Electric atmosphere
UH’s Schroeder Park the place to be to catch baseball fever
Hunter Yurachek kept hearing the same thing on the night that Schroeder Park was the place to be.
Whenever the University of Houston’s vice president of athletics spoke with longtime Cougars fans Friday night, Yurachek was told it had been a long time since baseball felt this electric on campus.
Sure, the best team in Major League Baseball was playing that other Texas team up north. And, yes, having Texas A&M and Baylor in the same NCAA Tournament regional didn’t hurt.
But there was no way to ignore a sold-out park saturated in red. And even when UH trailed by two runs in the fifth inning and the Coogs only had four hits to Iowa’s 10, Schroeder Park hadn’t lost its spark.
Then a tying run already on the board for Houston was erased via appeal — Lael Lockhart didn’t touch first during his sixth-inning RBI double, umpires said — and the stands really turned red.
“This is an amazing crowd in here,” said Yurachek, who watched the Cougars’ first-round opener like
a fan, surveying the field from a seat near the home dugout. “I’ve talked to some of the old-timers that have had season tickets in this park since the day it opened, and they said there’s never been a crowd like this in here.”
The No. 1 seed Coogs fell 6-3 to No. 4 Iowa, only recording six hits and never taking control, and are now just one loss away from the final defeat of a strong season. But the university’s overall athletic rise continues.
UH has spent the past two seasons rebuilding its brand on the football field, going national with 22 combined wins and now placing what Tom Herman built in Major Applewhite’s hands. Kelvin Sampson is re-creating the UH men’s basketball program, which will have a modernized arena in 2018 and has a state-of-the-art practice facility to show off.
Todd Whitting had the baseball team (40-20) hosting a packed regional, with “Let’s Go Houston!” constantly backing the No. 16 squad in the country.
“It’s really neat to see how we’re continuing to grow, not just our football program and basketball program, but baseball and all of our other sports,” Yurachek said. “That H-Town Takeover started with football, but it’s really developed into something that’s taken over all of our sports.”
The 3,410 in the stands were at least 90 percent red, with Astros shirts and hats battling traveling Hawkeyes fans for second place. With the Astros in Arlington, Schroeder Park became a baseball destination this weekend. Standing-room-only tickets were added to accommodate the faithful.
The crowd was ready early — a first-game rain delay extended A&M’s win over Baylor and had Cougars fans waiting at the gates. Applewhite was cheered walking in the stands in the second inning, while chants kept breaking out on a perfect Friday night just outside downtown.
The only problem: It took UH’s team a while to get going.
Lefthander Trey Cumbie entered with a 10-1 record and 1.88 ERA, then gave up a leadoff comebacker that bounced off his leg. Long innings followed — Cumbie was at 63 pitches and had allowed six hits after the fourth — and the Hawkeyes’ early 2-0 lead was set up by their aggressiveness at the plate and on the bases.
It took Corey Julks to wake the Coogs up. The center fielder sprinted toward “4 NCAA Super Regionals” painted in white on the outfield wall, then leapt as the ball arced down. Julks bounced off the wall, held on to the catch and reminded Schroeder Park why it was packed in the first place.
A wild pitch allowed UH to tie it at 2 in the fourth. Then the “Whose house? Coogs’ house!” screams kicked in at full roar.
As UH threatened — bases loaded, Iowa appearing shaky for the first time — Yurachek connected the Cougars’ baseball, football and basketball teams, and the potential for all.
“Those are our three sports that are our revenue-producing sports,” he said. “We need to really be good so that money can trickle down to our other sports and support our entire athletic program.”
The support was clearly evident on a Friday night in Houston devoted to college baseball.
Schroeder Park was the place to be — if you could get a ticket.