Rice Wins Tight One Over Miami

St. Clair Brilliant; Defense Not, But Enough For a W
By Mark Anderson

What else does Coach Wayne Graham have up his sleeve—a rabbit?

Starting your closer is, well, unconventional to say the least. But not when that starter is Cole St. Clair, a young man with a lion’s heart and a fierce will to win—not to mention a great fastball and nice breaking pitch to go with it. St. Clair was nothing short of spectacular, giving up only three hits and one run—unearned—to earn the win for the Owls Monday.

Tyler Henley got things started off right in the first inning for the Owls when he homered to lead off the first. Greg Buchanan follwed with a single to right. Brian Friday laid down a sacrifice bunt, and the catch was muffed by the first baseman, who seemed to catch a glimpse of Buchanan turning second on the play, and going in to third when he couldn’t handle the throw. After J-Rod struck out, Savery lifted a fly ball to left to bring in Buchanan and give St. Clair a 2-0 lead.

While St. Clair was brilliant, the defense—normally very solid—wasn’t so brilliant tonight. With the bases loaded, Jon Jay hit what started out as a routine end of inning double play grounder. Suddenly, the ball handcuffed a sure-handed Buchanan, and brought in the first run. Valencia followed with a sharp grounder to third, and J-Rod threw home and Lehmann to first for a rather unconventional double play to end the inning and preserve the lead, 2-1.

Rice scored the winning ruin in the next at bat when Luna led off with a single and Lehmann reached on an error on his sacrifice bunt. Jordan Dodson then laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners up a base. That brought up Kenny Ford, who grounded to second while Luna came across the plate for a 3-1 lead.

In the seventh, with Bobby Bell on the mound, Weeks reached on a bunt with one out. Giles then followed with a single just off of the outstretched glove of Josh Rodriguez. With one out, Jon Jay singled sharply to right. Weeks was held at third because of Jordan Dodson’s arm. This play would be one that would come back to haunt the Hurricanes, because it in retrospect might have cost them the tying run. That was the end for Bobby Bell, and Bryce Cox came on to pitch. Valencia reached on a fielder’s choice, and there is little doubt a second run would have scored at this point. Instead, it was only Weeks one run that scored. But that’s all the Canes would get in this inning, leaving the score at 3-2.

Things got a little dicey for Cox in the ninth inning, but he ended up striking out the Cane’s twp most dangerous hitters to end the ballgame to record his fourth save.

The loss drops Miami into the loser’s bracket, and the only door to the best of three series is three consecutive wins. For Rice, it puts them in control of this side of the bracket, not having to play again until Wednesday.
A conventional win? Hardly. But in the College World Series, a win is a win, no matter how it comes. And in these games, the little things meant a lot. Jordan Dodson is the unsung hero of this game with his arm being the reason Miami didn’t send it’s fastest runner to the plate, and also for laying down a sacrifice bunt to put the winning run on third for Kenny Ford. The Owls are now one win away from the final weekend in Omaha, and three from a national championship.