2008 Houston Cougars baseball season in review

CUSA Fans Houston Cougars sports correspondent Allen Rassenfoss provides us with a review of the UH Cougars 2008 baseball season.

The expectations coming in were fairly low, with the Coogs picked to finish 5 th in the preseason Conference USA polls. The Coogs’ starting catcher Luis Flores had left for Oklahoma State, a few starters had graduated and starting pitcher Aaron Brown had gone pro.

The team finished the year with a 42-24 overall record, a 14-10 conference record and the 2008 Conference USA baseball title (the first since 2000). For the first time since 2003 the team won 40+ games and went to the postseason. Seniors <b> Bryan Pounds </b> and Jake Stewart were named 1 st team All C-USA. Pounds was also named the CUSA Tournament MVP. Sophomore LHP Wes Musick was named to the 2 nd team. Also, RHP Chase Dempsay and SS Blake Kelso were named to the All Freshman team. Both players were named Freshman All Americans as well.

Well I’m not going to write a ‘blow by blow’ of the entire ’08 season, so I’ll give my highlights and “awards” for the 2008 Houston Cougars baseball team.

Game of the Year: 6/1/08 vs. Texas A&M

This wasn’t exactly a hard choice for the game of the year. The Coogs’ had been defeated by Texas A&M 22-4 on the Saturday night prior to this game. As if that wasn’t demoralizing enough, the Houston Cougars had just defeated Illinois Chicago 14-11 in 11 innings about 2 hours prior to the start of this contest. Few people in attendance gave the boys in red and white any chance to win.

But the Coogs got on the board first with a 400+ foot 2-run blast from backup catcher Austin Goolsby. Freshman RHP Jared Ray did something no one else in the regional had done: hold the Texas A&M offense scoreless. And while he the Aggies took a 3-2 lead in the top of the 6 th, the Coogs answered with a run in the bottom half. From then on Ray kept the Ags scoreless.

In the bottom of the 9 th inning with 2 runners on and 2 outs, Jake Stewart smacked a single up the middle which plated freshman DH Caleb Ramsey. The Coogs were unlikely 4-3 winners on that magical Sunday night.

Performance of the Year: Jared Ray vs. Texas A&M (6/1/08)

I’ve already mentioned the game in which Ray pitched this gem. But to put it in perspective, the freshman had thrown 6.2 scoreless innings in the C-USA tourney to keep the Coogs’ alive against UAB. He also pitched the final 0.2 innings against Illinois-Chicago earlier that day and got a save. While he was one of the most highly-touted freshmen on this team, Ray struggled much of the regular season and was demoted from the weekend rotation. Against Texas A&M though he looked like all the hype and then some, getting out of multiple jams in a do or die game.

Far and away this is the best performance of the ’08 season, nothing comes close.

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Player of the Year: Bryan Pounds

The senior 1B/3B had a career average just above .240 coming into the season. He was a valuable utility infielder, but certainly not someone who the Coogs were counting on for big production. Pounds gave them that production and then some, hitting above .400 for much of the regular season. While he slumped towards the end, Pounds still led the offense through the rigors of the CUSA tourney (which he was named MVP of). He also provided a solid glove at First and Third base. He finished the year with a .354 average, 10 homers and a team-leading 67 RBI.

Jake Stewart deserves an honorable mention as well for his great senior season.

Pitcher of the Year: Chase Dempsay

When the Coogs needed a scoreless inning or innings they went to the true freshman from Baytown, Texas: Dempsay. He had the most appearances on the team (33), led in ERA (2.53), saves (11) and was tied for the team lead with 8 wins. His 11 saves were 2 nd in the C-USA behind Southern Miss’ Tyler Conn. Simply put, the kid was absolutely nails when you needed him the most.

Also deserving of mention is Wes Musick who was the Coogs’ top starter all season.

Freshman of the Year: Blake Kelso

It would be unfair to give this award to Chase Dempsay twice. So the next most deserving player is easily the Coogs’ shortstop Blake Kelso. Kelso was one of two players to start all 66 games of the ’08 season. The only time he missed was a few late innings against Stephen F. Austin after being hit by a pitch. Kelso hit over .300 for most of the season, finishing with a .288 batting average, 3 homers, 35 RBI and 39 walks. Kelso’s 199 defensive assists were near tops in the C-USA.

Coach Noble has said publicly that Kelso will be moved to 2 nd base next season and has pro potential at the position.

Most Improved Player: John Touchton

The sophomore right-handed pitcher from Kingwood showed this past spring he could be one of the Coogs’ top weekend starters. After an inconsistent freshman season, Touchton worked his way through the mid-week rotation into the weekend rotation. He turned in one of the best performances of the season, holding a very good Rice team scoreless for 6+ innings. He also had a stretch where he allowed only 4 earned runs in 20+ innings pitched. Touchton finished the year with a 5-4 record and 4.18 ERA in 64.2 innings.