Arizona lost a chance to move into 12th place in the Big XII when it lost to Houston on Friday night. The top 12 teams in the Big XII qualify for the Big XII Tournament that begins on May 19 in Surprise. Houston gradually pulled away on Friday night for its fifth Big XII win in 2026.
Texas Tech lost to BYU on Friday night to drop to eight wins and 18 losses in the Big XII. Arizona has seven wins and 17 losses. Texas Tech will play the final game of its series versus BYU on Saturday. Arizona and Houston have two more games left in their series this weekend.
Arizona and Houston each scored a run in the first inning. Houston scored one run in the second inning, two in the third and three in the sixth to take control of the game. Arizona scored a run in the third inning and two in the eighth, but with two runners on and no outs, the next two batters struck out before a flyout ended the threat.
Leadoff hitter Tyler Cox helped set the table for Houston with three hits and two runs batted in. Riley Jackson also had three hits for Houston. Tony Lira had three hits and two RBIs for Arizona. Kendall Hoffman pitched seven innings for Houston, allowing four runs on eight hits with a walk and six strikeouts.
Final: Houston 7, Arizona 4
— Arizona Baseball (@ArizonaBaseball) May 9, 2026
Ryne Rodriguez pitched the final 1.2 innings for Houston, allowing a one-out hit to Andrew Cain in the ninth inning without a strikeout. With Cain on base, Rodriguez forced a ground ball from Nate Novitske that Houston turned into a game-ending double play.
The top of the Arizona order produced with Cain and Novitske each getting to hits batting in front of Lira. The bottom six hitters for Arizona had three hits in 23 at-bats. Houston out-hit Arizona 13 to 10. Arizona and Houston will play game two of their series at 6 PM Mountain Standard Time on Saturday.
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