One Win Away From Omaha
Rice’s Booming Bats Power Owls Past Sooners
By Mark Anderson
The Rice Owls came out on a mission tonight against the Oklahoma Sooners.
Sparked by a three run homer in the first inning by Brian Friday, the Owls went on to defeat the Oklahoma Sooners by a score of 10-4.
Tyler Henley led off the first for Rice and was promptly hit by a Steven Guerra pitch. This would set the tone for the evening, as Rice would put runners on twice by being hit, four times by being walked, and by an error. Greg Buchanan followed with a single. As Henley rounded second, he missed the base with his feet, but caught it with his hand and advanced to third. That brought up Brian Friday. Friday told me afterwards he was looking for a curveball, and curveball he got—right down Broadway. “I knew it was gone as soon as I hit it,” Brian said. And anyone watching could see the emotional lift that home run gave the Owls. Even Friday, who rarely shows emotion, did so. “It’s the most important game of the year,” Brian explained about the show of emotion.
But the Owls weren’t finished in the first. Josh Rodriguez stepped up to the plate, and before you could blink an eye, his swing of the bat produced the second homer in the inning. The Owls jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead, one they would never relinquish.
The Sooners would answer in the top of the second with two runs of their own. It looked the inning was going to be an easy one for Degerman when he struck out the first two batters. But remember the old adage about two out walks? Eddie walked Reza on a 3-1 pitch. He followed that by hitting Williams. Hughes singled through the right side to plate the first Sooner run. Caufield reached on Friday’s error, and Williams scored from second to make it a 4-2 game.
But the Owls answered with two of their own in the third. With one out, Danny Lehmann doubled to left. Tyler Henley had an infield single that moved Lehmann to third. Lehmann would score on Buchanan’s single, and Henley stopped at second. He wasn’t there long—two wild pitches later, he scored. The Owls had a commanding 6-2 lead.
With the score 7-2 in the seventh, the Owls punctuated their effort with a bang. Aaron Luna opened the inning with a home run. Hammons came on to pitch, and Zornes hammered a pitch from him to deep left center for a double. After Dodson struck out, Lehmann stepped to the plate and drilled a home run to left to cap off the Rice scoring.
Bobby Bell will take the ball for the Owls tomorrow in their quest to reach the College World Series. Game time is twelve noon.
By Mark Anderson
The Rice Owls came out on a mission tonight against the Oklahoma Sooners.
Sparked by a three run homer in the first inning by Brian Friday, the Owls went on to defeat the Oklahoma Sooners by a score of 10-4.
Tyler Henley led off the first for Rice and was promptly hit by a Steven Guerra pitch. This would set the tone for the evening, as Rice would put runners on twice by being hit, four times by being walked, and by an error. Greg Buchanan followed with a single. As Henley rounded second, he missed the base with his feet, but caught it with his hand and advanced to third. That brought up Brian Friday. Friday told me afterwards he was looking for a curveball, and curveball he got—right down Broadway. “I knew it was gone as soon as I hit it,” Brian said. And anyone watching could see the emotional lift that home run gave the Owls. Even Friday, who rarely shows emotion, did so. “It’s the most important game of the year,” Brian explained about the show of emotion.
But the Owls weren’t finished in the first. Josh Rodriguez stepped up to the plate, and before you could blink an eye, his swing of the bat produced the second homer in the inning. The Owls jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead, one they would never relinquish.
The Sooners would answer in the top of the second with two runs of their own. It looked the inning was going to be an easy one for Degerman when he struck out the first two batters. But remember the old adage about two out walks? Eddie walked Reza on a 3-1 pitch. He followed that by hitting Williams. Hughes singled through the right side to plate the first Sooner run. Caufield reached on Friday’s error, and Williams scored from second to make it a 4-2 game.
But the Owls answered with two of their own in the third. With one out, Danny Lehmann doubled to left. Tyler Henley had an infield single that moved Lehmann to third. Lehmann would score on Buchanan’s single, and Henley stopped at second. He wasn’t there long—two wild pitches later, he scored. The Owls had a commanding 6-2 lead.
With the score 7-2 in the seventh, the Owls punctuated their effort with a bang. Aaron Luna opened the inning with a home run. Hammons came on to pitch, and Zornes hammered a pitch from him to deep left center for a double. After Dodson struck out, Lehmann stepped to the plate and drilled a home run to left to cap off the Rice scoring.
Bobby Bell will take the ball for the Owls tomorrow in their quest to reach the College World Series. Game time is twelve noon.
posted by my kid's sports pics at 9:00 PM
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