchase your single-game tickets to any of the 34 Houston Cougar baseball games inside Schroeder Park by clicking here.

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Can't make all 34 games this season? No problem, buy a flex plan and pick which games you want to attend in 2024 (excluding the Texas series April 12-14 – flex plan game selection begins in January).

SUPPORT THE COUGARS
Fans can make a direct impact on the success of Houston Baseball by supporting LinkingCoogs – UH's very own NIL collective, and by joining the Dugout Club which provides financial support directly to Houston Baseball for needs beyond its operating budget.
 
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– UHCougars.com –

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Kenneth Jimenez

Justin Murray

Harold Coll

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Players Mentioned

Michael Benzor

Cade Citelli

Tre Jones

Justin Murray

Ace Reese

Paul Schmitz

Jacob Schoenvogel

Chris Stuart

Dan Wright

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