Weekend College Baseball Gets Some Print Attention
Serious series: The competition between UH and Rice is fierce, but the intensity will be turned up full blast this weekend (Moisekapenda Bower, Houston Chronicle)
Success had slipped away so suddenly and so drastically the previous two seasons that all Houston coach Rayner Noble longed for was progress.
He had no designs on a conference title or hosting an NCAA regional, just sincere hope for improvement.
After winning at least 40 games four times between 1997 and 2002 and advancing to a super regional in 2000, 2002 and 2003, the bottom fell out on the Cougars in 2004, and there was no rope available to escape the pit in 2005.
UH was 59-59 over that two-year stretch, and with Noble having elevated the program to the brink of a third College World Series berth and national prominence, mediocrity seemed unfathomable.
But after re-examining expectations heading into this season, Noble has the Cougars back where they belong — in contention for the Conference USA championship and poised for a postseason run. That top-ranked. crosstown rival Rice stands between UH and a fourth C-USA title represents timing so impeccably ironic it seems almost implausible.
It's nice to see Rayner Noble and the baseball Cougars getting some play in the local Hearst daily, but my gawd, that writing is just overwrought. Sometimes less is better.
I wonder why Michael Murphy doesn't cover Cougar baseball. Maybe he just sticks to covering football and basketball there.
Rice has a regional locked up at this point in the season. UH probably needs to win two of three against Rice to get a regional for itself. The NCAA won't be inclined to have Houston play host to two regionals, but it would be hard to deny UH if they pulled off a series win at Reckling this weekend.
The big problem is that Wayne Graham always seem to have UH's number, and he never seems to mind letting his pitchers throw a bunch of pitches (pitch count? what's that!). If he starts Degerman against Lincoln on Friday, that ought to be interesting.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/10/06 21:02 | Sports | Technorati
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Lincoln vs.Degerman should be one for the ages, hoping for a good show of Crimson.
Posted by Reg Burns @ 22:12 on 05/11/06
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