SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIAL
SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIAL: OWLS MARCH PAST LONGHORNS
3 HRS, 5 Errors, Doom Horns
By Mark Anderson
(Houston, March 1) The clock read 8:54 pm when the Rice Owls took the field at Minute Maid Park tonight. But for the Owls, the clock struck midnight early, and Rice ended up marching past the Hornsby a score of 10-4.
In last March’s game at Reckling when Rice beat Texas, it was Chris Kelley that took the hill as the starting pitcher, and Cole St. Clair came in to shut the door. Tonight, it was Cole St. Clair that took the hill as a starter. In the first inning, the Horns loaded the bases with one out. First baseman Brandon Belt knocked in the first run with a sacrifice fly, but escaped further damage by popping up Kyle Russell to end the top half of the first with the score Horns 1, Rice coming up.
The bottom of the first had a rather inauspicious beginning when Jared Gayhart struck out swinging. But Gayhart didn’t let failure ruin the night—he had seen something that would change the course of the night—beginning with Chad Mozingo, the very next hitter.
An Important Exchange
“I talked to Jared right after his at-bat on the way to the plate, and he told me he [Kasparek] was pretty flat,” Chad Mozingo said afterwards. “So I went up there ready to jump on the first fastball. I got it up and in, and I just got a pretty good swing on it.”
Mozingo’s homer tied the game at 1-1. But Diego Seastrunck changed that when he stepped up next and homered over the left field scoreboard to put the Owls up, 2-1.
Texas wasn’t ready to roll over and play dead just yet. With two outs, shortstop David Hernandez homered to right to tie the score at 2-2. Tucker then reached when he was hot by St. Clair with a feather, and advanced to third when his pickoff threw when over Padron’s head and down the rightfield line. But Torres grounded out to PAdron to end the inning and leave the score knotted at 2-2.
Texas took what would turn out to be their only—and very short-lived lead of the night in the fourth. Kyle Russell opened the inning with a single past a diving Jimmy Baseball at second. Rupp then doubled to left, with Russell advancing to third. That was the end of St. Clair’s night, and Chris Kelley came on in relief. Moulderhauer pinch-hit for Keyes, and singled through the left side to bring home Russell, but Rupp wisely held up at third. But with no outs, Hernandez then committed the cardinal sin of laying down a suicide squeeze: he bunted the ball too hard and Padron fielded it, and threw home in plenty of time to catch Rupp. Tucker reached on another fielder’s choice when his grounder to third erased Mouldenhauer. Kelly struck out Torres to end what was a very promising, and very pivitol fourth for Texas, with the Horns hanging onto a 4-3 lead.
That lead would be very short-lived.
The Game Changed for Good in the Fourth as Midnight Struck for the Horns
In the bottom of the fourth, Rick Hague stepped to the plate with one out, and drove a pitch to left for his first homer in a Rice uniform. Zornes followed with a single, and went to third when Jimmy Baseball singled to left field. The throw came to try and erase Zornes, but midnight had struck for the Horns as second base was left unattended, and Commerota went to second without a contest.
That’s when Augie had seen enough. He walked up to the umpire and indicated a change was coming—which happened to be shortstop David Hernandez being replaced by Pat McCrory. After Mc Crory had thrown some warn-ups, Augie came back out to change pitchers, inserting Whitmore for Kasparek. Coach Graham countered by pinch-hitting with “The Bellville Banger,” who promptly singled to right, scoring two runs. Gayhart struck out and Derek Myer advanced to second on a pitch that sailed over the catcher’s leaping attempt to lasso it. Mozingo flied out to end the inning, but the damage had been done and the game turned in favor of the Owls., with the score being 5-3.
Rice Wasn’t Finished
But the Rice offense wasn’t finished yet. With Luna on second via a walk and stolen base, with two outs, Hague singled to score Luna. Augie began a pitching tryout camp of sorts at this point, as he would bring in five different relievers, all to no avail. Ruffin came in, only to have Zornes reach on catcher’s interference, and Zornes advanced to second on Ruffin’s error. Jimmy Baseball then singled to right, scoring Zornes, and then stole second. Myers ended the inning by flying out, but the damage had been done and the score was now 8-3 in favor of Rice.
The Owls loaded the bases in the sixth inning, but could only push one run across. Derek Myers, who had pinch run for Gayhart earlier, opened with a single. Mozingo reached on an error by the first baseman. Seastrunk singled to load the bases with no outs. Augie brought in Tackett, who popped up Luna for the first out, got Padron to ground to the first baseman to have Myers score on a fielder’s choice, then Hague flew out to right to end the threat, but increase the lead to 9-3.
"This is Pitching U."
Erstwhile, Chris Kelly was sailing along. Kelly isa great example of what Diego Seastrunk said after the game: “This is Pitching U. So long as we get them runs early, and they get comfortable on the mound, they can go however far we need them to go.” While Kelly was comfortable on the mound, he was making the Texas hitters very uncomfortable with his style of pitching.
“I knew from last year playing them that I had to keep them off-balance with all my pitches, work on throwing strikes, and work ahead of people,” Kelly told the blog afterwards. He sees coming out of the bullpen an advantage for him. “It makes me really focus on just coming out there and throwing strikes,” Kelly explained.
Chris Kelly is obviously in the honors classes at Pitching U. Coach Graham, speaking of Kelly after the game, said, “I believe Kelly is going to have a really good year this year.” Graham explained why he believed that by saying, “He knows how to use his pitches, he’s matured more, his arm is alive, and he’s going to be a really good pitcher.”
Also moving into the honors class is Bryan Price. Price came in, slammed the door shut, locked it, and threw the key away as he dominated the Horns in his 1 1/3 innings. Bryan couldn’t have been happier if he had to have been. “I felt really good about it,” Price told the blog. “We played a great game all around, and hit the ball really well, played great defense. We really put it on them. It felt really good.”
3 HRS, 5 Errors, Doom Horns
By Mark Anderson
(Houston, March 1) The clock read 8:54 pm when the Rice Owls took the field at Minute Maid Park tonight. But for the Owls, the clock struck midnight early, and Rice ended up marching past the Hornsby a score of 10-4.
In last March’s game at Reckling when Rice beat Texas, it was Chris Kelley that took the hill as the starting pitcher, and Cole St. Clair came in to shut the door. Tonight, it was Cole St. Clair that took the hill as a starter. In the first inning, the Horns loaded the bases with one out. First baseman Brandon Belt knocked in the first run with a sacrifice fly, but escaped further damage by popping up Kyle Russell to end the top half of the first with the score Horns 1, Rice coming up.
The bottom of the first had a rather inauspicious beginning when Jared Gayhart struck out swinging. But Gayhart didn’t let failure ruin the night—he had seen something that would change the course of the night—beginning with Chad Mozingo, the very next hitter.
An Important Exchange
“I talked to Jared right after his at-bat on the way to the plate, and he told me he [Kasparek] was pretty flat,” Chad Mozingo said afterwards. “So I went up there ready to jump on the first fastball. I got it up and in, and I just got a pretty good swing on it.”
Mozingo’s homer tied the game at 1-1. But Diego Seastrunck changed that when he stepped up next and homered over the left field scoreboard to put the Owls up, 2-1.
Texas wasn’t ready to roll over and play dead just yet. With two outs, shortstop David Hernandez homered to right to tie the score at 2-2. Tucker then reached when he was hot by St. Clair with a feather, and advanced to third when his pickoff threw when over Padron’s head and down the rightfield line. But Torres grounded out to PAdron to end the inning and leave the score knotted at 2-2.
Texas took what would turn out to be their only—and very short-lived lead of the night in the fourth. Kyle Russell opened the inning with a single past a diving Jimmy Baseball at second. Rupp then doubled to left, with Russell advancing to third. That was the end of St. Clair’s night, and Chris Kelley came on in relief. Moulderhauer pinch-hit for Keyes, and singled through the left side to bring home Russell, but Rupp wisely held up at third. But with no outs, Hernandez then committed the cardinal sin of laying down a suicide squeeze: he bunted the ball too hard and Padron fielded it, and threw home in plenty of time to catch Rupp. Tucker reached on another fielder’s choice when his grounder to third erased Mouldenhauer. Kelly struck out Torres to end what was a very promising, and very pivitol fourth for Texas, with the Horns hanging onto a 4-3 lead.
That lead would be very short-lived.
The Game Changed for Good in the Fourth as Midnight Struck for the Horns
In the bottom of the fourth, Rick Hague stepped to the plate with one out, and drove a pitch to left for his first homer in a Rice uniform. Zornes followed with a single, and went to third when Jimmy Baseball singled to left field. The throw came to try and erase Zornes, but midnight had struck for the Horns as second base was left unattended, and Commerota went to second without a contest.
That’s when Augie had seen enough. He walked up to the umpire and indicated a change was coming—which happened to be shortstop David Hernandez being replaced by Pat McCrory. After Mc Crory had thrown some warn-ups, Augie came back out to change pitchers, inserting Whitmore for Kasparek. Coach Graham countered by pinch-hitting with “The Bellville Banger,” who promptly singled to right, scoring two runs. Gayhart struck out and Derek Myer advanced to second on a pitch that sailed over the catcher’s leaping attempt to lasso it. Mozingo flied out to end the inning, but the damage had been done and the game turned in favor of the Owls., with the score being 5-3.
Rice Wasn’t Finished
But the Rice offense wasn’t finished yet. With Luna on second via a walk and stolen base, with two outs, Hague singled to score Luna. Augie began a pitching tryout camp of sorts at this point, as he would bring in five different relievers, all to no avail. Ruffin came in, only to have Zornes reach on catcher’s interference, and Zornes advanced to second on Ruffin’s error. Jimmy Baseball then singled to right, scoring Zornes, and then stole second. Myers ended the inning by flying out, but the damage had been done and the score was now 8-3 in favor of Rice.
The Owls loaded the bases in the sixth inning, but could only push one run across. Derek Myers, who had pinch run for Gayhart earlier, opened with a single. Mozingo reached on an error by the first baseman. Seastrunk singled to load the bases with no outs. Augie brought in Tackett, who popped up Luna for the first out, got Padron to ground to the first baseman to have Myers score on a fielder’s choice, then Hague flew out to right to end the threat, but increase the lead to 9-3.
"This is Pitching U."
Erstwhile, Chris Kelly was sailing along. Kelly isa great example of what Diego Seastrunk said after the game: “This is Pitching U. So long as we get them runs early, and they get comfortable on the mound, they can go however far we need them to go.” While Kelly was comfortable on the mound, he was making the Texas hitters very uncomfortable with his style of pitching.
“I knew from last year playing them that I had to keep them off-balance with all my pitches, work on throwing strikes, and work ahead of people,” Kelly told the blog afterwards. He sees coming out of the bullpen an advantage for him. “It makes me really focus on just coming out there and throwing strikes,” Kelly explained.
Chris Kelly is obviously in the honors classes at Pitching U. Coach Graham, speaking of Kelly after the game, said, “I believe Kelly is going to have a really good year this year.” Graham explained why he believed that by saying, “He knows how to use his pitches, he’s matured more, his arm is alive, and he’s going to be a really good pitcher.”
Also moving into the honors class is Bryan Price. Price came in, slammed the door shut, locked it, and threw the key away as he dominated the Horns in his 1 1/3 innings. Bryan couldn’t have been happier if he had to have been. “I felt really good about it,” Price told the blog. “We played a great game all around, and hit the ball really well, played great defense. We really put it on them. It felt really good.”
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