The baseball team will get a little change of scenery this weekend when they travel to the University of Houston to compete with the Cougars in a three-game series.
The Tigers (7-0) have reached their best record since 1997 with each win being earned before the home crowd. This is the first road series of the season for the team.
Coach Smoke Laval is sticking with the same pitching rotation he has used for every weekend series this season. Senior lefty Lane Mestepey will throw the first pitch Friday night for the Tigers followed by junior Clay Dirks on Saturday. Left-hander Greg Smith will end the series on Sunday.
“You don’t have the crowd, and you can’t get everyone behind you,” said Dirks. “It’s a little different, but the bases are still 90 feet, and the baseball is still the same size — nothing changes. It just takes a little bit more. Battling adversity on the road is the big thing. Going into Houston we just have to go down there and be focused.”
All pitchers in the starting rotation are left-handed, but Mestepey may be reaching his biggest milestone yet in his college career. Going into the weekend series, the senior is only three innings shy of tying the record for most innings pitched. Mestepey’s current number of innings is 395.
Other records on tap are Blake Gill’s hitting streak which stands at 20 games dating back to last season. Gill has not been in the starting lineup due to an arm injury but has been in the batting order on some occasions this season. Gill still is not able to compete at shortstop, but senior Derek Hebert and true freshman Michael Hollander have been sharing time as Gill’s backups.
Hollander is the only true freshman starting for the Tigers. The Mandeville native led the team in doubles and homeruns in the fall.
“I am very pleased with Hollander, but he’s still feeling his way,” said Laval. “He’s a semi-local guy so he’s got pressure from that and pressure from me.”
The University of Houston is 2-6 on the season but has faced more Top-25 teams than the Tigers have this season. The Cougars started their season 2-0 before dropping six straight to tough opponents including Rice, Texas A&M and Baylor — all in the Top 10.
“We know Houston has a very talented club because we tried to sign several of the players on their roster,” Laval said in a press release. “It should be a great series, and our focus this weekend will be on how we handle the pressure of playing on the road.”
Houston coach Raynor Noble named sophomore Brad Lincoln the starter for Friday night’s opener. Lincoln — who started against the Tigers last season as a freshman is 0-1 with a 5.84 ERA on the season.
Friday night’s game begins at 7 p.m. at Cougar Field followed by Saturday’s game at 3 p.m. The series will wrap up Sunday at 1 p.m.