2015 Houston Regional

(capsules compiled by Sean Ryan, Phil Stanton, Will Merritt, Jackson Proffitt, John Whittle)

1. Houston Cougars

Houston, Texas

At-large bid from the American Athletic Conference

2015 record: 16-8, 41-18 (first in the AAC)

Head coach: Todd Whitting (Houston, 1995)

Record at school: 170-125-1, five years

Overall record: 170-125-1, five years

Assistant coaches: Trip Couch, Frank Anderson, Mike Taylor

Team offense: .271 BA, 349 R, 41 HR, .371 SLG%, .398 OBP, 72-93 SB

Team pitching: 2.99 ERA, 535.2 IP, 490 H, 145 BB, 439 K

Top hitters: Corey Julks (.309/3/34), Josh Vidales (.307/2/38), Chris Iriart (.306/14/39), Jacob Campbell (.303/5/40), Kyla Survance (.301/2/33/30-38 SB), Ian Rice (.257/3/26), Connor Wong (.248/6/37)

Top pitchers: Aaron Fletcher (2-0, 1.38 ERA, 26 IP, 21 H, 8 BB, 15 K), Seth Romero (7-4, 7 SV, 2.15 ERA, 75.1 IP, 60 H, 19 BB, 84 K), Taylor Cobb (1-1, 2.45 ERA, 25.2 IP, 29 H, 13 BB, 17 K), Andrew Lantrip (8-3, 2.50 ERA, 104.1 IP, 97 H, 23 BB, 107 K), Kyle Dowdy (9-2, 2.62 ERA, 86 IP, 69 H, 22 BB, 62 K), David Longville (5-2, 2.95 ERA, 55 IP, 6 BB, 25 K)

Last NCAA Appearance: 2014 (4-1 at Baton Rouge Regional; 0-2 at Austin Super Regional)

Notes: The Cougars followed up last year’s 48-win season with another sparkling season, winning the regular-season title in the AAC. Coach Todd Whitting is a Houston alum who was an assistant at TCU before taking over the Cougars program in 2011. Pitching coach Frank Anderson previously was the head coach at Oklahoma State. Houston is 25-6 at home. Houston has plenty of arms, led by ace Andrew Lantrip, a sophomore righty who has gone 14-3 in two years. Freshman Seth Romero is a hard-throwing lefty who has pitched out of the bullpen and as a starter and has been brilliant in both roles. And junior righty Kyle Dowdy has stepped up for a rotation that lost ace Jake Lemoine to injury. Overall, the Cougars rank 17th in the country in ERA. Kyle Survance ranked 15th in the country with 30 stolen bases.

2. Rice Owls

Houston, Texas

At-large bid from Conference USA

2015 record: 22-8, 35-20 (first in C-USA)

Head coach: Wayne Graham (Texas, 1970)

Record at school: 1,074-440, 24 years

Overall record: 1,649-551, 33 years

Assistant coaches: Patrick Hallmark, Clay Van Hook, Scott Shepperd

Team offense: .300 BA, 317 R, 16 HR, .384 SLG%, .77 OBP, 27-42 SB

Team pitching: 3.22 ERA, 483.1 IP, 446 H, 174 BB, 488 K, .243 BAA

Top hitters: Kirby Taylor (.339/1/29), Ford Stainback (.336/0/29), Charlie Warren (.330/1/28), John Clay Reeves (.324/8/55), Hunter Kopycinski (.312/0/15), Connor Teykl (.308/2/25), Ryan Chandler (.291/0/30)

Top pitchers: Glenn Otto (2-0, 1.56 ERA, 34.2 IP, 18 H, 24 BB, 59 K), Austin Orewiler (5-1, 2.63 ERA, 75.1 IP, 63 H, 27 BB, 73 K), Matt Ditman (3-3, 10 SV, 2.85 ERA, 53.2 IP, 45 H, 14 BB, 66 K), Kevin McCanna (7-3, 3.05 ERA, 79.2 IP, 86 H, 23 BB, 63 K), Jordan Stephens (6-3, 3.12 ERA, 52 IP, 44 H, 14 BB, 67 K), Blake Fox (8-2, 3.34 ERA, 72.2 IP, 84 H, 22 BB, 49 K)

Last NCAA Appearance: 2014 (1-2 at Houston Regional)

Notes: Rice returns to the NCAA Tournament for the 21st straight year – it has either won a regular-season or tournament title for 20 straight years. The Owls went two and out in the conference tourney – the last time that happened was 2008, and Rice went on to reach the College World Series. Coach Wayne Graham has won 71 percent of his games at Rice. Rice’s winning percentage of .731 over the past 16 years is second only to Florida State (.740). The Owls boast a deep rotation that has seen Jordan Stephens return from injury in 2014. And Matt Ditman has been stellar out of the bullpen. In two years, catcher John Clay Reeves has totaled 14 homers and 96 RBI. Ford Stainback is a four-year starter who has a .294 average and 99 career RBI.

3. Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns

Lafayette, Louisiana

Automatic bid – won Sun Belt Tournament

2015 record: 18-11, 39-21 (third in Sun Belt)

Head coach: Tony Robichaux (McNeese State, 1996)

Record at school: 771-490-1, 20 years

Overall record: 1,034-667-1, 28 years

Assistant coaches: Anthony Babineaux, Jeremy Talbot, Daniel Freeman

Team offense: .276 BA, 365 R, 56 HR, .426 SLG%, .365 OBP, 78-113 SB

Team pitching: 3.36 ERA, 544 IP, 496 H, 161 BB, 442 K, .244 BAA

Top hitters: Stefan Trosclair (.358/16/53), Kyle Clement (.358/8/29), Tyler Girouard (.337/3/28), Blake Trahan (.336/2/28), Nick Thurman (.275/1/37), Greg Davis (.253/7/37)

Top pitchers: Dylan Moore (3-3, 11 SV, 1.54 ERA, 46.2 IP, 36 H, 14 BB, 38 K), Will Bacon (5-2, 2.88 ERA, 65.2 IP, 63 H, 13 BB, 52 K), Gunner Leger (6-4, 2.95 ERA, 100.2 IP, 94 H, 19 BB, 79 K), Wyatt Marks (6-1, 3.25 ERA, 55.1 IP, 51 H, 14 BB, 59 K), Colton Lee (2-3, 3.40 ERA, 42.1 IP, 33 H, 20 BB, 42 K), Greg Milhorn (4-1, 3.83 ERA, 51.2 IP, 41 H, 23 BB, 38 K), Evan Guillory (4-0, 4.08 ERA, 81.2 IP, 82 H, 20 BB, 53 K)

Last NCAA Appearance: 2014 (4-1 at Lafayette Regional; 1-2 at Lafayette Super Regional)

Notes: A year ago, the Ragin’ Cajuns piled up 58 wins and fell in the Super Regional round to Ole Miss. This year, Louisiana captured its second straight Sun Belt conference tourney under Tony Robichaux, who led his alma mater McNeese State for eight years. The Cajuns have some pop, particularly with Stefan Trosclair, who ranks 10th in the country in homers and slugging percentage. Blake Trahan, one of the few returners to the lineup, walked 37 times and was hit 14 more times. Freshman lefty Gunner Leger is tied with 23 other pitchers for tops in the nation with 16 starts.  

4. Houston Baptist Huskies

Houston, Texas

Automatic bid – won Southland tournament

2015 record: 14-13, 29-25 (eighth in the Southland)

Head coach: Jared Moon (Houston Baptist, 1994)

Record at school: 282-281-2, 10 years

Overall record: 282-281-2, 10 years

Assistant coaches: Xavier Hernandez, Russell Stockton, Brent Schmidt

Team offense: .289 BA, 255 R, 19 HR, .380 SLG%, .355 OBP, 42-60 SB

Team pitching: 3.30 ERA, 463 IP, 469 H, 113 BB, 293 K, .269 BAA

Top hitters: Zach Nehrir (.333/4/43), Samm Wiggins (.325/5/27), Curtis Jones (.308/0/21), Greg Espinosa (.307/0/27), Louie Payetta (.303/3/27), Thomas Clay (.291/0/11/15-15 SB)

Top pitchers: Ross Kennell (2-0, 0.23 ERA, 38.2 IP, 29 H, 6 BB, 16 K), Matt Harding (1-1, 0.74 ERA, 24.1 IP, 20 H, 6 BB, 15 K), Matthew McCullough (8-2, 2.55 ERA, 99 IP, 89 H, 16 BB, 68 K), Taylor Wright (8-6, 2.99 ERA, 87.1 IP, 86 H, 18 BB, 47 K), Curtis Jones (6-6, 3.99 ERA, 88 IP, 101 H, 12 BB, 58 K)

Last NCAA Appearance: First appearance

Notes: Houston Baptist is making its first trip to the NCAA Tournament after sweeping through the Southland Conference tournament behind the strength of complete games from four starting pitchers. Coach Jared Moon is an HBU alum and guided the program through the transition from NAIA to Division I. Pitching coach Xavier Hernandez pitched in 463 Major League games. Junior lefty Matthew McCullough was a part-time starter for two years and totaled a 4-3 record before going 8-2 this season. Senior Ross Kennell had 14 wins his first three years but had an ERA of 5.86, 3.73 and 7.74 in 187.1 innings entering this season – he’s allowed one earned run in 38.2 innings this year and tossed a complete-game shutout in only his second start of the season in a win over Central Arkansas in the Southland tourney.