The Cougars will be hoping to muster more offense than the four runs produced against Rice on Tuesday night. | Justin Cross/The Cougar
After suffering a mid-week loss to Rice University Tuesday night, the baseball team hopes to right the ship as it opens a three-game home series versus the George Washington University Colonials.
The series is scheduled to begin Thursday and will end on Saturday, an format that allows the teams to have Easter Sunday off.
Houston enters the matchup with a 13-7 record and as the 16th ranked team in the nation, according to Baseball America. A series-win will improve the team’s nonconference record, which should bolster its post season resume when May rolls around. The series against the Colonials will also serve as a final tune-up before the Cougars begin conference play.
George Washington has struggled in the early part of the season — the Colonials enter Thursday’s series opener with a 8-13 record and losers of three of its last four games.
Weekend pitching has not been an issue for the Cougars so far this season, and they look to keep this trend going. Junior Andrew Lantrip and sophomore Seth Romero will likely make starts against the Colonials.
Lantrip has a 3-2 record accompanied by a low 1.53 ERA. The right-hander has 39 strikeouts to just one walk, a ratio that is good for tops in college baseball.
Romero has come on strong in recent weeks and will attempt to keep his perfect 3-0 record alive against George Washington. Romero enters the series sporting just a 0.78 ERA.
Players to watch on offense include freshman first baseman Joe Davis, who carries a hot bat into the weekend tilt. Now a month into the season, Davis’ batting average is still .416. The freshman is the team leader in RBI with 26 and is among the nation’s leaders in the category.
Center fielder Corey Julks has missed games because of flare-ups in his back, but his presence could help solidify the Cougar defense and lineup if he is able to play this weekend.
First pitch is scheduled for Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Darryl & Lori Schroeder Park.
Eat ’em up \n/