Soccer Tejas
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PONCE, Puerto Rico (Feb. 16, 2026) – The Houston Baseball team brought home an undefeated record from the Puerto Rico Challenge, finishing the weekend tournament with an 8-7 win over Washington on Monday afternoon at Estadio Paquito Montaner.
A back-and-forth contest was decided on Houston’s (4-0) sophomore McClane Helton bases-loaded walk in the top of the ninth forced the go-ahead run across the plate. Senior Chris Scinta (1-0) secured the win on the mound, tossing 1.2 shutout inning where he allowed just one walk and pitched out of a bases-loaded jam.
PLAYER HIGHLIGHTS
· Xavier Perez: 1-3, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB
· Caden Cooper: 1.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
· Jackson LaLima: 2-4, 2 2B, 1 RBI, 1 R
NOTABLES
· Houston was the only team at the Puerto Rico Challenge to emerge with a 4-0 record.
· The Cougars evened the all-time series against Washington at 1-1.
· Sophomore Jackson LaLima posted his first career two-double game.
· The Cougars’ pitching staff combined for 11 strikeouts, a season high.
· Helton drew three walks in the game, the first Cougar to do so since Ace Reese against Texas on April 14, 2024.
· Senior Dylan Maxcey threw out two would-be-base-stealers from behind the plate.
KEY INNINGS
2nd | Houston started the scoring in the second, picking up a pair of runs off a Washington miscue. With runners on first and second, junior Riley Jackson forced a throwing error that allowed both runners to score, putting the Cougars up 2-0.
4th | While Washington plated a run in the third, Houston reextended its lead back to two in the top of the fourth. For the second time with runners on first and second, Jackson caused another Husky error with a fly ball to right field that pushed Maxcey around to score.
Washington tied the game in the bottom of the inning with a two-run homer to left field off the bat of Ethan Swidler.
5th | The Cougars reclaimed the lead in the top of the fifth. Junior Tre Broussard used a sac-fly to plate LaLima while redshirt sophomore Xavier Perez homered in the next at-bat to score two, giving Houston a 6-3 edge.
A Husky rally in the home half of the inning gave Washington its first lead of the season as it scored four runs on four hits and a sac-fly to claim a 7-6 lead through five.
6th | The Cougars capped six straight innings scoring a run when LaLima doubled to left-center to score Helton, evening the score at 7-all.
9th | Looking to avoid extra-innings, Houston drew four walks to force home the game’s deciding run in the ninth. Perez, senior Carter Sintek, Maxcey and Helton each earned a base-on-balls in the frame to push the winning run across.
In the bottom of the inning, Bryan used his first pitch to get the first out, but walked the next batter to put the tying run on base. As Bryan battled to a six-pitch strikeout, Maxcey threw out the runner trying to steal second for a strike-them-out, throw-them-out double play to give Houston the 8-7 win.
