Sunday, June 15, 2008

Not Exactly What Rice Had in Mind

By Mark Anderson

Well, that wasn’t exactly what Wayne Graham had in mind.

Rice faced off against Fresno State on Sunday, and the Owls simply got blindsided by Fresno State. Starting pitcher Ryan Berry had shaved his head, and hoped to shave his ERA in the College World Series from last year. Instead, he gave up nine—that’s right, Owl fans, count ‘em, nine—runs.

Two sets of threes plagued Berry. The first was three walks. But the second was more lethal—a three run home run. Overall, Owls’ pitching gave up four home runs—three of them being the three run variety.

On the bright side for the Owls, Diego Seastrunk joined in the three run home run parade by smashing one that Fresno State’s rightfielder could have stood on the wall and not been able to catch.

The scary moment for the Owls came in Adam Zornes’ last at-bat, when a pitch got way from the Fresno State hurler and caught Zornes flush on the cheek. For the Owls to lose Zornes at this stage of the season would be a devastating loss for the Feathered Flock, as Zornes is not only their leader in home runs this season, but also an anchor for them behind the plate. It will be a “wait and see” on his availability on Tuesday against either LSU or North Carolina.

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