Brian Henderson, a junior chemical engineering major, pitched five shut-out innings and gave up only four hits to lead the Houston Cougars baseball team past the Rice Owls, the nation's number one team, Wednesday. The performance propelled the Cougars to a 5-1 win at Cougar Field and improved the team's season record to 19-18.
Henderson stepped out of his usual position as relief pitcher to start the game against Rice. He picked up the win to improve to 3-2 on the season. The left-handed pitcher struck out three batters and lowered his earned run average to 1.76, the second lowest on the team.
"He's (Henderson) been throwing well," UH Head Coach Rayner Noble said. "That's what we needed tonight was a good start."
The outing was especially impressive because it came against the Owls, who put together a school-record 30-game winning streak earlier this season.
Although Henderson is clearly excelling in baseball now, he has faced some serious adversity along the way. In his freshman year at Clements High School, he was cut from the baseball team.
At that point, he could have focused on solely on academics and moved on. But he refused to quit on his dream of playing competitive baseball. He kept practicing, and today Henderson is a major contributor to the UH baseball team.
"Henderson had a lot of heart," says Herb Espinoza, Henderson's former baseball coach at Clements. "He had skills as a baseball player, but he was just too little to play when he was a freshman."
Henderson understood that he was smaller than most players on the team, but he believed in his abilities and felt he had something to prove. "I'm glad that I got cut my freshman year because when people say you can't do something it makes you want to prove to yourself and prove to them that you can do it," Henderson says. "I knew I belonged. I just had to prove it."
Coach Espinoza recalls Henderson as a very determined but polite young man.
"That's just the kind of kid he was, and guy he is," Espinoza says. "If you tell him he can't do something -- and if he things he can, he has the tenacity and the determination to say, 'I think you are wrong coach, and I am going to prove you wrong.' And the thing is, he is the politest guy you will ever find. He just grins at you as if to say, 'Okay coach, I'll show you.' That is a great attitude."
Henderson prepared for success in the prestigious UH chemical engineering program by focusing on math and science in high school. He always took the toughest science and math courses that were available at Clements. He also was involved in the honors and GT (Gifted and Talented) programs and took the advanced placement classes.
What is the key to succeeding in academics while participating in NCAA athletics?
"You have to responsible, disciplined and determined," Henderson says. "But you get a lot of support here to -- study hall labs, computer labs and academic counseling are available if you need them. And the faculty are understanding of the effort and will work with you."
Sometimes in baseball, as in any sport, there is an element of chance or luck involved. That aspect of the game might bother most science-minded individuals, but Henderson is philosophical.
"We always talk about the baseball gods," he says." That stuff -- the 'bloop' hits, the jam-hit singles, the broken-bat singles -- those things are counter-acted by fastballs right down the middle that are popped up, bad pitches that don't get hit well."
Whether it's in the classroom or on the ball field, Henderson seems ready to keep out-dueling the opposition and meeting the challenges that lie ahead.
Stuart H. Clements of The Daily Cougar contributed to this story.