Kats versus Cougars Tuesday
3/13/2012 7:34:00 AM | Baseball
Pierce played baseball for UH, helping paces the Cougars to an appearance in the NCAA tournament as a senior in 1985. He became an assistant coach at Houston in 2001 where he helped direct the Cougars to an appearance in the NCAA Tournament in his first season and, a year later, an NCAA Super Regional appearance, a game away from the College World Series.
Allen was a four-year letterman with the Cougars from 1998 to 2001, ending his playing career as UH all-time leader with 542 assists in the field. He later served as an assistant, helping the Cougars earn NCAA Tournament berths in 2002, 2003 and 2006, and advance to the NCAA Super Regionals in 2002 and 2003.
Sam Houston State heads to Houston with a 9-6 overall record. The Bearkats are coming off a 9-1 win over SFA as they managed to take the three-game series, 2-1, at home.
Anthony Azar leads the SHSU offense with a .421 average, while Kevin Miller is hitting .340. Both Azar, Miller and teammate Luke Plucheck pace the team with 10 RBI. As a team, Sam Houston State is hitting .290 as a team and has belted four homeruns and scored 80 runs this season.
Sam Houston State looks to start RHP Michael Burchett, who is 1-0 with a 3.57 ERA in two starts. In 17.2 innings, Burchett has fanned 11, but surrendered 20 hits and seven earned runs.
Houston is coming off a tough week, dropping all four games on the road, including being swept in a three-game series at No. 14 Ole Miss this past weekend.
Sitting at 6-9 overall and 4-4 at home, Houston looks to snap its five-game skid on Tuesday that dates back to a loss to Texas Tech on March 4 at the Houston College Classic.
Leading Houston offensively is junior Chase Jensen with his .292 average, followed by senior Jake Runte with a .291 clip and a team-best .400 slugging percentage and 12 walks.
Houston will start right-handed junior Austin Pruitt on Tuesday against Sam Houston State. Pruitt enters Tuesday's contest with a team-low 1.93 ERA, one complete game, but is 0-2 this year. In 18.2 innings pitched, Pruitt has fanned 12 and allowed just four earned runs as well as holding his opponents to a mere .194 average.
Houston and Sam Houston State will meet for the 151st time in school history on Tuesday. The two teams are currently tied all-time at 75-75. The last meeting between the two teams came last season on April 12 in a Houston loss (9-0) on the road. The Cougars defeated the Bearkats at home on March 15, 2011 in a 9-3 win at Cougar Field.
