Houston Cougars baseball
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| Houston Cougars | |
| Founded: 1947 | |
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| University | University of Houston |
|---|---|
| Conference | C-USA West Division |
| Location | Houston, TX |
| Head Coach | Rayner Noble (14th year) |
| Home Stadium | Cougar Field (Capacity: 5,000) |
| Nickname | Cougars |
| Colors | Scarlet and Albino
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| CWS Appearances | |
| 1953, 1967 | |
| NCAA Tournament Appearances | |
| 1951, 1953, 1958, 1960, 1966, 1967, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1990, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2008 | |
| Conference Tournament Champions | |
| Missouri Valley: 1951 Conference USA: 1997, 2000, 2008 |
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| Conference Champions | |
| Gulf Coast: 1950 Missouri Valley: 1951, 1953, 1960 Conference USA: 1999, 2000, 2002 |
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The Houston Cougars baseball team is the college baseball team of the University of Houston.
Along with the university's other athletic teams, the baseball team is a member of the Conference USA as a Division I team. They play their home games at Cougar Field. In addition to numerous NCAA Tournament appearances, the Cougars have made two College World Series appearances. Since 1994, the Cougars have been led by Rayner Noble, who is the winningest coach in the program's history.
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[edit] History
[edit] Early years and Lovette Hill era
The University of Houston's baseball program started in 1947, a year after the school's football program. Bill Henry, the Cougars' first player to make it to the majors, pitched for the inaugural team. During the first few years of the baseball team's existence, head coaches came and went, and after the third season, the team had already been through three. Houston's fourth head baseball coach, Lovette Hill broke this trend when taking over for the 1950 season. A year after Hill became coach, the Houston Cougars appeared in their first NCAA Regional. The 1953 season was one of the team's most historic and winningest years as they made their first College World Series appearance. Continuing with Lovette Hill, the Cougars appeared in several more NCAA Regionals throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Appearing in the 1967 College World Series against the Arizona State Sun Devils, the Cougars won runner-up. During this time, the Cougars played their home games at Buff Stadium.
[edit] Walton era
After a 24 year tenure with the Cougars, Lovette Hill retired, and Rolan Walton took over as head coach. During Walton's time as coach, the Cougars appeared in two more NCAA Regionals throughout the 1980s. Also during this time, the University of Houston discontinued their stint as being independent from any college athletic conference, and joined the now defunct Southwest Conference in 1976.
[edit] Stockton era
In 1987, the University of Houston hired Bragg Stockton as head coach, and appeared in another NCAA Regional the same year. Before Stockton retired after the 1993 season, the Cougars made one more appearance. Playing under Stockton were several standout players including Rayner Noble. After a brief stint of playing in Minor League Baseball, Noble returned to the University of Houston as an assistant coach under Stockton. In 1994, following Bragg Stockton's retirement, Rayner Noble was named head coach of the Cougars. Stockton however, was not completely done with the team, and returned for the 2002 season as a volunteer coach. Working with Noble for only a year, Stockton passed away.
[edit] Noble and recent history
Since becoming head coach of the Cougars in 1994, Rayner Noble has launched the Cougars to more NCAA Regional appearances than any other coach in the team's history. In addition to eight of such appearances, the Cougars have appeared in three NCAA Super Regionals. In 1995, the Cougars baseball team received a newly constructed Cougar Field that seated 5,000. The following year was the last for the Southwest Conference, and in 1997 the Cougars joined Conference USA where they remain today. In 2006, pitcher Brad Lincoln won the Dick Howser Trophy. Lincoln was the first to receive this award in the program's history, and in Conference USA. He also received the Brooks Wallace Award that year among other honors.
Since joining Conference USA, the Cougars have appeared in every Conference USA Baseball Tournament, and hold the second most amount of tournament titles (behind Tulane).
[edit] Conference affiliations
- 1947, Independent
- 1948, Lone Star Conference
- 1949, Independent
- 1950, Gulf Coast Conference
- 1951-1960, Missouri Valley Conference
- 1961-1972, Independent
- 1973-1996, Southwest Conference
- 1997-Present, Conference USA
[edit] Records
[edit] Head coaching records
| Years | Coach | Wins | Losses | Ties | Pct. |
| 1947 | Ned Thompson | 1 | 5 | 0 | .167 |
| 1948 | Dalton Albert | 4 | 7 | 1 | .375 |
| 1949 | BIll Lutz | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 |
| 1950-1974 | Lovette Hill | 343 | 325 | 5 | .515 |
| 1975-1986 | Rolan Walton | 378 | 235 | 5 | .616 |
| 1987-1994 | Bragg Stockton | 283 | 183 | 4 | .606 |
| 1995-Present | Rayner Noble | 457 | 333 | 0 | .578 |
[edit] Recent records
- 2008: 42-24 (14-10 in Conference USA)
- 2007: 28-28 (12-12 in Conference USA)
- 2006: 39-22 (18-6 in Conference USA)
- 2005: 29-30 (16-13 in Conference USA)
- 2004: 30-29 (19-11 in Conference USA)
- 2003: 37-30 (18-12 in Conference USA)
- 2002: 48-17 (22-7 in Conference USA)
[edit] Current roster
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Houston Cougars baseball roster
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| Active roster | Coaches | ||||||||
Pitchers
Catchers
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Infielders
Outfielders
Utility players
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Coaches
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[edit] Past players
The following is a list of former Houston Cougars baseball players that later played Major League Baseball:
Season(s) in which player played with Cougars is found within parentheses
- Jeff Banister (1986)
- Matt Beech (1993-1994)
- Michael Bourn (2001-2003)
- Jesse Crain (2002)
- Steve Cummings (1985-1986)
- Steve Decker [1]
- Larry Dierker [2]
- Doug Drabek (1981-1983)
- Vaughn Eshelman (1990-1991)
- Bill Henry (1947)
- Rob Johnson [3]
- Jason McDonald (1993)
- Garrett Mock (2003-2004)
- Shane Nance (1997-2000)
- Tom Paciorek (1966-1968)
- Scott Sheldon (1988-1991)
- Chris Snyder (2000-2002)
- Chris Tremie (1989-1992)
- Glenn Vaughan [4]
- Ryan Wagner (2002-2003)
- Mike Walker (1984-1986)
- Ben Weber (1989-1991)
- Gary Weiss (1977-1978)
- Woody Williams (1987-1988)
- Anthony Young (1986-1987)
[edit] External links
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