Houston Primed For Astros Foundation Classic, Big 12 Play

Image credit: Houston first baseman/closer Justin Murray (Photo courtesy of Houston)

The field for this year’s Astros Foundation Classic is once again loaded. Three top-15 teams—No. 2 LSU, No. 9 Vanderbilt and No. 14 Texas—headline the event and are joined by a trio of other strong programs from the area—Houston (6-2), Louisiana-Lafayette (4-3) and Texas State (5-3).

There will be plenty to follow throughout the weekend at Minute Maid Park. A Friday night showdown between LSU and Texas headlines the weekend. Rivalries like LSU vs. Louisiana and Texas vs. Texas State will be renewed. Vanderbilt and Texas meet for Sunday brunch.

The return of a familiar face to the tournament is one of the most interesting stories of the weekend. The event has a new title sponsor this year but has been played since 2001 and remains the granddaddy of non-conference tournaments. Houston is making its 19th appearance in the event, the most of any team, but it will be its first since 2019.

The Cougars’ return to the spotlight of Minute Maid Park comes at a significant moment for the program. This is Houston’s first season as a member of the Big 12 after moving from the American Athletic Conference. The Cougars started this season 6-0—their best start since 2015—before losing their last two games. They are coming off 37- and 36-win seasons, though neither ended with NCAA Tournament appearances (more on that in a bit). And the buzz around the athletic department is strong, as the men’s basketball team enters March ranked No. 1 in the country.

In short, it’s an exciting time for Houston and the program will this weekend get to test itself on a big stage with games against Texas State, Vanderbilt and Louisiana.

“It’s high-level competition,” coach Todd Whitting said. “It will really prepare us for the next weekend going into Big 12 play, playing the teams we’ve got.”

Not only has Houston played in the event more than any other team, Whitting has probably coached in it more than anyone but former Rice coach Wayne Graham. This will be the 14th appearance as a head coach or assistant coach in the tournament for Whitting, who has led his alma mater since 2011. Over the years, he has learned that the tournament doesn’t always paint a true picture of a team’s quality.

“You’re never as good or as bad as you think you are when you come out of that tournament,” he said. “And I’ve been on all sides of it.”

But, from the outside at least, this weekend feels like a bigger deal than most for Houston. Its three opponents are all NCAA Tournament-caliber, and this is its final tune-up before it embarks on its maiden voyage in the Big 12. A dismal weekend, especially following a couple tough losses to St. John’s and UTSA, wouldn’t be quite the vibe the Cougars are looking for.

Houston comes into the weekend led by its offense, which is averaging 10.25 runs per game, 25th nationally. A 27-run outburst against Prairie View A&M last week has skewed the statistics a bit, but the Cougars have scored at least six runs in every game this season. Whitting credited hitting coach Ross Kivett, now in his third season at Houston, for the lineup’s success and stated that the offense over the last two years has been as good as he has had in his tenure with the program.

Seniors Justin Murray (.464/.571/.750, 2 HR) and Tre Jones (.464/.531/.786, 2 HR, 9 SB), in their sixth and fifth years of college baseball, respectively, lead the offense. But right behind those grizzled veterans is true freshman outfielder Ace Reese, who is hitting .375/.484/.667 with two home runs.

Still, it’s largely an older, veteran offense. Reese and sophomore infielder Thomas Lyssy will likely be the only underclassmen in the lineup on any given day. Houston has long heavily relied on transfers, either from junior college or four-year schools, offensively and this year is no different. Murray joined the program last year as a transfer from Dartmouth and earned first-team all-conference honors as a two-way player. Jones this year transferred from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, part of a transfer class of position players that also included Harold Coll (Arkansas), Jonathan French (South Carolina) and Jake Rainess (Maine).

Whitting played at Houston and then was an assistant coach at the school under earlier NCAA rules that allowed baseball players a one-time transfer exception. He said even then the program was a popular destination for transfers. Today’s era of free transfers has allowed the program to go back to those roots.

“Kids want to come back home or there are guys we recruited and didn’t get,” he said. “Our staff, our facilities, all those things help.”

On the mound, Houston has a solid 1-2 punch leading its rotation in righthander Jaxon Jelkin (0-0, 3.24) and lefthander Antoine Jean (1-0, 0.90), and strong depth behind them. Jelkin was a 14th round pick last year out of junior college but continued on to play at Houston. He attacks hitters with a powerful fastball-slider combination and figures to be the next high-end pitcher drafted out of the program. Jean, a Canadian native, transferred to Houston after missing last season at Alabama due to injury. He stands out more for his pitchability than his stuff and his experience is an asset for the Cougars.

The Cougars appear well positioned for their big moment this weekend and through the challenges of the Big 12. They have an experienced, veteran roster and, following a couple tough years in 2020-21, are 85-49 since the start of the 2022 season.

The Big 12 represents a step up in competition, however. Houston starts its conference slate with Baylor (1-6) and BYU (2-5), a relatively easy entry point in a rugged league. But then, it will play Kansas State (4-3), No. 6 TCU (8-0), No. 16 Texas Tech (6-2) and No. 14 Texas (7-1) in successive weekends. That’s a run the American simply doesn’t present.

While that stretch—and other weekends—will be a challenge for Houston, it’s also an opportunity. Despite winning 37 games in 2022 and 36 games in 2023, the Cougars ranked No. 79 and No. 102 in RPI, respectively, on Selection Monday. In both cases, they were well outside the range for an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament. Last year’s sub-100 RPI ranking was particularly galling because Houston won all eight of its conference series last season, including knocking off ECU, and reached the championship game of the conference tournament.

There was a time in the American’s brief history that team that went 36-23, 17-13, finished a half-game out of first place in the regular season and lost in the tournament title game would have been an NCAA Tournament lock and probably in the mix to host. But the league has slipped in stature in recent seasons, falling all the way to ninth in conference RPI last season and ECU was the lone top-100 RPI team in the conference. The American’s fall is not the only reason Houston was left without an at-large resume a season ago. It went 1-5 at home against Cal, Oklahoma and Texas A&M, missing on opportunities to get the quality wins they needed.

UH isn’t going to win all 10 conference series this year. But the good news is it can build an at-large resume without that kind of conference success. Oklahoma last season went 11-13 in Big 12 play and got a bid. Houston just needs quality wins, whether they come in conference or non-conference play.

That’s what makes this weekend at the Astros Foundation Classic so important for the Cougars. It’s an opportunity for them to start building toward Selection Monday, as they try to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018, and test themselves before the start of their new conference adventure.