PONCE, PUERTO RICO — The Houston Cougars brought home an undefeated record from the 2026 Puerto Rico Challenge, finishing the weekend tournament with an 8-7 win over the Washington Huskies on Monday afternoon at Estadio Paquito Montaner in Ponce.
Their resume out of the gate for the 2026 NCAA Division I Baseball season includes four wins on No. 21 Wake Forest (Friday, 2/13), Boston College (Saturday, 2/14), Manhattan (Sunday, 2/15) and Washington (Monday, 2/16).
The Houston Cougars kicked off their 2026 season with a bang, recording four wins in Ponce, Puerto Rico this weekend in the 2026 Puerto Rico Challenge – Image Credit: Houston Athletics
To close out the 2026 Puerto Rico Challenge on Monday, the back-and-forth contest against Washington 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 innings where he allowed just one walk and pitched out of a bases-loaded jam.
While looking to avoid extra-innings in the ninth with the score tied at seven, Houston drew four walks to force home the game’s deciding run in the ninth. Redshirt sophomore Xavier Perez, senior Carter Sintek, Maxcey and Helton each earned walks in the frame to push the winning run across.
In the bottom of the ninth, senior right-hander Tyler 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, senior catcher Dylan Maxcey threw out the runner trying to steal second for a strike-them-out, throw-them-out double play to give Houston the one run win.
Watch the game-ending play of Monday’s thrilling Houston win against Washington, a strike-them-out, throw-them-out double play (HERE) – Image Credit: Houston Athletics
A thrilling ending to a memorable four-day tournament all put together by Jorge Medina and those at JoGi Sports—hosting eight NCAA Division I Baseball programs in Puerto Rico to officially kick off the 2026 College Baseball Division I season.
Information Courtesy of Houston Athletics
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