UH captured its first season-opening sweep in three years after beating Binghamton three times. | Oscar Herrera/The Cougar
The Houston Cougars opened their first baseball season as Big 12 members with a dominant three-game sweep over Binghamton at Schroeder Park, their first season-opening sweep since 2021.
Game 1
In the first game of the 2024 season, Houston won 8-4. Senior infielder Alex Lopez had an unassisted RBI to get the scoring started in the first inning.
However, Binghamton eventually took a 3-1 lead in the third inning on a home run. The Cougars took the lead back in the fifth inning with some heads-up plays. Senior shortstop Jake Rainess had a sacrifice fly and senior outfielder Cary Arbolida scored on an error to tie.
Eventually, Lopez scored on a wild pitch that made the score 5-3. UH put the game away in the seventh inning as Lopez continued his big night with an RBI double and sophomore outfielder Cameron Nickens had a two-RBI single that made it 8-3.
Junior right-hander Jaxon Jelkin had the opening night start and pitched four innings, giving up one earned run on five hits with seven strikeouts. Senior lefty Chris Stuart got the win with two shutout innings in relief.
Game 2
Houston clinched the series win on Saturday afternoon with a convincing 8-2 win.
Binghamton scored first, but the Cougars took the lead back in the fourth inning as senior right fielder Tre Jones had an RBI single to right center.
Senior second baseman Harold Coll had an RBI single to center field that extended the lead to 3-1. In the seventh inning, Rainess went yard with a two-run homer down the right-field line that made the lead 5-2. Houston had some smart base running that added three runs in the eighth inning which wrapped up the game.
Senior left-hander Antoine Jean had the start for the Cougars, with a final line of four innings pitched, giving up one earned run with five strikeouts. Junior right-hander Graysen Drezek got the win with two shutout innings in relief.
Game 3
In the final game on Sunday afternoon, UH had a shutout 7-0 win. Senior righty Duncan Howard got the start and threw five shutout innings, allowing only three hits with five strikeouts.
Senior utility man Justin Murray got the runs going with an RBI double to right-center in the first inning and an RBI single to left field in the third to make it 2-0.
There was no more scoring until the bottom of the eighth inning when the Houston offense exploded and scored five runs to put the game away. Lopez homered to right center on a 3-2 pitch.
It was followed by a two-run 397-foot blast to right center by freshman pinch hitter Ace Reese, his first collegiate home run. Another two-run shot to left field, this time by Coll made it 7-0.
For the first time since 1997, Houston baseball scored at least seven runs in all of its opening weekend games. The UH pitching staff also had two 10+ strikeout-no walks games.
Up next, Houston will look to win their 4th straight game against Prairie View A&M on Tuesday at Schroeder Park.
sports@thedailycougar.com
—
“UH baseball opens season with sweep of Binghamton” was originally posted on The Cougar