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.
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.
posted by my kid's sports pics at 9:38 PM
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