Unless the Cougars make an incredible run to the conference title through the losers’ bracket to win the AAC Tournament, UH Baseball will miss the NCAAs for the fourth straight (full) season. That would be the ninth time UH has missed in 13 full seasons under Todd Whitting (no Tournament in 2020).
After a horrendous start to the season, the Cougars made a run at the AAC regular-season championship this year. But on the final weekend, they lost their lead, handing ECU their fourth-straight conference title.
Here’s how UH has stacked up nationally in the last 4+ years (2020 is included, even though UH played just 15 games due to COVID). 2023 numbers are through the end of the regular season:
| 2019 | 2020* | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scoring | 240 | 221 | 172 | 143 | 87 |
| Runs | 214 | 219 | 179 | 92 | 79 |
| Slugging | 195 | 213 | 167 | 118 | 124 |
| OBP | 192 | 280 | 241 | 185 | 180 |
| BA | 225 | 262 | 265 | 99 | 104 |
| Hits | 198 | 171 | 247 | 68 | 70 |
| HR | 123 | 97 | 44 | 99 | 119 |
| Doubles | 219 | 220 | 178 | 69 | 80 |
| Walks | 108 | 232 | 156 | 176 | 219 |
| Fielding % | 134 | 127 | 122 | 2 | 6 |
| WHIP | 33 | 173 | 209 | 53 | 144 |
| ERA | 34 | 151 | 149 | 102 | 176 |
| H/9 | 29 | 167 | 204 | 92 | 92 |
| K/9 | 196 | 215 | 62 | 169 | 92 |
| BB/9 | 92 | 156 | 201 | 36 | 222 |
| K/BB Ratio | 126 | 185 | 152 | 66 | 27 |
| RPI | 44 | 233 | 114 | 78 | 97 |
| SOS | 35 | 36 | 198 | 111 | 180 |
| Vs. RPI 1-50 | 8-11 | 1-3 | 1-2 | 3-6 | 2-5 |
| Vs. RPI 51-100 | 10-6 | 1-3 | 5-25 | 5-7 | 2-4 |
Over the last 3+ seasons, Cougar Baseball has gone 20-55 vs. top-100 teams (26.7%). Not Tournament teams, not great teams; the top 100. Against top 50 teams, UH is 7-16 (30.4%) in three+ years. That’s bad, but the number of games against top competition is problematic. At least 35 programs have played 23 games against the top 50 teams this year. From 2020-2023, UH has played 182 games but just 12.5% against top-50 teams.
Against such mediocre competition, you cannot put up the numbers that this program has. The pitching has fallen off a cliff since Frank Anderson left. And while the hitting looks good, the truth is that in scoring, runs, slugging, and every other major offensive category UH is nowhere close to the top-50 or NCAA-worthy.
