Baseball falls to Houston, 3-2, in extra innings
AUSTIN, Texas — Houston right fielder Tyler Bielamowicz drilled a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning Saturday to lead the Cougars to a 3-2 win over No. 19 Texas Saturday at Schroeder Park.
The loss dropped the Longhorns to 6-5 this season, while the Cougars improved to 7-3.
Four pitchers took the mound over the course of the game for Texas. Starter Tristan Stevens allowed three hits and two earned runs, walking three and striking out four, over 5-2/3 innings. Relievers Palmer Wenzel and Tanner Witt shared 2-1/3 innings, allowing three hits and walking three, but keeping UH off the scoreboard.
The final UT hurler, Aaron Nixon lost his first collegiate decision after he struck out five and allowed just one hit over 2-1/3 innings, but the one hit he surrendered was Bielamowicz’s game-winning shot to left.
Houston got on the scoreboard first, when catcher Kyle Lovelace drove in left fielder Samuel Benjamin with an RBI single to center field in the bottom of the second inning.
Texas tied it up in the top of the fifth. With two runners on, right fielder Austin Todd singled to left, moving designated hitter Douglas Hodo to second and bringing in left fielder Eric Kennedy with the tying run.
The Horns took the lead in the next inning, when Kennedy’s bunt single scored shortstop Trey Faltine.
The statistics were as close as would be expected in a game that required extra innings to determine a winner.
Each team had nine hits, including a team-high three by Kennedy. Faltine and Hodo also had two hits each; each of Faltine’s was a double.
The rubber match of the three-game series gets underway at 1:30 Sunday in a game that can be seen on ESPN+.
