Houston infielder Aaron Lugo (1) waiting for Sam Houston to bat during an NCAA baseball game, Tuesday, March 18, 2025 in Sugar land, Texas. | Gillian Wisniewski/Cougar
Houston baseball clinched its first Big 12 conference road series victory in program history, taking two out of three games over UCF at John Euliano Park in Orlando, Fla.
With the series win, the Cougars also picked up their first two conference wins of 2025 to improve to 13-10 overall and 2-4 in conference play. Leading into the series, Houston was set to face the program rated second in the nation in team batting average in UCF.
Seven unanswered runs lead Cougars to first conference win of 2025
A six-run top of the fifth inning, highlighted by senior two-way Malachi Lott’s bases-clearing triple, capped off Houston’s 7-5 stunner over UCF on Friday, March 21 to open the series at John Euliano Park.
Facing a 5-0 deficit and starting 2-for-13 at the plate through 3.2 innings, Houston began chipping away with a two-out RBI double by junior infielder Cade Climie, putting the Cougars on the board.
Junior catcher Riley Jackson led off the top of the fifth with a solo home run to left field to cut the deficit to 5-2.
An RBI single by redshirt sophomore outfielder Xavier Perez, a hit-by-pitch drawn by junior infielder Connor McGinnis and a walk drawn by junior infielder Carsten Sabathia III all set the table for Lott’s one-out bases-clearing triple, which gave the Cougars their first lead of the night at 6-5. Climie followed with his second RBI double in two innings to make it 7-5 and cap off Houston’s six-spot in the top of the fifth.
Houston’s lead remained unanswered, with graduate relief pitcher Antoine Jean posting five innings of three-hit shutout ball in relief, recording 11 strikeouts and earning the save.
In his start, junior pitcher Paul Schmitz surrendered five earned runs on six hits to UCF in 2.2 innings of work, but in relief came junior Chris Scinta posting 1.1 shutout innings to secure the winning decision for Houston.
Late five-spot by Knights forces rubber game
Back-to-back two-run hits by junior outfielder DeAmez Ross and junior infielder Edian Espinal accounted for a five-run top of the eighth to break the contest open for UCF, handing Houston a 7-1 loss on Saturday, March 22 and forcing a rubber match in the series.
Sophomore pitcher Richie Roman posted a quality six innings of two-run ball on five hits for Houston, recording seven strikeouts. He could not gain run support. As the Cougars went 5-for-27 at the plate with the lone run coming as an RBI double by senior infielder Aaron Lugo in the top of the second.
On the other side of the pitching matchup, redshirt senior Wiley Hartley posted five innings of one-run ball on three hits, striking out five and earning the winning decision for UCF.
Lugo’s three-hit day clinches successful mission for Cougars
A near-cycle by Lugo consisting of a solo home run, an RBI single and an RBI double helped lead Houston to a 7-4 series-clinching win over UCF on Sunday, March 23.
Houston wasted no time putting together quality at-bats in the rubber match, with McGinnis scoring sophomore outfielder Tre Broussard, who led the game off with a double, on an RBI groundout.
Lugo led off the top of the second with a towering solo home run to the Houston bullpen in left field to put the Cougars out to a 2-0 lead.
UCF began to answer in the bottom of the third when back-to-back doubles by Espinal and sophomore outfielder Andrew Williamson put the Knights on the board. A wild pitch by freshman Kendall Hoffman allowed Williamson to score to tie the game 2-2.
Perez led off the top of the fourth with a solo home run to left to give Houston the lead again at 3-2.
After a pair of one-out singles in the top of the sixth by McGinnis and Perez, Lugo gave the Cougars a two-run lead again on an RBI single. However, it too wouldn’t last long as a run-scoring error at shortstop followed by an RBI triple by Ross tied the game 4-4 in the bottom half of the inning for UCF.
But Houston found its resolve in the top of the seventh, by way of back-to-back productive outs from redshirt freshman outfielder Evan Haeger and Perez, followed by an RBI double by Lugo for his third hit of the day, giving the Cougars their largest lead of the afternoon at 7-4.
Houston’s lead would hold firm by way of Scinta posting 3.2 innings of no-hit ball in relief, earning his second winning decision of the weekend.
The Cougars return to Schroeder Park to host Stephen F. Austin on Tuesday, March 25 at 6:30 p.m. in a midweek matchup, for the start of a five-game homestand.
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“Space UH: Houston baseball initiates launch to series win at UCF” was originally posted on The Cougar