HOUSTON, Texas - After winning two of three games at Conference USA rival Southern Mississippi in thrilling fashion last weekend, the University of Houston baseball team looks to continue its winning ways when it faces No. 3 Rice in Game Four of the 2002 Silver Glove Series at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Cougar Field.
The Cougars (21-8), ranked No. 5 in the latest Baseball America poll, come into the game on the heels of a dramatic 7-6 win over the Golden Eagles in 13 innings Sunday. That win, combined with the way the rest of the C-USA schedule shook out over the weekend, put UH in first place atop the league standings at 7-2.
The Owls have already claimed the Silver Glove after winning the first three contests earlier this season. In the most recent encounter Austin Davis led off the 11th inning with a home run and Eric Arnold added a sacrifice fly in a 3-1 win over the Cougars.
Sophomore Danny Zell makes his third start of the year against No. 3 Rice on Tuesday. In his last start, the Houston native recorded his first collegiate win after throwing 2.0 shutout innings while allowing only two hits with three strikeouts against Fresno State. The Angelina Junior College product collected the win after UH used a set pitching rotation.
This season, Zell has tallied a 1-0 record with a 3.86 ERA and nine strikeouts in only 9.1 innings of work.
Junior outfielder Anthony Scalise and junior utility star Jesse Crain are tied for the team lead with .336 batting averages and played significant roles in the series victory at USM last weekend. Scalise lifted a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning to break a 2-2 tie in the first game of the series, while Crain did a little of everything in the series finale.
The Boulder, Colo., native earned his fourth straight win after striking out a career-best eight batters in a personal-high 5.0 innings of work. As a result, he ran his overall scoreless inning streak to 21.1 innings and his earned run scoreless inning streak to 22.1 straight innings.
But Crain also played a major part offensively. The San Jacinto Junior College product led off the 13th inning with a single up the middle and later scored the game-winning run in the win over USM. He extended his hitting streak to a career-best-tying eight games and has now hit safely in 25 of UH's 29 games.
Junior catcher Chris Snyder and junior infielder Brett Cooley are tied for the team lead with five home runs each after Snyder blasted a two-run shot in the middle game of the USM series with Snyder topping all Cougars with 23 RBIs.
Rice enters the game after sweeping Western Athletic Conference rival Fresno State in a three-game series. Infielder Vincent Sinisi leads six Owl batters hitting higher than .300 with a .410 average. Eric Arnold is second on the team with a .403 average but tops Rice with six home runs and 44 RBIs.