Arizona baseball falls to Houston for first loss of 2019

There is an age old saying in baseball: “you can’t win ‘em all.”

And after starting the 2019 season 5-0 and outscoring their opponents by a remarkable spread of 85-22, the Arizona baseball team found out just that on Friday night in Houston: you can’t win ‘em all.

The Wildcats dropped their first game of the year, as the Houston Cougars knocked off No. 24 Arizona by a score of 2-1.

A solid start from Randy Labaut (1-1) was wasted by the ineptitude of the Wildcats’ hitters, as apart from the first home run of the season from sophomore Blake Paugh, Arizona only mustered one hit all game.

It would make sense that the Wildcats would come back to Earth after their scintillating start to the year offensively, but this performance at the plate won’t be one that UA head coach Jay Johnson will want to see too many more times this season.

Cameron Cannon was the only Wildcat other than Paugh to get a hit in the loss, when he singled in the top of the first inning. Arizona didn’t record a hit in the final six innings of the game after Paugh’s homer in the third.

Labaut was unfortunate to take the loss, as he was impressive in his second start of the year, going into the eighth inning having only given up one run.

The go-ahead homer he gave up with one out in the bottom of the eighth may not have been so fatal, had Arizona been able to muster anything on offense, but on this night the blow proved to be the game-winning hit.

Labaut finished with a final line of six hits, one walk, seven strikeouts and two earned runs in 7.1 innings of work.

The Wildcats will look to get back in the win column Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. MST, when they play Houston again in the second of the three-game series.

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