Pictures From Saturday's SMiss vs. Rice

Friday makes a slick play at short, part one

Friday rises to his feer

Friday guns down the runner

Friday drops a perfect squeeze bunt, scoring a run

Zornes nailed thos ball on the screws

Pictures From Saturday's SMiss vs. Rice

More Pics From Friday

Pictures From Friday's WIn Over Southern Miss

A close encounter at first




















Buchanan gets lead runner

















Luna makes game ending catch




















Luna hold up ball in glove
















Buchanan out at first in close play

Owls Slam Southern Miss, 12-2

Savery, Luna, Lembeck Homer in Owls’ win
By Mark Anderson

April 21, Reckling Park—The #1 ranked Rice Owls played two different games on Friday night. The first 4 ½ innings were typical of a Eddie Degerman effort on Friday night. Very few hits by Southern Miss, and very few runs by Rice. We’ve been here before, right?

That was before the bottom half of the 5th inning, when Rice scored 6 runs on the way to a 12-2 rout of the Golden Eagles. The onslaught began in the 5th inning for the Owls when Travis Reagan opened the frame with a single, and Henley followed it with a double, putting runners on second and third with no outs. Greg Buchanan singled and scored Reagan. Buchanan advanced to second on Brian Friday’s single. Rodriguex worked a walk, and Corky Palmer thought he had seen enough, inserting Owen for pulling starting pitcher Massey. Savery worked the count to 3-1 and fouled off a pitch. Owen came back with the same pitch—a changeup—but instead of low and away, he grooved it, and so did Joe Savery as he hit it over the right-centerfield fence for a grand slam homerun.

Savery told me afterwards, “The count was 3-1 and he threw me a change up that I fouled off. He came back with a change on 3-2, and it was right down the heart of the plate.”

But Savery wasn’t the only one slamming the ball around Reckling this Friday night. Aaron Luna homered twice, ome in the second, and once in the 7th. Chad Lembeck, relegated to bench duty with the emergence of Adame Zornes, made his presence felt when he also homered in the 7th.

Bobby Bramhall sealed the deal from there, going 1 1/3 innings to close the door on the Golden Eagles.

Eddie Degerman got his 9th win of the year for the Owls going seven innings, striking out ten while walking only four. Travis Reagan told me afterwards about Eddie’s performance, “When he spots his fastball as well as he did tonight, it makes it tougher for the hitters to hit the curve.”

The Owls resume the series tomorrow with Bobby bell on the hill for the Owls. Game time is 2 pm.

PICTURES OF FRIDAY'S GAME WILL BE POSTED SUNDAY, INCLUDING AARON LUNA'S GAME ENDING CATCH. SATURDAY'S GAME PICTURES SHOULD ALSO BE POSTED SUNDAY.

Owls Return Home For Three Against Southern Miss

By Mark Anderson

April 21—The Rice Owls, fresh off a 4-1 road swing, will face the Southern Mississippi team in a three game series at Reckling Park beginning Friday evening at 7 pm,.

Coach Graham has announced his weekend rotation. Friday, Eddie Degerman will take the hill. “Steady Eddie” is 8-0 with a 1.29 ERA, giving up only 5.4 hits and 3 walks per game while averaging over 11 strikeouts. Saturday’s starter (2 pm) is Bobby Bell, who has a 4-0 record and a 3.41 ERA. Sunday’s starter will be Craig Crow, who is 5-1 with a 3.35 ERA (1 pm start).

Combined, the Southern Mississippi team has the daunting task of facing three pitchers with a combined record of 17-1.

Come on out and support the number one college team in the country. . . hope to see you this weekend!

Owls Find Memphis a Blast

By Mark Anderson

If you considered the Owl offense MIA over this season, there’s good news: it showed up in force over the weekend. Don’t take my word for it—ask the Memphis Tigers, who lost their roar this weekend.

The Owls swept the Memphis Tigers this weekend by a total score of 48-17. Josh Rodriguez picked up where he left off in Waco, with Eddie Degerman picking up anther win and Cole St. Clair yet another save in the 7-3 win. Adam Zornes came with his bat packed. He came into the series with only one homerun and left Memphis with five homers. He hit the first of four homeruns over the weekend in Friday night’s win.

If anyone had any doubts about Rice being the number two team in the nation when they entered the stadium, they had none when they left. Rice scored twelve—that’s right, count ‘em, twelve—runs in the second inning in route to a seven inning 22-6 win. IN this game, Brian Friday led the way with four doubles, Zornes, Dodson, and Luna all homered. There was a total of 14 extra base hits—including four by Friday and three by Dodson (two doubles and a home run). Let’s not leave out the three sacrifice flies by Danny Lehmann here, either. Bobby Bell increased his record to 4-0 with the win.

Sunday was same song, second verse for the Owls as they broke out the bats again for a 19-8 win. The Owls had ten extra base hits in this game—four doubles and six home runs, led by Adam Zornes two homers. Craig Crow improved his record to 5-1 on the season by going five innings in the win.

The high-flying 32-8 Owls have one more stop to make on the way home—at Oklahoma—before returning for a three game series against Southern Miss and one game against Texas State University.

IN Case You Missed It. . . .

This is a great assessment of how good the Owls pitching is this year.

http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bb/college/3793502.html

Pics From Rice vs. Texas A & M

Josh gets back to first














Dodson makes an outstanding catch in foul ground.

















Danny Lehmann watches his grand slam leave
the yard.
















Lehmann congratulated at home plate.
















Kenny Ford's face says it all: out at home.

PIctures from Saturday's UAB-Rice Game

"YERRRR OUT AT THIRD!"


















Savery connects for the game-winning hit on
this swing,















Savery scors the tying run to make it 5-5.













A close play on a pick-off at first.














Sawyer put a lick on thos pitch.














Savery safe on a fielder's choice.














Brian Friday congratulated after his home run
in the fourth inning.

Owls End Up On Top of the Seesaw, 8-7

Up and Down Game for Rice on Saturday
By Mark Anderson’

April 8, Reckling Park-- If you have ever played on a seesaw as a kid, you could relate to what the Rice Owls and UAB Blazers went through on Saturday as Rice ended up on top of this seesaw game by a score of 8-7.

The Owls started on the bottom part of the seesaw right from the beginning. Craig Crow simply did not have his best stuff. He began by striking out the leadoff hitter, but then Gutierrez singled, and ended up on second on a ground out. But with two outs, Zac Ward tripled to center to score Gutierrez and put the Blazers up by a 1-0 count.

In the UAB second, Bell was hit by Crow with one out, and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Metcalf then drove Bell in with an RBI single. Metcalf stole second and took third on a n errant throw by Lehmann. After getting the second out on a strikeout, Turner singled in Metcalf to make the score 3-0. The Owls were definitely looking like they were on the bottom of the seesaw at this point.

But the Owls came back in the bottom of the second when Rodriguez led off with a walk and Friday was hit by a pitch. Lehmann’s fly out moved Rodriguez to third. Friday then took off for second, and Sawyer’s error moved him to third, but Rodriguez was credited with stealing home as he took off as soon as Sawyer released the ball. Lembeck’s double brought in Friday and made the score 3-2. The seesaw was beginning to tilt in the Owls’ favor.

In the top of the third, that seesaw went down considerably when Gutierrez led off with a single and Sawyer redeemed himself for his error by homering to make the score 5-2. That was the end of it for Crow, as Coach Graham brought on Bobby Bramhall ot pitch. Bramhall got the first two outs with ease until he lost the strije zone momentarily and walked two hitters, and then a single loaded the bases for UAB with two outs. But Bramhall induced Patmon to ground back to him, and the inning ended at 5-2 .

The next two half-innings were rather uneventful. But in the bottom of the fourth, the Owls crept closer as Brian Friday hit a homer to left to make the score 5-3. Bryce Cox, who had come in to relieve Bramhall in the fourth, did a good job in relief in the fourth and fifth innings, keeping the game close and the Owls within striking distance.

Strike the Owls did in the fifth inning when Luna was struck by a pitch leading off the inning, and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Henley flied out, but Luna advanced to third. When Buchanan grounded out to second, Luna held as Buchanan was thrown out. Savery singled to center, driving in Luna, and then went to second on a balk. Rodriguez grounded to Lovdahl at third, whose threw late to try and get Rodriguez. The throw got away from Ward, the first baseman, and Savery scored to tie the game at 5-5. Now the seesaw was balanced, but only for a few moments.

In the UAB sixth, Bryce Cox hit Metcalf, and then walked the next hitter. Coach Graham brought in Daniel Cooper at that point, and Turner sacrificed the runners with a nice bunt. Gutierrez grounded to Rodriguez, but a double clutch of sorts made any play at the plate impossible so he threw to first for the sure out instead, putting UAB up, 6-5.

But the seesaw changed ends again for Rice the very next inning. Travis Reagan led off by getting hit by a pitch (it seemed to be a theme for the day; the Owls were plunked five times in all) and was sacrificed to second by Lembeck. Dodson followed with a long drive off the left-centerfield wall to score Reagan. After Kenny Ford’s groundout moved Dodson to third, Henley’s single brought him home to give the Owls their first lead at 7-6. The see saw finally had the Owls on top.

But that didn’t last long at all—one batter, as a matter of fact, when Sawyer sent a pitch from Cooper over everything except the backdrop for the hitters to make the score 7-7.

It appeared that the game would go into the ninth tied at 7-7 when Henley stepped to the plate with two outs for the feathered flock. But Henley wasn’t ready to end it there just yet, as he doubled to right. Buchanan hot a grounder to short, and with two outs, Henley broke for third. It appeared that the UAB shortstop lost count of the outs just long enough to not be able to have a play at first or third. That brought up Joe Savery, who had scored a run to tie it earlier. Savery smashed a pitch right on the sweet spot (see the photo I post) for the go-ahead run. Will MdDaniel, who had been wrongly identified when he came in to pitch in the eighth, thankfully knew who he was and what he was capable of doing as he eased through the ninth to end the game and give the Owls a hard-fought 8-7 win. In spite of the misidentification, McDaniel improved to 4-0 on the season.

Pics From Friday's UAB-Rice Game

Reagan tags the runner at home

"YERRRRR OUT!"

Reagan throws to first aftre a bunt attempt

REDEMPTION! Lembeck homered to left
on this pitch to propel the Owls to victory.

Dodson an secondbaseman arrive at same time

It Wasn’t Easy, But It’s a W

Redemption for Lembeck, Owls Late
By Mark Anderson

April 7, Reckling Park--It wasn’t easy, but it is in the “W” column.

UAB came to Reckkling Friday night and gave the Owls all they could handle. Jacob Legg, the starting pitcher for the Blazers, pitched as complete game in the loss—and he hadn’t even started a game the entire year.

The Owls got to Legg early. Brian Friday opened the top of the first with a single to right, and Greg Buchanan followed with a single. Joe Savery then stepped to the plate and delivered an RBI single to center to make it 1-0. Unfortunately, the inning died there, but the Owls had the lead.

One run looked more than sufficient for the first five innings as “Steady Eddie” Degerman battled the Blazers. Degerman was definitely on this evening, striking out ten Blazers while walking only one. One example of how much Eddie was on his game came in the top of the fourth when Zach Ward worked the count to 3-0. Eddie never gave in, and a few pitches later, Mr. Ward found himself back in the dugout after striking out with a full count.

In the sixth, however, the Blazers came back to tie the game at 1-1. Gutierrez singled, but looked like he would be stranded after a flyout and a strikeout. But Lovdahl singled, and Chad Lembeck, who usually has a very accurate arm, uncorked one to third in an effort to get Gutierrez. The errant throw sent Lovdahl to second and Gutierrez went home. When Bond singled to left, however, Lovdahl decided to test Jordan Dodson’s arm in left field and committed the cardinal sin of baseball in so doing (getting thrown out at home or third with two outs in an inning).

Dodson’s throw in the sixth set up redemption in the seventh. Chad Lembeck, whose errant throw allowed the game to be tied, made up for it with one swing of the bat in the seventh, stroking a changeup for a home run, and giving the Owls the lead at 2-1.

Degerman and St. Clair held the fort down from there. St. Clair had some minor problems in the ninth, but nothing he couldn’t handle with some help from his teammates.

The Owls play Saturday at 2 pm, with Craig Crow taking the hill for the Owls. Looks like this will be a good series. Hope to see you out there tomorrow.

Owls Get Clutch Win at A& M

Lehmann’s Grand Slam Propels Rice Over Aggies
By Mark Anderson

College Station, April 4—“Anytime you win on the road against a top 100 team, it’s a bonus.”

Coach Graham cashed in on that bonus Tuesday at Olsen Field at College Station. The Owls rode the momentum of a big second inning, highlighted by Danny Lehmann’s grand slam, to an 11-6 win.

The Owls started off like a team on a mission early. In the second inning, Josh Rodriguez led off with a single to center. Kenny Ford was plucked by a pitch, and both advanced on a wild pitch. Bobby Bramhall singled to center, driving in Rodriguez, but Ford got cut down at the plate. That brought Danny “Clutch” Lehmann to the plate. With the count 2-1, “Clutch” drilled a fastball far over the left field wall to give the Owls a 5-0 lead..

“He fell behind, and I knew he was going to throw a fastball,” Lehmann said afterwards.

Unfortunately for Bryce Cox, there was a bottom of the second for the Aggies. A leadoff double and a follow-up single made the score 1-0. Stinson was then hit by Cox’s pitch, and Stouffer followed that with a single that plated a second run. Back-to-back walks plated a third run and made the score 5-3, and brought Coach Graham out for the first pitching change of the night. Will McDaniel came on and began what was a sterling effort for him as Boggs struck out swinging and a harmless fly to center ended the inning.

The Owls picked up two more runs in the fourth when Joe Savery delivered a bases-loaded single up the middle to score Dodson, who had walked, and Henley, who was awarded first by catcher’s interference. But the threat froa bigger inning sliped by when Josh Rodriguez grounded into a double play to end the inning. Still, the score was 7-3, and the way McDaniel was pitching, A& M didn’t look lkike it would be able to score the rest of the night.

The Owls padded the lead in the seventh when Buchanan reached on a bunt and Joe Savery then doubled him to third. With first based open, the Aggies elected to pitch to Rodriguez, who immediately made them pay by doubling in two runs to make the score 9-3.

Ms Daniel gave up a run in the seventh when Stouffer led off the inning with a double and former Owl Adam Hale singled in a run to make it 9-4. The threat was wiped out in essence with a spectacular first to short to pitcher double play in which Will Mc Daniel made a spectacular play on to get the second out. After Vasquez walked, Mc Daniel induced Buenger to ground out to Savery to end the threat.

The Owls immediately responded with one out when Lehmann was hit by a pitch, and Henley walked, and Buchanan singled to load the bases for Joe Savery, whose walk scored Lehmann. Josh Rodriguez hit a sacrifice fly that made the score 11-4,

That seven run advantage seemed safe going into the bottom of the ninth. But with one out and Daniel Cooper pitching, Adam Hale doubled down the line and ended Cooper’s night. Trey Sperring replaced Cooper, and the fireworks began. Pinch-hitter Sebek singled, and Vasquez had an RBI single. After a hit batter and a RBI single by Salazar, Coach Graham went back to his bullpen for Bobby Bell. Bell immediately got Stintson to ground into a game-ending double play. For his great effort, Mc Daniel was awarded his third win of the season.

The Owls now go back home to open a three game series against UAB. Pitching matchups have not been announced as of this date.