Strong pitching for UH limited ECU to just four runs on 10 hits, but the offense left eight runner stranded on base in the 4-1 loss. | File photo/The Cougar

The Cougars are now tied for first in the American Athletic Conference, following a loss to the East Carolina Pirates on Saturday by a 4-1 score in front of a nationally televised audience.

From the beginning of the game, the Cougars seemed to have control of the game, as the defense kept the Pirates at bay, while offensively they wasted no time as junior right fielder Kyle Survance singled on the first pitch he faced to open the inning.

Next up, freshman leftfielder Corey Julks would single RBI to left field, advancing Campbell to third and scoring Survance for the lead.

Freshman shortstop Connor Wong would ground out to end the inning after Houston scored their only run of the evening.

With one out and no runners on base in the top of the fourth, junior starting pitcher Kyle Dowdy gave East Carolina its first run of the evening, as Luke Lowery hits a home run to tie the game.

“Dowdy was good, but when you have no room for errors because your offense doesn’t put up any numbers and capitalize on scoring early, it is going to be tough,” said head coach Todd Whitting.

Dowdy pitched for 7 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits with three errors and three walks, striking out six batters on the night.

UH had a tough time capitalizing on offense, as they recorded nine hits but were able to score just one run on the night.

“(ECU starting pitcher) Love did a good job of changing speeds on us,” said Whitting. “We had a great offensive game last night and we have to come back and duplicate that; they had a good plan against us today.”

Tonight’s loss ties both teams for the first place in the AAC as they both sit at 12-8 in conference play.

With the loss, Houston’s overall record now sits at 34-17, with Dowdy’s record falling to 7-2 on the season with an ERA of 2.88.

Both teams meet for the third game on Sunday at noon, as Houston and ECU will vie for first-place in the American Conference.

“It’s not going to make or break our season if we win or lose tomorrow,” said Whitting. “But in the grand scheme of things we need to win games to position ourselves in the NCAA tournament.”

sports@thedailycougar.com

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“Houston offense fails to convert hits into runs, falls to ECU” was originally posted on The Daily Cougar