CHICAGO - After winning a thrilling regional at Cougar Field this past
weekend before packed houses, the University of Houston will play host to an
NCAA Baseball Super Regional this coming weekend, it was announced by the
NCAA on Monday afternoon.
The No. 6-ranked Cougars will host upstart San Jose State, winners of the
Waco Regional, in a best-of-three series beginning Friday night.
Houston captured its regional by posting a thrilling come-from-behind win
over Princeton last Friday before defeating cross-town arch rival Rice twice
in 24 hours to advance to the Super Regional.
Senior first baseman J.P. Woodward was the hero of the 7-6 win over
Princeton, hitting a home run with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning
to give UH the victory. On Saturday, in front of the largest crowd in
Cougar Field history (4.519), Houston scratched out a 5-2 win despite
getting just three hits. Senior lefthander Shane Nance improved to 9-1 on
the season by throwing a six-hitter over 7 2/3 innings, striking out seven
and walking just two. After dropping a 5-4 decision in the first game on
Sunday, the Cougars turned to two-time Conference USA Pitcher of the Year
Kyle Crowell to get advance the team to the next round. Crowell responded
by going 6 1/3 innings before giving way to junior righthander Greg Runser,
who, in his third appearance of the regional, shut down the Owls for the
final 2 2/3 innings.
At the plate, it was senior shortstop Aaron Melebeck who stepped up the most
for Houston. He hit .417 in the four games with two doubles, two home runs
and four runs batted in.
Despite temperatures in the 90's and humidity to match, the seven games
played at the Houston regional drew a total of 22,409 to Cougar Field, an
average of over 3,200 per game.
Houston's opponent in the Super Regional will be San Jose State (38-21) of
the Western Athletic Conference. The Spartans advanced by defeating Baylor
and Southwest Texas State before eliminating Florida on Memorial Day. The
Cougars and SJSU have never met on the diamond.
Friday's series opener is slated for 7:00 p.m. CDT. Saturday's game will
also played at 7:00 p.m. CDT, while a third game, if necessary, would take
place on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. CDT.
Houston (47-16) has set a school record for victories in a season and is the
first Conference USA team to advance to a Super Regional, a format which was
put in place in 1999. A pair of victories at the Super Regional would make
the Cougars the first school from Conference USA to advance to a College
World Series since Tom Paciorek led the 1967 Houston team to Omaha.