PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS Friday : Houston LHP Lael Lockhart Jr. (0-2, 5.79) vs. Army LHP Tyler Giovinco (2-0, 1.42) Saturday : Houston RHP Ryan Randel (1-1 2.51) vs. Army RHP Sam Messina (2-1, 4.09) Sunday : TBD vs. Army RHP Daniel Burggraaf (0-0, 2.92)
ON ARMY • The Black Knights enter the with a 5-4 record, highlighted by Air Force, Longwood (two wins), Saint Joseph’s and Tulane. • Batting leadoff, junior centerfield Jacob Hurtubise leads the nation in triples (3). He also leads the Patriot League in walks (11), stolen bases (7) and runs scored (15), ranking third in batting average (.387). • Sophomore first baseman Anthony Giachin ranks third in the country in doubles (7) and seventh in RBI (16). Giachin was the 2018 Patriot League Rookie of the Year and League Championship MVP. • Friday and Saturday starters Tyler Giovinco (2-0) and Sam Messina (2-1) co-lead the Patriot League with two wins. Both have 15 strikeouts. • Offensively, Army leads its conference in batting average (.303), on-base percentage (.425), slugging percentage (.424), hits (90), walks (62), RBI (62), runs scored (72) and stolen bases (23). Pitching, the Black Knights hold the top mark in strikeouts (72) and earned runs allowed (30). • The Black Knights won the Patriot League in 2018 and were picked to repeat as champions in the 2019 League Preseason Poll. • Army is batting .303 as a team and has a 3.46 ERA, compared to opponents’ .241 average and 7.76 ERA.
Leadoff single by Lovelace, erased on a 1 out fielders choice by Padgett. Padgett goes to 3rd as Triolo reaches on a 2 base error. Both come home on a Davis single…Coogs lead 4-0
Leadoff Joe Davis homer, needed that…Coogs lead 5-3
Single by Way (really like this kid), Thomas pinch runs, steals 2nd, and then Minter singles him home…Coogs lead 6-3
Hyland HBP, Fuentes fielders choice force’s Minter at 3rd for the 1st Out, Lovelace flies out, but Hyland goes to 3rd. Burckel walks to load the bases. Padgett lines out to end the inning
HOUSTON NOTES Offense: • Davis finshed 3-for-4 with two singles, one home run, three RBI and one run scored. • Way turned in a career-day, going 3-for-3 with a double and one run scored. • Burckel, Lovelace and Minter each collected one hit, respectively. • Triolo reached on an error in the third inning. He has reached in all 12 games to open the season.
Pitching: • Junior southpaw Lael Lockhart Jr. (1-2) picked up his first win of the season. The native of Friendswood, Texas, scattered two runs (one unearned) on one hit across a career-long five and one-third innings. He walked five and struck out four. • Junior Carter Henry surrendered one run on one hit with one walk and one strikeout in a third of an inning. • Senior Nolan Bond recored a groundout for the final out of the sixth in his lone batter faced. • Junior Devon Roedahl tossed the final three innings to record the first save of his career, also Houston’s first of the season. Roedahl held Army to two hits while recording no walks and four strikeouts.
Friday night starter Tyler Bielamowicz was scratched from his usual start day due to illness, and Lael Lockhart Jr. would take the hill instead.
The Cougars led off each of the first three innings with a base hit . . . It is no coincidence that the Cougars would also score runs in each of those three innings . . . When the Cougars stopped getting the leadoff batter on base, they also stopped scoring runs.
