Rice Lead Evaporates
Sooners Offense Boom For 11 Runs, Showdown
By Mark Anderson
The noon time start was a typical sizzling day in Houston—and so was the early offense for the Rice Owls. While the offense for Rice was hot in the early going, it seemed to evaporate facing Daniel McCutchen, who came up big for the Sooners on this hot day.
Rice got things started when Joe Savery led off the second inning to put the Owls on the scoreboard. In the top of the third, Kenny Ford—yes, that’s right, fans, Kenny Ford—smacked the first pitch he saw deep over the right centerfield scoreboard to put the Owls up 2-1. “I was looking for a fastball,” Kenny told me afterwards, “and I got it right here” pointing to his chest). McCutchen sheepishly explained afterwards, “The first home run [to Savery] was low, but the second one. . . that was my ‘hit a home run off of me’ pitch.”
In the top of the fourth, the Owls seemed to put some distance between the Sooners and themselves. Savery singled to right, and Luna tried to bunt and blooped it over the pitcher’s head for a single. Zornes reached on aq fielder’s choice as Savery was cut down at third by McCutchen. Dodson popped up to second for the second out, but Kenny Ford doubled off the left field wall, scoring Luna and Zornes. Henley followed with a double to left-center to bring home Ford and make the score 5-1.
This lead looked great with Bobby Bell on the mound. But Bell had been having problems of his own to that point, and now the Sooners would begin to exploit them. Rodriguez started the inning off with an infield single, and Kaiser followed with a double. Kaiser came home when Dodson’s throw was off-line. Reza was then hit by a pitch. Williams followed with a run scoring single. Hughes grounded out to third to first on a sacrifice, moving Williams to second and Reza to third. Reza scored on a wild pitch by Bobby Bell. At this point, Bobby Bell was replaced by Bobby Bramhall. Caufield greeted Bramhall with a single right back through the box that scored Williams. Raley then reached on a fielder’s choice, but the relay on the grounder was dropped, leaving Caufield at second. Caufield then stole third, where Rolhinger brought him in on a sacrifice fly to right, Raley stole second, but was stranded there by Smith striking out. The lead had evaporated—for good.
McCutchen got the boost he needed from that inning. Beginning with the last batter of the fourth inning, he set down the next fourteen Owls “that fourth inning picked me up.” While the Owls tried to rally in the ninth, it was far too late, as the Sooners had added on more runs to make it an 11-5 lead.
The final game of this super-regional will determine which of these two teams advances to Omaha. The Owls will send Craig Crow to the hill to try and reach the College World Series. Game time is tentatively set for 12:00 noon, but may be changed at 9 pm tonight. You can find the information on tomorrow’s game time at www.riceowls.com and we will also post it here, along with pictures of Saturday and Sunday’s game.
By Mark Anderson
The noon time start was a typical sizzling day in Houston—and so was the early offense for the Rice Owls. While the offense for Rice was hot in the early going, it seemed to evaporate facing Daniel McCutchen, who came up big for the Sooners on this hot day.
Rice got things started when Joe Savery led off the second inning to put the Owls on the scoreboard. In the top of the third, Kenny Ford—yes, that’s right, fans, Kenny Ford—smacked the first pitch he saw deep over the right centerfield scoreboard to put the Owls up 2-1. “I was looking for a fastball,” Kenny told me afterwards, “and I got it right here” pointing to his chest). McCutchen sheepishly explained afterwards, “The first home run [to Savery] was low, but the second one. . . that was my ‘hit a home run off of me’ pitch.”
In the top of the fourth, the Owls seemed to put some distance between the Sooners and themselves. Savery singled to right, and Luna tried to bunt and blooped it over the pitcher’s head for a single. Zornes reached on aq fielder’s choice as Savery was cut down at third by McCutchen. Dodson popped up to second for the second out, but Kenny Ford doubled off the left field wall, scoring Luna and Zornes. Henley followed with a double to left-center to bring home Ford and make the score 5-1.
This lead looked great with Bobby Bell on the mound. But Bell had been having problems of his own to that point, and now the Sooners would begin to exploit them. Rodriguez started the inning off with an infield single, and Kaiser followed with a double. Kaiser came home when Dodson’s throw was off-line. Reza was then hit by a pitch. Williams followed with a run scoring single. Hughes grounded out to third to first on a sacrifice, moving Williams to second and Reza to third. Reza scored on a wild pitch by Bobby Bell. At this point, Bobby Bell was replaced by Bobby Bramhall. Caufield greeted Bramhall with a single right back through the box that scored Williams. Raley then reached on a fielder’s choice, but the relay on the grounder was dropped, leaving Caufield at second. Caufield then stole third, where Rolhinger brought him in on a sacrifice fly to right, Raley stole second, but was stranded there by Smith striking out. The lead had evaporated—for good.
McCutchen got the boost he needed from that inning. Beginning with the last batter of the fourth inning, he set down the next fourteen Owls “that fourth inning picked me up.” While the Owls tried to rally in the ninth, it was far too late, as the Sooners had added on more runs to make it an 11-5 lead.
The final game of this super-regional will determine which of these two teams advances to Omaha. The Owls will send Craig Crow to the hill to try and reach the College World Series. Game time is tentatively set for 12:00 noon, but may be changed at 9 pm tonight. You can find the information on tomorrow’s game time at www.riceowls.com and we will also post it here, along with pictures of Saturday and Sunday’s game.
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