Owls Storm Back to Win Over Huskers
By Mark Anderson
On a day that started out looking rather gloomy, and even gloomier after the first two innings, the Rice Owls stormed back from a 5-0 deficit to win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers by a score of 9-5.
Ryan Berry simply wasn’t on today. He left after 1 2/3 innings after giving up 7 hits and two walks. But Matt Langwell and Ryan Tacker combined to throw 7 1/3 innings of shutout ball to help give the Owls their chance at victory.
"I just had to attack the strike zone and make my defense work," Langwell said afterwards. "They were finding holes at first, but I knoew it wasn't going to happen all day. I need to throw strikes and let my defense work and we got out of there."
"The offense got us a four run lead there," Tacker said of his performance, "and I just threw strikes and let the defense play." Tacker pointed back to Matt Langwell's performance. "Langwell came in and set the tone, and I just had to come in and finish it up."
In spite of Berry not being on today, Coach Wayne Graham seemed pleased with his team's effort. "I think we're starting to swing the bat a lot better," Graham said afterwards. "Buenger had some great at-bats, and I think that it inspired everybody. That young freshman in there Seastrunk is doing a great job, and we're starting to hit. We swung the bat well."
Graham was also pleased with the relief performances of Langwell and Tacker. "Langwell did a great job, and of course, Tacker's done a great job all year," Graham said. "Tacker's really been good."
In the fourth inning, the Rice offense exploded for 6 runs to re-take the lead they would never again relinquish. Brian Friday opened the fourth with a double, and Diego Seastrunk followed with a single that moved Friday to third. Joe Savery, fresh off last night’s walk-off homer, followed with a double to left that brought Friday home and sent Seastrunk to third. Seastrunk came home on a passed ball with Luna at the plate. Luna walked to put runners on first and third. That brought one of the key at-bats of the game in Jess Buenger. He grounded to third, and Savery made Tezak think he was going home. When Tezak threw to home, Savery retreated to third momentarily. Lanning fired to first, but Buenger was safe. Brown threw to second to try and get Luna, but a poor throw allowed Luna not only second base, but third as well. After Gayhart struck out, Lembeck reached on a fielder’s choice, and Buenger advanced to second. With Danny Lehmann at the plate with the bases loaded, Shrirek unloaded a wild pitch that scored Luna, and moved up Lembeck and Buenger. After Lehmann lined out to second, Henley walked to load the bases again. Brian Friday was hit by a pitch to score another run, and then Lembeck scored on yet another wild pitch by the Huskers to take a 6-5 lead.
Joe Savery was also pleased to see the Owl offense break out. "When the other team has got a lead like that, they're going to come after you with fastballs," Savery explained afterwards. "So we were looking for pitches to hit, and got a couple of breaks and errors. Today we took advantage of them."
With Langwell settling in, it was all over for the Huskers. They made a few clawing attempts to get back in the game, but a two run sixth and another in the seventh made it uphill sledding.
One thing the Owls didn't do was let down when Berry was taken out of the game. "No, we didn't," Savery said, "and obviously, this is a great win for us."
"We came in and Berry had a rough day, amnd those things are going to happen," Aaron Luna commented afterwards. "Hes' been great for us. So we knew that we had enough time, and we've been swinging the bat a lot better, so we had enough time to come back."
Joe Savery takes the mound tomorrow for the Owls against Texas A & M—Corpus Christi. First pitch for the Owls will be 3:30pm.
(Pictures either tonight or tomorrow.)
On a day that started out looking rather gloomy, and even gloomier after the first two innings, the Rice Owls stormed back from a 5-0 deficit to win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers by a score of 9-5.
Ryan Berry simply wasn’t on today. He left after 1 2/3 innings after giving up 7 hits and two walks. But Matt Langwell and Ryan Tacker combined to throw 7 1/3 innings of shutout ball to help give the Owls their chance at victory.
"I just had to attack the strike zone and make my defense work," Langwell said afterwards. "They were finding holes at first, but I knoew it wasn't going to happen all day. I need to throw strikes and let my defense work and we got out of there."
"The offense got us a four run lead there," Tacker said of his performance, "and I just threw strikes and let the defense play." Tacker pointed back to Matt Langwell's performance. "Langwell came in and set the tone, and I just had to come in and finish it up."
In spite of Berry not being on today, Coach Wayne Graham seemed pleased with his team's effort. "I think we're starting to swing the bat a lot better," Graham said afterwards. "Buenger had some great at-bats, and I think that it inspired everybody. That young freshman in there Seastrunk is doing a great job, and we're starting to hit. We swung the bat well."
Graham was also pleased with the relief performances of Langwell and Tacker. "Langwell did a great job, and of course, Tacker's done a great job all year," Graham said. "Tacker's really been good."
In the fourth inning, the Rice offense exploded for 6 runs to re-take the lead they would never again relinquish. Brian Friday opened the fourth with a double, and Diego Seastrunk followed with a single that moved Friday to third. Joe Savery, fresh off last night’s walk-off homer, followed with a double to left that brought Friday home and sent Seastrunk to third. Seastrunk came home on a passed ball with Luna at the plate. Luna walked to put runners on first and third. That brought one of the key at-bats of the game in Jess Buenger. He grounded to third, and Savery made Tezak think he was going home. When Tezak threw to home, Savery retreated to third momentarily. Lanning fired to first, but Buenger was safe. Brown threw to second to try and get Luna, but a poor throw allowed Luna not only second base, but third as well. After Gayhart struck out, Lembeck reached on a fielder’s choice, and Buenger advanced to second. With Danny Lehmann at the plate with the bases loaded, Shrirek unloaded a wild pitch that scored Luna, and moved up Lembeck and Buenger. After Lehmann lined out to second, Henley walked to load the bases again. Brian Friday was hit by a pitch to score another run, and then Lembeck scored on yet another wild pitch by the Huskers to take a 6-5 lead.
Joe Savery was also pleased to see the Owl offense break out. "When the other team has got a lead like that, they're going to come after you with fastballs," Savery explained afterwards. "So we were looking for pitches to hit, and got a couple of breaks and errors. Today we took advantage of them."
With Langwell settling in, it was all over for the Huskers. They made a few clawing attempts to get back in the game, but a two run sixth and another in the seventh made it uphill sledding.
One thing the Owls didn't do was let down when Berry was taken out of the game. "No, we didn't," Savery said, "and obviously, this is a great win for us."
"We came in and Berry had a rough day, amnd those things are going to happen," Aaron Luna commented afterwards. "Hes' been great for us. So we knew that we had enough time, and we've been swinging the bat a lot better, so we had enough time to come back."
Joe Savery takes the mound tomorrow for the Owls against Texas A & M—Corpus Christi. First pitch for the Owls will be 3:30pm.
(Pictures either tonight or tomorrow.)
posted by my kid's sports pics at 2:52 PM
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