How to watch, listen to Houston baseball's opening weekend series
Houston opens up its 2025 baseball season with a three-game home series this weekend against Minnesota.
The Cougars will face the Golden Gophers Friday and Saturday night, and then conclude the set with a Sunday afternoon game. All three games will be televised by ESPN+.
Head coach Todd Whitting returns for his 15th season in the Cougars’ dugout. He has won 444 games, the second-most in program history.
Last season, the Cougars finished 26-28, dropping four of their last five games and failing to qualify for the Big 12 postseason tournament. This season, some fresh new faces may help get Houston over the hump and win some more ballgames while making postseason play.
Those notable new faces include third baseman Cade Climie, who was the 2024 NJCAA World Series MVP while playing at Blinn Junior College in nearby Brenham. Climie, who hit .394 with 20 home runs and 76 RBIs at Blinn last season, was named the Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year and D1Baseball.com named him the number one JUCO transfer hitter in the country.
Houston also landed other transfers, including senior second baseman Aaron Lugo, who hit .390 and drove in 49 runs last season at Texas State, and junior shortstop Tyler Cox, a former All-Ivy League first team selection while at Dartmouth.
The Cougars also have new faces on the coaching staff, most notably former Houston and Major League Baseball pitcher Woody Williams, who will serve as the team's new pitching coach.
In the preseason Big 12 poll, the Cougars were picked to finish 11th in the 14-team league. Oklahoma State was voted the preseason favorite to win the conference, while newcomer Arizona was picked to finish second.
Houston is 16-13-2 all-time against Minnesota, and has won the last six games against the Gophers. Two years ago, the Cougars swept a series at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, which serves as the home stadium for the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings.
Next week, Houston plays a pair of ranked teams with a game each against Texas in Austin and Oregon State in Round Rock. Then, the Cougars travel to Cal-Berkeley for a weekend series.
Here’s how to watch and listen to Houston baseball in its opening weekend of play:
Houston Baseball Opening Weekend
Who: Houston vs. Minnesota, 6:30 p.m. Friday; 6:30 p.m. Saturday; 1 p.m. Sunday.
Where: Don Sanders Field at Darryl and Lori Schroeder Park | Houston, Texas
TV Channel/Live Stream: ESPN+
Listen: Listen online on The Varsity Network app
