Tulane ace Corey Merrill silences UH’s offense for 7-1 victory in AAC action.

From start to finish, the University of Houston went down quietly Friday night.

Tulane righthander Corey Merrill tossed eight shutout innings, and the Green Wave added a pair of home runs in the ninth for a 7-1 victory over the No. 24 Cougars at Schroeder Park.

“I got nothing (to say),” UH coach Todd Whitting said as he hastily walked to the clubhouse after the Cougars dropped the opener of a key American Athletic Conference weekend series.

Most of Whitting’s displeasure likely came from several close calls that did not go the Cougars’ way, including a one-out liner down the left-field line by Tyler Bielamowicz that was called foul and another play at second when Connor Wong was called out.

The Bielamowicz call was especially disheartening, killing one of the few times the Cougars had momentum in the game. He eventually hit into an inning-ending double play.

No holes to be found

UH’s misery didn’t stop there. Corey Julks was robbed of a likely extrabase hit on a leaping catch by left fielder Lex Kaplan at the wall in the second inning. And with runners at the corners, two outs and tying run at the plate, Connor Hollis hit a laser that was caught by third baseman Hunter Hope to end the eighth.

Merrill had a one-hitter through six innings and allowed only three singles before exiting to start the ninth inning. UH did not have a runner reach third until the eighth.

The heart of the UH batting order — Hollis, Joe Davis and Jake Scheiner — went a combined 0-for-11.

Rare loss at Schroeder

The Green Wave exploded for four runs in the ninth on a leadoff home run by No. 9 hitter Jake Willsey off Fred Villarreal and a three-run shot off the top of the giant video board by Jarrett DeHart off Nolan Bond. Willsey, who entered the game hitting .193, went 3-for-4 with two RBIs.

Tulane improved to 8-2 in conference play and now holds a two-game lead over UH, Connecticut, Central Florida and South Florida, all at 6-4.

Corey Julks accounted for half of UH’s hit total, a single in the seventh that extended his streak of reaching base to 21 straight games and a solo home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to avoid the shutout.

The loss was the second in the last 12 home games for the Cougars, and only the fourth all season at Schroeder Park.

Lefthander Trey Cumbie, the Cougars’ regular Friday night starter, was scratched due an illness. Righthander Mitch Ullom was moved up a day and allowed two runs along with four walks in 51⁄3 innings.

The UH bullpen surrendered five runs over the final 32⁄3 innings.