| Houston Cougars baseball | |
|---|---|
 2026 Houston Cougars baseball team | |
 | |
| Founded | 1947; 78 years ago |
| University | University of Houston |
| Head coach | Todd Whitting (16th season) |
| Conference | Big 12 Conference |
| Location | Houston,Texas |
| Home stadium | Schroeder Park (Capacity: 5,000) |
| Nickname | Cougars |
| Colors | Scarlet and white[1] |
| College World Series runner-up | |
| 1967 | |
| College World Series appearances | |
| 1953, 1967 | |
| NCAA regional champions | |
| 2000, 2002, 2003, 2014 | |
| NCAA tournament appearances | |
| 1951, 1953, 1958, 1960, 1966, 1967, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1990, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 | |
| Conference tournament champions | |
| 1951, 1953, 1960, 1997, 2000, 2008, 2014, 2017 | |
| Conference regular season champions | |
| 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1960, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2015, 2017, 2018 | |
TheHouston Cougars baseball team is thecollege baseball team of theUniversity of Houston. Along with the university's other athletic teams, the baseball team is a member of theBig 12 Conference as aDivision I team. They play their home games atSchroeder Park. In addition to 22NCAA tournament appearances, the Cougars have made four Super Regional and twoCollege World Series appearances. Houston has been led by head coachTodd Whitting since 2011.
The University of Houston's baseball program started in 1947. Head coachNed Thompson was hired fromPasadena High School, and became the first baseball coach for 1947, backfield coach infootball from 1946 to 1948 for the University of Houston. He also served as associate athletic director in charge of business finances from 1946 to 1976. Among the players for his 1947 baseball team was pitcherBill Henry who had been a forward on Thompson's state high school championship basketball team the year prior.[2] Following his 1947 efforts for Houston, Henry went on to become Houston's first player to playMajor League Baseball, where he enjoyed an 18-year career.
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 firstCollege World Seriesappearance. Continuing with Hill, the Cougars appeared in several more NCAA Regionals throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Appearing in the finals of the1967 College World Series against theArizona State Sun Devils, the Cougars finished runner-up and with a #2 national ranking. The team also began playing their home games at nearbyBuffalo Stadium, before moving into an on-campus facility. Also during this time, the University of Houston discontinued their stint as being independent from anycollege athletic conference, and joined the now defunctSouthwest Conference in 1973.
After a 25-year tenure with the Cougars, Lovette Hill retired, andRolan Walton took over as head coach. Walton had previously played for the Cougars in the early years under Hill.[3] He later played as ashortstop for theVictoria Rosebuds, aTexas League team, before leaving in 1954. During Walton's time as coach, the Cougars appeared in two more NCAA Regionals throughout the 1980s.
In 1987, the University of Houston hiredBragg Stockton[4] as head coach, and appeared in another NCAA Regional the same year. Before Stockton retired after the 1994 season, the Cougars made one more NCAA Regional appearance. Playing under Stockton were several standout players includingRayner Noble. After a brief stint of playing inMinor League Baseball, Noble returned to the University of Houston as an assistant coach under Stockton. In 1994, following Stockton's retirement, 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 died.
After becoming head coach of the Cougars in 1994,Rayner Noble 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 constructedCougar Field that seated 5,000. The following year was the last for the Southwest Conference, and in 1997 the Cougars joinedConference USA. In 2004, the Cougars playedSan Diego State atPetco Park in front of 40,106, the largest college baseball crowd to date.[5]
In 2006, pitcherBrad Lincoln won theDick Howser Trophy. Lincoln was the first to receive this award in the program's history, and in Conference USA. He also received theBrooks Wallace Award that year among other honors.
In Conference USA, the Cougars appeared in everyConference USA baseball tournament, and held the second most number of tournament titles (behindTulane).
Despite becoming the program's winningest coach, Noble's 2009 and 2010 records were back-to-back losing seasons, which Houston had not seen since 1974 and 1975.[6]
In 2010, it was announced that Rayner Noble would not return as head coach.[7] Former Houston assistant coach and playerTodd Whitting was announced as his replacement. Whitting had served in various positions withTCU, ultimately serving as associate head coach before returning to his alma mater.[6]
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In the 2013 season after rebuilding the team for two years, Whitting led the Houston Cougar Baseball team to its best start in 24 seasons. In March 2013, for the first time in seven years, with Whitting at the helm, the Cougars were ranked in the top twenty by Baseball America.
Houston's Cougar Field (now Schroeder Park) received substantial renovations at the end of the 2013 calendar year thanks to major donations from alumni and former players.FieldTurf was installed to replace the natural grass and bullpens were upgraded, giving the stadium a nice makeover.
In 2014, the Cougars joined theAmerican Athletic Conference for its inaugural season. Riding the momentum of the 2013 season, the Cougars continued their success into 2014 and won the inaugural AAC conference tournament. The Cougars finished the 2014 regular season with an impressive 44–15 record and ranking as high as number 9 nationally. This was also the first season since 1993 that the Cougars swept powerhouseRice and claimed the Silver Glove Series.
| Tenure | Coach | Overall Record | Conference Record | Conference Regular Season Titles | Conference Tournament Titles | NCAA Tournament Appearances |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1947 | Ned Thompson | 1–5 (.167) | – | |||
| 1948 | Dalton Albert | 4–7–1 (.375) | 2–6 (.250) | |||
| 1949 | Bill Lutz | 7–9 (.438) | – | |||
| 1950–1974 | Lovette Hill | 343–325–5 (.513) | 75–53 (.586) | 5 | 3 | 6 |
| 1975–1986 | Rolan Walton | 378–235–5 (.616) | 129–136–3 (.487) | 2 | ||
| 1987–1994 | Bragg Stockton | 283–183–4 (.606) | 68–106 (.391) | 2 | ||
| 1995–2010 | Rayner Noble | 551–420 (.567) | 259–162 (.615) | 3 | 3 | 8 |
| 2011–present | Todd Whitting | 474–363–1 (.566) | 170–175–1 (.493) | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| Total | 2,041–1,547–16 (.569) | 11 | 8 | 22 | ||
Notes: Through 2025 season.
The Cougars have appeared in 22NCAA tournaments. Their combined record is 43–48–1. They have made two appearances in theCollege World Series.
| Year | Round | Results |
|---|---|---|
| 1951 | District 5 Playoffs | Lost 2–5 at Oklahoma Lost 5–6 at Oklahoma |
| 1953 | District 5 Playoffs | Lost 4–7 at Oklahoma Won 8–7 at Oklahoma Won 5–3 at Oklahoma |
| College World Series | Lost 1–4 vs. Boston College Lost 6–7 vs. Stanford | |
| 1958 | District 6 Playoffs | Lost 2–3 vs. Texas |
| 1960 | District 6 Playoffs | Won 4–2 at Texas Lost 3–4 at Arizona Lost 4–6 at Arizona |
| 1966 | District 6 Playoffs | Tied 4–4 vs. Texas Won 5–4 vs. Texas Lost 3–9 vs. Texas Lost 5–8 vs. Texas |
| 1967 | District 6 Playoffs | Won 11–8 vs. Texas Lost 1–5 at Texas Won 4–3 at Texas |
| College World Series | Lost 1–12 vs. Stanford Won 7–6 vs. Ohio State Won 3–213 vs. Boston College Won 3–0 vs. Arizona State Lost 2–11 vs. Arizona State | |
| 1982 | West II Regional | Lost 3–7 vs. Cal State Fullerton Won 13–3 vs. San Diego State Lost 5–9 at Arizona State |
| 1985 | Central Regional | Won 11–4 vs. LSU Lost 2–9 at Texas Lost 9–10 vs. Lamar |
| 1987 | Central Regional | Won 10–5 vs. Indiana State Won 8–4 vs. Sam Houston State Lost 3–15 at Texas Won 4–0 vs. Sam Houston State Lost 4–13 at Texas |
| 1990 | South I Regional | Won 4–2 vs. Georgia Tech Lost 11–26 vs. USC Won 15–3 vs. Southern Miss Lost 4–6 at LSU |
| 1997 | South I Regional | Lost 6–12 vs. South Alabama Lost 5–9 vs. UNC Greensboro |
| 1999 | Houston Regional | Won 6–4 vs. Southwest Texas State Lost 3–5 vs. Louisiana–Lafayette Won 8–5 vs. Texas Lost 8–19 vs. Louisiana–Lafayette |
| 2000 | Houston Regional | Won 7–6 vs. Princeton Won 5–2 vs. Rice Lost 4–5 vs. Rice Won 9–5 vs. Rice |
| Houston Super Regional | Lost 3–5 vs. San Jose State Won 5–2 vs. San Jose State Lost 2–3 vs. San Jose State | |
| 2001 | Houston Regional | Lost 1–7 vs. Baylor Lost 6–7 vs. Texas–Arlington |
| 2002 | Mesa Regional | Won 9–0 vs. New Mexico State Won 8–4 at Arizona State Won 8–3 at Arizona State |
| Austin Super Regional | Won 2–0 at Texas Lost 2–17 at Texas Lost 2–5 at Texas | |
| 2003 | College Station Regional | Lost 3–9 vs. Alabama Won 4–2 vs. Oral Roberts Won 16–8 vs. Alabama Won 7–6 at Texas A&M Won 7–610 at Texas A&M |
| Houston Super Regional | Won 5–2 at Rice Lost 2–10 at Rice Lost 2–5 at Rice | |
| 2006 | Norman Regional | Lost 1–2 vs. Wichita State Lost 6–8 at Oklahoma |
| 2008 | College Station Regional | Won 9–5 vs. Dallas Baptist Lost 4–22 at Texas A&M Won 14–1110 vs. UIC Won 4–3 at Texas A&M Lost 5–13 at Texas A&M |
| 2014 | Baton Rouge Regional | Won 3–210 vs. Bryant Lost 1–5 at LSU Won 9–5 vs. Southeastern Louisiana Won 5–411 at LSU Won 12–2 at LSU |
| Austin Super Regional | Lost 2–4 at Texas Lost 0–4 at Texas | |
| 2015 | Houston Regional | Won 6–4 vs. Houston Baptist Lost 1–2 vs. Louisiana–Lafayette Lost 2–320 vs. Rice |
| 2017 | Houston Regional | Lost 3–6 vs. Iowa Won 17–3 vs. Baylor Won 7–5 vs. Iowa Lost 3–4 vs. Texas A&M |
| 2018 | Chapel Hill Regional | Won 9–1 vs. Purdue Lost 3–4 at North Carolina Won 8–4 vs. Purdue Lost 11–19 at North Carolina |
Each year, Houston competes in theSilver Glove series againstRice. They also play againstSam Houston State in what has been dubbed the Don Sanders Cup.
Other rivals include former Southwest Conference foesBaylor,TCU,Texas,Texas A&M, andTexas Tech.
ABCA National Player of the Year Award
| ‡ | Unanimous selection | ||||
| † | Consensus selection | ||||
| ABCA | American Baseball Coaches Association | D1B | D1Baseball.com |
| BA | Baseball America | NCBWA | National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association |
| CBF | College Baseball Foundation | PG | Perfect Game |
| CB | Collegiate Baseball Newspaper |
| Year | Player | Position | Selector(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | Tom Paciorek‡ | OF | ABCA |
| 1968 | Tom Paciorek‡ | OF | ABCA |
| 1976 | Jerry Willeford‡ | C | ABCA |
| 1983 | Rayner Noble† | UTL | ABCA |
| 2000 | Kyle Crowell | P | BA |
| 2002 | Jesse Crain | UTL | BA |
| Brad Sullivan‡ | P | ABCA, BA, CB, NCBWA | |
| 2003 | Ryan Wagner† | P | ABCA, BA, CB |
| 2006 | Brad Lincoln‡ | UTL | ABCA, BA, CB, NCBWA |
| 2017 | Trey Cumbie | P | NCBWA |
| 2025 | Antoine Jean | P | CBF, D1B, PG |
Conference Player of the Year[edit]
† co-Player of the Year | Conference Pitcher of the Year[edit]
† co-Pitcher of the Year
|
| Year | Coach | Conference |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Rolan Walton | Southwest |
| 1982 | ||
| 1999 | Rayner Noble | C-USA |
| 2000 | ||
| 2018 | Todd Whitting | The American |
The following Houston players and coaches have been enshrined in theNational College Baseball Hall of Fame.
| Year Inducted | Name | Position | Tenure | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Tom Paciorek | OF | 1966–1968 | [8] |
The Cougars have retired three numbers.
| No. | Player | Position | Tenure |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Rolan Walton | SS | 1948–1951 |
| 16 | Doug Drabek | P | 1981–1983 |
| 22 | Tom Paciorek | OF | 1966–1968 |
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