OTHER ACTION FROM SATURDY

Jordan Dodson puts this swing on the ball.
Savery nailed this one hard.
Ryne Tacker delivers to the plate.

Tacker takes the toss from Savery for the out at first.

Cole St. Clair delivers during the seventh inning.

FACES IN THE CROWD SATURDAY

The kids took over the park Saturday and had a great time doing so.
The Owls on the dugout steps taking in the rays and watching the action.



The camera catches Will McDaniel with a smile.

PADRON'S ATTEMPTED (?) STEAL OF SECOND SATURDAY

Padron slides in head first at second


Padron hangs onto the bag for dear life.
Bailey and Padron await the call.
The ump says, "YER OUT!"

Padron is stunned by the call, as his face clearly indicates.

AARON LUNA'S GAME WINNING HR SATURDAY

Aaron swings and sends it flying.

Richarson starts back on the ball.
Keep going, Richardson, you've got a long way to go to catch this one!
Way back, way back. . . GONE!

Time to celebrate Luna's big blast.

PICTURES FROM SATURDAY AGAINST UCF:ANATOMY OF A BASE HIT

Buenger starts his swing. . .
the ball jumps off the bat and between the first and second basemen



at this point, you can tell it is going through the infield
and sure enough it does,

INTERVIEWS FROM SATURDAY'S 4-2 WIN AGAINST UCF

Hear Coach Graham's comments on Saturday's win, including Aaron Luna's home run and Ryne Tacker:

http://www.ricefootball.net/wgraham4-21.wav

Hear from Cole St. Clair, Ryne Tacker on his performance and why he came out after 6 innings, and from Aaron Luna about his home run and the win Saturday against UCF:

http://www.ricefootball.net/players4-21.wav

INTERVIEWS FROM FRIDAY'S WIN AGAINST UCF

Hear Coach Graham's comments regarding the 10-1 win over UCF here:

http://www.ricefootball.net/wgraham4-20.wav

Hear what the players had to say by clicking here:

http://www.ricefootball.net/players4-20.wav

Tacker, Luna, Lead Owls to Victory Against UCF Saturday

By Mark Anderson

Ryne Tacker pitched six effective innings, and Aaron Luna homered in the bottom of the sixth to give Tacker and the Owls the win Saturday against UCF.

The Owls actually fell behind early in the second inning to the Knights when Chris Duffy led the inning off with a double to center. He advanced to third on Russell’s groundout to Savery, and scored when Romans hit a fielder’s choice to bring him in and give the Knights an early lead.

Meanwhile, Kyle Sweat showed why he had been named C-USA pitcher of the week as he kept the Owls’ offense in hibernation through the first five innings. But while each team was given opportunity—such as Gayhart reaching when a fly ball was dropped by centerfielder Ryan Richardson, those chances usually came with two outs, and both pitchers were able to wiggle their way out of the inning.

One of the reason’s Sweat was so effective was he kept the Owls’ leadoff hitter of each inning off base through five innings. That abruptly changed when Joe Savery doubled to right leading off the sixth for the Owls. Buenger then followed with a single to right, but Savery was only able to take third on the play because a strong-armed Ryan Richarson made a strong throw in to make him hold at third.

That brought up Aaron Luna, and there was nothing that Richardson could do to hold back the ball Luna hit over the fence in right for a three run homer, giving the Owls the lead—one they would not lose.

As Ryne Tacker began his warm-ups in the top of the seventh, suddenly, he stopped and motioned for the trainer. Tacker did not even attempt another warm-up pitch, and was removed from the game for Cole St. Claire. After warming up on the mound (something St. Clair admitted afterwards he simply wasn’t used to), he was simply as close to perfect as you could get, giving up only a single to Brown in the ninth inning, while striking out three along the way in the last three innings. St. Clair has simply been the remedy that the Owls have needed in the late innings, and his return without a doubt has given this team a lift.

There will be more coverage from Saturday’s game with photos on Monday, and hopefully some interviews up sometime this week.

Henley safe at first. . .

The Bellville Banger bangs this one
then steals second
Friday nails it



Chad Lembeck makes a great catch in the 9th.

PICS FROM FRIDAY AGAINST UCF

Friday doubles on this swing


Friday comes in home. . .


Ry-an Ber-ry: the bulldog in him comes out

PICS FROM FRIDAY VS. UCF

Dodson nailed it on the screws on this pitch
Savery chops it in front of the plate
Friday turns the DP
Vasquez leans over to catch a foul pop...

And thank God he did!

Owls Roll Past UCF, 10-1

by Mark Anderson

(Reckling Park, April 22) The Rice Owls, fresh off their big win against Texas last Tuesday night, took no prisoners as they rolled past UCF Friday night at Reckling by a score of 10-1.

It was a rather ho-hum ballgame until the third inning when, with one out, Lehmann walked and came home on Brian Friday's double to left center. After Gayhart flied out for out number two of the inning, Henley doubled to right center, scoring Friday. Savery followed by singling in Henley. Jess Buenger then singled, sending Savery to third, and Luna walked to load the bases. Diego Seastrunk followed with a single to bring home Savery and Buenger. The inning ended when Dodson grounded to third to force Luna, but the Owls had a lead they would never give up, 5-0.

Ryan Berry had been cruising along until that point, but he left some pitches up in the strike zone and it got a little interesting. With one out, Auer, one of the leading hitters in C-USA, singled. Vasquez followed with another single. Duffy then hit a ball to Friday that took a badhop, and the bases were loaded with only one out. But Richardson popped up to first, and Kallstrom took a third strike to end the threat.

UCF scored their only run off Berry and the Owls in the seventh when, with runners on first and third, Bailey grounded out to third to bring home the lone run of the night for the Knights. The score was 5-1, but it would not stay that way long.

In the seventh, Mitch Herold replaced starting pitcher Jaqaear Good, and that's where the adventure began. Henley walked and stole his second base of the night. After Savery struck out, Buenger grounded to second to move Henley to third. Luna then brought Henley in with a single, and Padron followed with a single, and Dodson walked to load the bases. Derek Abriola came in to pitch for UCF, and he uncorked a wild pitch to score Luna from third--although the ball didn't go more than ten feet from the plate, with Padron and Dodson moving up. Lehmann walked to load the bases again, and a second wild pitch--again, not far away--scored Padron. Friday walked to load the bases once more. Gayhart then singled to right to bring in Dodson and Lehmann. Henley struck out, and the inning was mercifully over for UCF, but they were now trailing, 10-1.

Chad Lembeck, who came in the game as a defensive substitute, made three outstanding okays--holding Kallstrom to a single with a sliding stop with one out. Romans then hit a ball that looked like it was in but Lembeck made a great catch for out number two. He nearly caught the runner at first napping as well.

The Owls take on the Knights at 1 pm tomorrow.

GAME OVER
Rice Ends 10 Game Losing Streak, 7-4

By Mark Anderson

The Rice Owls ended a ten game losing skid to the Longhorns in team fashion tonight as they beat their nemesis and in-state rival by a score of 7-4.

Chris Kelley pitched the game of his college career tonight, fiving up only four hits while striking out seven. He opened the first by striking out the first two hitters he faced, and his strikeout total tonight was the highest of the year. But it wasn’t just about strikeouts—he was in total command of his game. Coach Graham had nothing but high praise for Kelley’s effort, saying “he looked like a weekend starter.”

Meanwhile, in the bottom of the first, Tyler Henley set the tone of the game with a ringing triple. Chad Lembeck then brought him home on a sacrifice fly to put the Owls up for good, 1-0.

This year, the Longhorns have been very explosive in the first two innings, outscoring their opponents by a total of 76-21 in the first two innings alone. But that explosion never happened tonight. Kelley was in a groove, striking out five in the first three innings, including the side in the third inning.

Meanwhile, the middle innings belonged to the Owls, as they scored five runs. In the fourth, Savery was hit by a pitch from Wood, and went to second when Wood walked Luna. That brought up “The Bellville Banger,” Jess Buenger, who singled to drive in Savery and finish off Wood.

As Texas pitcher Pat McCrory began to warm up, there was a hint that something else was heating up—the Texas bench towards the home plate umpire. As McCrory took his first warm up pitch, home plate umpire David Rogers squatted behind the catcher, and gave a strike call as he looked right at Augie and said, “Now that’s a strike!”—loud enough to be heard clearly in the stands. It wouldn’t be the last time Augie had words for him,

After the warmups were over and the umpire had made his point, Seastrunk pinch-hit for Lehmann, and hit a rocket to third, where Suttle stepped on the bag to end the threat for Texas.
The Owls added two more in the fifth when Padron led off with a walk, and Henley also walked. Lembeck laid down a successful sacrifice, moving the runners to second and third with one out. Padron scored on Friday’s groundout to third, which brought up Savery. The Horns decided to intentionally walk Savery and face Luna—a move that backfired when Luna hit a sharp double down the leftfield line that scored Henley and moved Savery to third. At this point, the Horns brought in Keith Shinaberry, and if you saw Shinaberry throw a pitch, you can understand why he went to “the city of the weird.” He got Buenger to fly out to end the inning, leaving the score at 4-1.

In the sixth, the Horns finally got lightning in a bottle when Kyle Russell connected off of starter Chris Kelley, but that would be all the Horns would be able to manage off of him to make the score 4-2.

Rice pushed their lead even further in the sixth when with two outs, Padron doubled and Henley walked, bringing up Chad Lembeck. Lembeck hit a booming double off of Shinaberry to make the score 6-2 and end Shinaberry’s night.

The Texas seventh was a little adventurous. Scott Longeran came in to relieve Kelley, but before it was said and done, many in the stands were reaching for Rolaids—and calling for Cole St. Clair. Peoples led off with a single to right, and then the adventure began in earnest. Tucker reached on an error by Longeran and advanced to third on a wild pitch by Longan. That was all Graham needed to see as he brought in St. Clair with no outs. Danks hit a one hopper back to St. Clair for the first out with Tucker on third. After Wheeless struck out, Russell walked, and Suttle popped out to Savery to end the inning. But Texas had crept back into the game, with the score being 6-4 after 6.

The bottom of the seventh was the exclamation mark at the end of the sentence—the Owls were going to win this game! Savery stepped up, still hurting from getting hit earlier in the game. He gave the Horns some pain of their own as he launched one over the left centerfield fence for a home run of his own to make it 7-4, Owls.

The last two innings were Cole St. Clair’s. Cole was clearly in command, and the Horns could manage nothing off him from the start of the eighth inning on. He not only closed the door—he locked it tight and the BBQ was on, because the Horns were done—well done—after the seventh.

INTERVIEWS FROM LAST NIGHT'S WIN

Thanks to the help of PTH, we're able to add something more to this blog: interviews. Here is what Coach Graham had to say last night after the win against Texas:

http://www.ricefootball.net/texaswgraham.wav

Joe Savery's comments are here:

http://www.ricefootball.net/texasjsavery.wav

Tyler Henley got it all started last night--here's what he had to say:

http://www.ricefootball.net/texasthenley.wav

Cole St. Clair did a great job last night. Here are his comments:

http://www.ricefootball.net/texascsc.wav

And here are Brian Friday's comments om the win:

http://www.ricefootball.net/texasnoid1.wav

Thanks again, PTH. . .

PICTURES FROM LAST NIGHT'S WIN AGAINST TEXAS

Cole St. Clair was a welcome sight on the mound, getting his first save.

Joe Savery takes this pitch in the ribs--look below his right sleeve.
Brian Friday out on a close play at first.

Diego Seastrunk drilled this pitch down to third.









































Coach Graham checks on St. Clair in the ninth inning.

PICTURES FROM LAST NIGHT'S WIN AGAINST TEXAS (cont.)

Kyle Russell hit this pitch for a home run.























ABOVE: Luna responded to having Savery walked by lining this pitch down the leftfield line for a double; Joe Savery heads home after homering; and Travis Reagan nailed this ball on the screws, but it ended up foul.

PICTURES FROM LAST NIGHT'S WIN AGAINST TEXAS

Chris Kelley delivers in the first inning.


Suttle drops a bunt, and Lehmann springs on it like a cat
Hey Auggie--this pitch was just a lil high.

GAME OVER: OWLS WIN!

Kiss that 10 game losing streak to Texas GOOD-BYE! The Owls,. led by Chris Kelley on the mound and Tyler Henlely among others on offense, made BBQ of the Longhorns by a final score of 7-4. Cole St. Claire also notched his first save, and Joe Savery added a home run in the 7th just for some added flavoring.

This is only the beginning of this story. . . . it's too late tonight to do it justice, so watch for pictures, stories, and quotes in the next day or too as Owl fans savor this win.

GAME ON:
6:40 update

As of 6:40 pm, the game between Texas and Rice is a go......while the tarp remains on the field at this point, it will be removed shortly. Players are starting to warm up in front of the dugouts and in the outfied. If that changes, I'll let you know.

RICE HOSTS TEXAS TONIGHT AT RECKLING

Game sold out; Biggest Game in Houston College Baseball This Year

By Mark Anderson

The Texas Longhorns with a record of 31-10, and ranked #4 in the country, come to Reckling Park tonight to take on the Rice Owls, ranked #6 in the country, with a 29-11 record.

If you’re looking for tickets you had better have a friend give you one. It is completely sold out. If you have no ticket, then you can watch it tonight on CSTV.

Taking the hill for Rice tonight will be junior Chris Kelly (1-2, 4.04 ERA). He will be opposed by Austin Wood (4-0, 3.88 ERA).

Kelly can only hope for a reversal of fortune tonight. He had a lack of run support early in the season, and cannot afford a lack of it tonight. Kelly has pitched well overall, but did not receive a decision until the 10-3 loss at Cal-Fullerton on March 2. Here’s hoping that the hot bats the Owls have been swinging lately stay hot tonight and brand some Longhorns. He's had experience facing top teams, as he started for Rice in the Minute Maid Classic against Vanderbilt.

The blog will be there tonight with a recap of the game, as well as many pictures to share with you. Look for them late this evening or tomorrow morning at the latest.

PHOTOS FROM FRIDAY RICE-UH

Ry-an Ber-ry fires a bullet in the 2nd.



















Zak Presley was fooled on this pitch by Berry.

PHOTOS FROM FRIDAY

You never saw Aaron Brown flinch in this shootout














Brian Friday looks at a pitch from Brown in the 1st.


















Friday begins to round first after singling to
open the game.

















Mighty Joe brings home Dodson with this swing















Dodson reacts to a called third strike in the 1st.

SHOOTOUT IN HOUSTON IN OPENER

UH big shot in sixth does in Owls in sixth

By Mark Anderson

For the first five and a half innings, one could have mistakenly thought they had come to an old Western shootout as Aaron Brown and Ryan Berry matched each other pitch for pitch. Unfortunately for the Owls and their freshman starter, that gun of his known as his right arm had a few misfires in the sixth inning. UH took advantage of the opportunity and used it to glide to a 5-2 win.

Brian Friday started things off fast for the Owls with a single and ended up scoring on Joe Savery’s RBI groundout to first to take a quick 1-0 lead.

But quicker than you could say Ry-an Ber-ry, the Cougars Felix Fansaselle pounced on a Berry pitch and took it over the right centerfield fence to tie it up. From that point, the shootout commenced, with the Owls and Cougars both hitters shooting blanks on the scoreboard.

That all changed in the bottom of the sixth when UH managed a flash flood—three runs in all—as UH took the lead. The key hit came after Jimmy Caesario was intentionally walked to put runners on first and second to bring up the clean-up hitter, Dustin Kingsbury. Kingsbury crushed a 3-2 fastball to rightfield to bring both runners home without a throw.
Kingsbury was motivated to make Berry and Rice pay for that intentional walk. He told the blog afterwards, "That's a situation I'm really not used to. When I see that, it hurts any hitter's pride. I was thinking that I've got to get this done right here to show everybody that you shouldn't do that."

Berry admitted afterwards that the pitch to Kingsbury was simply “poor placement.” Berry’s struggles continued as first baseman Josh Stirnman then followed up Kingsbury’s double with a ringing single up the middle to score Kingsbury and make the score 4-1.

Hear Berry's comments here: http://www.ricefootball.net/ckelly4-17.wav

Rice answered with one run in the top of the seventh when Jess Buenger homered to make the score 5-2. But Rice could do nothing to add to that total as Aaron Brown had the Owls off-stride.

UH added another run in the bottom of the seventh when Flores singled and was advanced on a sacrifice bunt to second. Presley hit a harmless fly ball to Dodson, who made the play, but lost count of the outs, moving up Flores to third. Lormand then followed that with a ringing single to center to score the final run.

Closer Chris Wright came in to close the door for UH in the eighth. Jess Buenger got to him with a double off the 390 sign in centerfield in the ninth, but he had plenty of bullets in his arm and that’s just about all the Owls could muster.

The series continues tomorrow evening at 7 pm, with Langwell or Tacker taking the hill tomorrow and John Touchin taking the hill for the Cougars.

Here's an interview with Coach Graham on the game:
http://www.ricefootball.net/wgraham4-17.wav

This site does not have coverage of this series for the rest of the weekend due to scheduling conflicts.

OWLS LOOK TO STEAL WINS AGAINST ECU

Above: Dustin Sasser, (3-1, 2.47)

By Mark Anderson

If you are tempted to think this weekend series against ECU should be a walk in the park, think twice.

Yes, they lost two of three to Tulane this last weekend. Yes, some of their wins have come against teams like Liberty, Redford, High Point, and North Carolina A&T. But did you know that this team has knocked off Cal-Fullerton in a three game sweep?

This ECU team can be a team to be reckoned with, as Cal State found out in a three game sweep at Greenville. Leading the way with the bats are Dale Mollenhauser, hitting .381, and Tousely, who has 7 HR and 33 RBIs. Overall, the

Pirates are hitting .291 as a team. They are very dangerous on the basepaths, as all who have stolen bases have a very high percentage of steals.

Pitchingwise, the Pirates are led by Dustin Sasser, who is 3-1 with a 2.47 ERA. T.J. Hose leads the staff with 4 wins, but has 3 losses and an ERA of 4.02. Their top reliever, Shane Matthews, has 8 saves, but has lost three games in the late innings. The staff's overall ERA is 3.71.

EARLY FLOOD GIVES RICE WIN OVER MARSHALL

By Mark Anderson

Saturday’s game with Marshall had a little bit of everything. It had rain, rain, and two rain delays. It featured Marshall’s “Upside Down Man” during the second rain delay. It seemed all that was lacking was a Rick Dempsey sliding across the tarp. And that was before the game even began.

When the game began, runs from Rice in the first two innings seemed a lot like the weather—a lot of them, and having Marshall worry if it would ever end. Two runs in the first, and three in the second, sparked by Jess Buenger’s homerun, was more than Marshall could handle.

Meanwhile, Matt Langwell seemed to be sticking his finger in the proverbial dam himself. Matt gave up a season-high five walks—including three in the first inning. But Langwell would get out of that jam, one that would not be the last one seen in this game. To say that Langwell wasn’t as sharp as in other outings would be putting it mildly. But in spite of not having his best stuff, and pitching through a downpour for three innings, Langwell was able to hang onto that lead.

Langwell shut out the Herd through the first two innings. But in the third, Vincent singled into the swamp known as right field tonight at Reckling Park. After a fly out, Vincent advanced to second on—drum roll, please—another walk, the fourth of the day for Langwell. But Jess Buenger’s error at second brought home Vincent to make it a 5-1 ballgame.

The fifth inning for the Owls looked very promising at the beginning, but ended on a sour note. Joe Savery led off with a single and advanced when the left fielder could not cleanly play the ball. Savery then stole third base without as much as a throw. Luna walked, and then reached second as a pitch got a way from Damas—enough to allow Luna to go to second, but not enough to score Savery from third. Lehmann was then hit by a pitch. But Chissmon struck out Henley, Buenger, and Padron to leave the bases loaded.

Four hits, a run, and four walks was all the damage that the Herd could do for the first five innings, but in the sixth, the hole in the dam was bigger than Langwell’s finger. Sanders led off with a single, and Damas walked. Ledford laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners up to second and third. At this point, Coach Graham strolled to the mound and called in Scott Longeran. The first batter he faced was the light hitting third baseman, who grounded out to Friday to bring the second run of the game for Marshall home. Chapman followed with a RBI double to left that made the score 5-3. An error by Padron left the door open for more, but Lape popped out to Buenger to end the threat.

In the seventh, the Thundering Herd thundered, but did not rain. Murphy led off with a single, and was replaced by pinch-runner Jamieson. Casamassima was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second with no outs. At this point, Coach Graham emerged from a dugout and went to the mound and called in his infielders to appear to set up what would happen on the ensuing bunt.

But Jamieson got the surprise of his baserunning life as he apparently watched Savery and Padron charge hard, but was so mesmerized that he forgot to pay attention to Jess Buenger, and more particularly, Scott Longerman, who turned and threw a strike to Buenger to tag out Jamieson, who never even got back to the bag.

After Sanders grounded out to Friday, Coach Graham brought on Ryne Tacker. Tacker finished by earning the third save of the season, going 1 1/3 innings, giving up a hit and a few walks, and striking out two.

Pics From Marshall-Rice Saturday