Stunned UH sees no-hitter end, victory disappear
Houston freshman Seth Romero baffled Louisiana-Lafayette hitters Sunday, flirting with a no-hitter into the eighth inning.
One inning later, it was the Cougars scratching their heads.
The Ragin’ Cajuns pulled off their second ninth-inning comeback of the weekend, rallying for two runs to stun topseeded UH 2-1 in a Houston Regional winner’s-bracket game at Cougar Field.
Louisiana-Lafayette (4121) advanced to Monday’s title game against either Houston or Rice, who played in an elimination game Sunday night. The Ragin’ Cajuns need only one win to advance to the super-regional round.
Romero was masterful, retiring 22 of the first 23 batters he faced before Evan Powell broke up the no-hit bid with a two-out single in the eighth. The freshman lefthander allowed an unearned run and one hit while striking out eight.
Before the hit, the Cougars thought they had the final out, but Powell’s bunt attempt was called foul.
“Some things don’t play out how you want them to,” Romero said.
The latest rally for Louisiana-Lafayette came without a ball leaving the infield.
Romero exited the game after issuing a walk to Dylan Butler to begin the ninth. Butler advanced to second on Blake Trahan’s sacrifice and to third on a throwing error by shortstop Connor Wong.
The Ragin’ Cajuns tied the game at 1 on Kyle Clement’s suicide squeeze. Relief pitcher Aaron Fletcher scooped the ball and tossed it toward the plate in plenty of time, but catcher Ian Rice dropped the ball. The rally was the second of the regional for third-seeded Louisiana-Lafayette, which scored five runs in the ninth to beat Rice 7-6 on Friday.
After Stefan Trosclair reached base on infield single to load the bases, Fletcher hit Tyler Girouard on a 1-and-1 pitch to score Joe Robbins with the winning run.
As he ran to first, Girouard flung his bat high into the air toward the Ragin’ Cajuns’ dugout.
“Sometimes it’s a cruel game,” UH coach Todd Whitting said.
Chris Iriart put the Cougars (43-19) ahead 1-0 with a two-out home run in the first inning — his 15th of the season.
The game featured a duel between young pitchers.
Louisiana-Lafayette lefthander Gunner Leger, the Sun Belt freshman of the year, threw five shutout innings after allowing the first-inning home run, retiring 12 of the last 14 batters he faced.
Romero rarely ran into trouble getting some timely infield defensive help and allowing only one base runner through seven innings — a fifth inning walk to Girouard, who was quickly picked off.
“Our hitters did a good job of not panicking throughout the game,” Ragin’ Cajuns coach Tony Robichaux said. “(Romero) was doing some special things out there.”
RICE 3, HOUSTON BAPTIST 1
Ford Stainback had four hits, Ryan Chandler drove in two runs and Matt Ditman threw 31/3 scoreless innings for the Owls, who eliminated the Huskies in the completion of a game that was suspended Saturday because of inclement weather.
HBU (28-27), which went 0-2 in its first NCAA Tournament appearance, scored its only run on a single by Brandon Morones in the sixth.