University of Houston Athletics

Sabathia, Maxcey Shine against Iowa
2/28/2026 3:37:00 PM | Baseball
Cougars fall despite out-hitting Hawkeyes, 14-10
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Senior Paul Schmitz (2-1) took the loss for Houston (6-4) after tossing 3.2 innings and allowing five runs. Iowa's (7-3) Jaron Bleeker (2-0) picked up the win with 4.0 innings of work, allowing one run and five hits, while Joe Husak (1) snagged a save with 0.2 innings and two strikeouts.
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PLAYER HIGHLIGHTS
- Carsten Sabathia III: 3-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R
- Dylan Maxcey: 3-4, R
- Cade Climie: 1-2, 2B, RBI
- Caden Cooper: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K
NOTABLES
- Houston tied its season-best in hits with 14 on the day.Â
- Senior Carsten Sabathia III, senior Dylan Maxcey and freshman Blake Fields each reached base three times in the game.Â
- Sabathia is now 4-for-5 on the weekend.
KEY INNINGS
1st | Iowa struck first. A double down the left-field line put a runner in scoring position and a sacrifice bunt moved him 90 feet away. The Hawkeyes scored as a sacrifice fly brought the runner home, giving Iowa a 1-0 lead.Â
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2nd | Houston answered in the second. Maxcey singled through the right side while Sabathia immediately followed with a two-run homer to left field, giving Houston a 2-1 lead.Â
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3rd | The Hawkeyes reclaimed the edge in the third. With a runner in scoring position, Caleb Wulf slipped a double just inside the third-base bag into the corner, scoring the tying run. Wulf crossed home in the next at-bat as Kooper Schulte singled to right center, putting Iowa up 3-2. Another Hawkeye would score on a single later in the inning to push the lead to two.Â
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7th | After Iowa added a run to its advantage in both the fourth and sixth innings to extend its lead to four, Houston cut into its deficit in the seventh. Back-to-back doubles from Sabathia and senior Cade Climie pushed a run across for the Cougars to make the score 6-3.Â
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8th | Houston added another in the eighth. Fields opened the inning with a single and was immediately driven home on a single from redshirt sophomore Xavier Perez, shrinking the gap to two.
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Houston loaded the bases in the ninth but couldn't overcome the deficit, falling 6-4 to Iowa.Â
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UP NEXT
Houston wraps up the Frisco Classic with a 3 p.m., Sunday, tilt against Alabama.Â
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Jaron Bleeker (2-0)
L: Schmitz, Paul (2-1)
S: J. Husak (1)
Batting:
2B: Gable Mitchell 1 ; Caleb Wulf 2
RBI: Gable Mitchell 1 ; Caleb Wulf 2 ; Kooper Schulte 2 ; Mitch Wood 1
SH: Caleb Wulf 1
SF: Kooper Schulte 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gable Mitchell 1 ; Caleb Wulf 1 ; Kellen Strohmeyer 1 ; Max Burt 1 ; Jaylen Ziegler 2
SB: Kellen Strohmeyer 1 ; Jaylen Ziegler 1
HBP: Matthew Delgado 1

Batting:
2B: Fields, Blake 1 ; Sabathia III, Carsten 1 ; Climie, Cade 1 ; LaLima, Jackson 1
HR: Sabathia III, Carsten 1
RBI: Perez, Xavier 1 ; Sabathia III, Carsten 2 ; Climie, Cade 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Fields, Blake 1 ; Maxcey, Dylan 1 ; Sabathia III, Carsten 2
CS: Fields, Blake 1
HBP: Fields, Blake 1






















