Rice University Athletics
Owls Host Cal. State Fullerton In Three-Game Weekend Series
3/2/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 2, 2006
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Note that Friday's baseball audio broadcast is only on OwlVision.
Game Notes (pdf)
The number one ranked Rice baseball team, 11-2 on the season and winners of six in a row, host perennial national power Cal. State Fullerton in a three-game weekend series March 3-5 at home at Reckling Park. Game times with the Titans (9-4) are 7 pm on Friday, 2 pm Saturday and 1 pm in the series finale on Sunday. The series begins a streak of six-straight games against ranked teams.
Broadcast Info.
Rice athletics is broadcast live around the world on the Internet at www.KTRU.org. A number of baseball games are broadcast live on the radio on KTRU (91.7 FM). The next KTRU radio broadcast is Saturday's 2 pm contest. A direct link to the audio feed is provided on the baseball schedule page of RiceOwls.com. Broadcasters Mike Pede, Matt McCabe and Dan Perez are mic-side for the baseball action this season.
Two Upcoming Games On OwlVision
Games one and three of the Cal. State Fullerton series are scheduled for broadcast by OwlVision . OwlVision is a subscription-based service which matches the play-by-play audio with a video feed to create a television-like broadcast on the Internet (either live or in an archived format). The service has proved to be very popular with fans and alumni living throughout the world. Information about the service and prices are available on the Rice web site. A number of home games are on tap for OwlVision this season.
National Ranking Update - Owls Number One In NCBWA Poll
After five wins in a row, including a 3-2 duel over seventh-ranked Nebraska last Saturday (Feb. 25), Rice moved up to number one in the country in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association (NCBWA) Feb. 27 poll. It's the first time Rice has been number one in the NCBWA poll since the start of the 2004 season when the Owls were coming off the 2003 NCAA National Championship... Rice has been number one in the nation according to the Internet site The Rosenblatt Report since the start of the season. The Owls are second in both the Collegiate Baseball and the Sports Weekly/ESPN/ABCA coaches poll . The team is up to fourth in Baseball America. Rice is ranked high on the strength of 20 lettermen returning from the 2005 squad that won the Baton Rouge Regional and came within four outs of reaching the College World Series. Polls will continue through June 30, 2006.
Head Coach Wayne Graham
Two-time national coach of the year and Texas Sports Hall of Fame inductee Wayne Graham (Texas, 1970) is in his 15th season at Rice. He is 638-259 with the Owls (395-88 at home, 187-138 in road games and 56-33 at neutral sites). His overall winning percentage is .711, the best in school history. Another way of looking at Graham's .711 win percentage is that it is the equivalent of a major league team winning 115 games in a single year... Graham is 1-3 against Cal. State Fullerton (0-0 home, 0-0 away, 1-3 neutral)... Under Graham, the Owls clinched another automatic postseason bid in 2005, making 11-straight seasons for Rice to earn an NCAA appearance. The 2003 bid culminated with the Owls' first national championship. Rice played in the 1994-95-96 Southwest Conference tournaments (winning the final league title in '96), won the 1997-98-99 WAC tournaments, shared the 2000 WAC title with San Jose State before winning the 2001-02-03-04-05 titles outright, and advanced into the NCAA tournament in 1995-96-97-98-99-00-01-02-03-04-05... Graham was named the WAC coach of the year in 1998, '99, '02 and the co-coach of the year in '03... Rice has made four appearances in the NCAA College World Series under Graham (1997, '99, '02, '03)... Graham has led the Owls to number-one rankings for seven weeks during the 1999 season, for six weeks during the '01 campaign, two weeks in '02, six weeks in 2003 (the last of which established some staying power), three weeks in 2004 and once in 2006... Graham's San Jacinto Gators dominated the NJCAA World Series in Grand Junction, Colo., in the 1980s, winning five national titles in six years (1985-86-87, 89-90)... The Austin American-Statesman named Graham its SWC coach of the year in '95 after he led the Owls to their first NCAA tournament appearance... Collegiate Baseball was especially cognizant of Graham's efforts at San Jac. He was named the newspaper's coach of the decade for all levels in the 1980s after winning those five junior college national titles, and CB tabbed him the NJCAA coach of the century... One of the few current collegiate coaches to have played in the major leagues (N.Y. Mets in 1963, Philadelphia in 1964), Graham is aided by assistant coaches Mike Taylor (Prairie View A&M, 1997; sixth year), David Pierce (Houston, 1988; fourth year), Patrick Hallmark (Rice, 1995; first year)... Graham will coach at third base. Taylor will be at first base.
1,213 Wins
Wayne Graham
owns 638 career wins at Rice, but he also has 1,213 victories in his collegiate coaching career. Graham's career record is 1,213-372 in a 25-year career that began at San Jacinto College in 1981.
Did You Know?
The Owls have an 11-2 record while playing 13 different teams. The Fullerton series marks the first time this season for Rice to play a team more than once.
Here's Who's Hot
On the offensive side of the ball junior Josh Rodriguez is 8-for-his-last-18 (.444) with a home run, two double and eight RBI. Sophomore Jordan Dodson has a nine-game hitting streak. In recent at bats he is 6-for-17 (.353) with two home runs, a double and six RBI. There has only been one game all year where Dodson hasn't had at least one hit (vs. McNeese St., Feb. 7).
Previously: Owls Hold Off Ninth Inning Rally To Defeat TAMCC, 6-4
In the Owls most recent outing sophomore reliever Cole St.Clair held off a late rally to help the number-one ranked Rice baseball team claim a 6-4 road victory Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Tuesday evening at Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi. St.Clair put a stop to a three-run Islander rally in the bottom of the ninth inning with a strikeout and ground out for his third save of the season. The Owls led 6-1 heading into the final frame, but TAMCC tallied three runs on four hits and still had two men on base when the left-hander entered the game... The Islanders opened the scoring in the bottom of the second inning, drawing a leadoff walk and following with a double to put two men in scoring position. An infield ground out scored one run and TAMCC was looking for more in the inning, but Tyler Henley threw out the runner at the plate after a single up the middle... The Owls rallied for the lead in the top of the sixth. Senior Greg Buchanan led off with a double down the left field line, advanced to third on a ground out to the right side and scored on a double to center by junior Josh Rodriguez. Rodriguez advanced on a ground out and scored on a wild pitch. Sophomore Chad Lembeck blasted a home run to left field to put the Owls ahead 3-1. In the top of the seventh starting catcher Adam Zornes slugged his first career home run to left center field to stretch the margin to 4-1. Rice added two insurance runs in the top of the ninth that proved to be critical. Buchanan drove in the team's final score with his career-best fourth hit of the game. Junior starter Craig Crow earned the win for Rice, allowing just three hits in working a career-long 5.0 innings and striking out a career-high eight.
Last Week
Last week the Owls won two high-scoring games and two one-run contests for a 4-0 week. Rice clubbed Sam Houston State 9-3 (Feb. 21) in its midweek game and St. John's 14-7 (Feb. 24) in the opener of the Rice Invitational Tournament. The Owls then defeated seventh-ranked Nebraska 3-2 (Feb. 25) and Texas State 3-2 to close out the tournament's round-robin play.
Our New Address In Conference USA
After nine seasons as a member of the Western Athletic Conference, Rice Athletics made the dramatic move to Conference USA for all varsity sports on July 1, 2005. The move has been a success with the Owls posting C-USA championships in soccer and women's cross country... Rice helps make C-USA's highly-regarded baseball league even better. In 2005, four C-USA teams earned NCAA regional bids. Fellow league newcomer Central Florida has averaged 41 wins for the past two years.
C-USA Coaches Pick Rice To Win 2006 League Crown
With Conference USA preseason player of the year selection Joe Savery leading the way, Rice was the unanimous pick of the league's nine head baseball coaches to win the 2006 conference title. Rice baseball competes in C-USA for the first time in 2006 but the Owls' reputation precedes them. The team is ranked as high as fourth in the nation in preseason polls after posting a 45-19 record and NCAA Super Regional appearance. Junior righthander Tim Bascom of fellow first-year C-USA member UCF was named as the league's preseason pitcher of the year.
Predicted Order of Finish
1. Rice (nine first place votes)
2. Tulane
3. Southern Miss
4. Houston
5. UCF
6. East Carolina
7. UAB
8. Memphis
9. Marshall
Player of the Year - Joe Savery, Rice (So., p/if)
All-America Candidates
Rice senior Eddie Degerman, junior Josh Rodriguez and sophomore Joe Savery were selected to Collegiate Baseball's 2006 Louisville Slugger preseason all-America teams... Savery was named to the publication's preseason all-America first team as a utility player for his multiple skills as a hitter, first baseman and pitcher. Rodriguez was named second-team all-America at shortstop and Degerman was tabbed as a starting pitcher on the all-America third team. Savery and Rodriguez were also 2006 preseason all-America honorees by the NCBWA... Savery was a consensus all-America pick as a true freshman and the national freshman of the year by Collegiate Baseball. The Houston native from nearby Lamar High School led the Western Athletic Conference in hitting with a .382 average and he was second in the league with a 2.43 ERA in 19 starts on the mound... Rodriguez moved from second base to shortstop midway through the 2005 season with no drop off in play on either side of the ball. The former South Houston High School star batted .345 with a team-leading 11 home runs and 54 RBI in 63 games started. Rodriguez also maintained a .555 slugging percentage with 48 runs scored and nine stolen bases. Defensively, he started or turned 45 of the Owls' 67 double plays... Degerman is a veteran right-hander who went 8-1 with a 3.28 ERA a year ago. The Granada Hills, Calif., native opted to return for his senior season in 2006 despite being selected by the defending world champion Boston Red Sox in the 2005 major league draft. In one start last season, Degerman struck out 16 batters in just 7.1 innings. He averaged 10.7 strikeouts per nine innings of work.
Two Owls On Clemens Watch List
Rice senior Eddie Degerman and sophomore Joe Savery are among a list of 40 pitchers who have been named to the initial watch list for the 2006 Roger Clemens Award, which honors the top pitcher in college baseball... The Roger Clemens Award is named after major league great Roger Clemens. As a professional, Clemens has won 341 games (ninth-best in history), fanned 4,502 hitters and been honored with seven Cy Young Awards as the top pitcher in his league. The Roger Clemens Award is the only award of its kind, honoring the finest pitchers in college baseball... Savery, the national freshman of the year in 2005, is a preseason all-America selection for 2006. The left-hander from Houston was 8-5 with a team-best 2.43 ERA in 19 starts last season. Savery, who also starts at first base when not on the mound, posted 129 strikeouts and just 37 walks in 118.2 innings... Degerman is a veteran right-hander who went 8-1 with a 3.28 ERA for the Owls last season. The Granada Hills, Calif., native opted to return for his senior season in 2006 despite being selected by the defending world champion Boston Red Sox in the 2005 major league draft. In one of his starts last season, Degerman fanned 16 batters in just 7.1 innings of work. He averaged 10.7 strikeouts per nine innings... The watch list is comprised of all Division I pitchers who were named as pre-season all-America by either Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball or the NCBWA. Additional pitchers will be added each week when honored as National Pitchers of the Week by the NCBWA and after the NCAA releases its statistical rankings during the college baseball season... The third Clemens Award will be presented to the nation's top college pitcher at the conclusion of a gala dinner in Houston in July. All Division I head baseball coaches will take part in the voting for the honor, in addition to a selected panel of national media... For media information on The Roger Clemens Award, please contact Chuck Pool (832) 244-6476... The Owl trio of Jeff Niemann, Wade Townsend and Philip Humber were all nominated for the first award in 2004.
Cox On Stopper Watch List
Senior right-hander Bryce Cox is among a group of 30 pitchers listed on the preseason watch list for the second annual NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award. Cox was selected by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the 13th round of the Major League Baseball Draft last June, but chose to return to Rice for his senior season. In 2005, he appeared in 17 games, going 1-2 with a 3.86 ERA and three saves. Cox averaged 11.6 strikeouts-per-nine innings, second-best on the staff and held the 66 batters that he faced to a composite .182 batting average. This will be the second time that the nation's top reliever is honored by the NCBWA.
Savery On Wallace Watch List
Sophomore Joe Savery was an early selection to the watch list for the Brooks Wallace Award, an honor presented to the national college baseball player of the year by the College Baseball Foundation in Lubbock. The Wallace Watch will be trimmed to 12 semifinalists in late May and narrowed to three finalists at a press conference in Omaha prior to the College World Series. The 2006 Wallace Award will be presented after the conclusion of the College World Series.
27,134 In Attendance
There were 27,134 fans in attendance at Minute Maid Park for the Owls' Feb. 11 game against tenth-ranked Texas. It's the fourth-largest crowd for a regular season college game in NCAA history. Rice's games at Minute Maid also drew 11,512 for the Feb. 12 game against TCU and 10,193 for the opening game of the tournament against Texas Tech.
The "K" Train
Rice pitchers have registered a total of 151 strikeouts in 13 games, an average 11.6 per contest. The staff has fanned 11 or more hitters in a game 10 times. Eddie Degerman fanned a team-best 11 in his start against Oklahoma (Feb. 17). Seven different Owls have more strikeouts than innings pitched this season. Sophomore Cole St.Clair has 27 K's in 16 innings of work, an average of 15.2 per game. Junior Craig Crow struck out the side in his Division I debut on Feb. 7 against McNeese State, helping the staff post a season-high total of 17 Ks for the game. The 17 strikeouts was approaching some lofty historic totals. Rice pitchers notched 21 strikeouts in a single game in 2005. The Owls fanned 19 against SMU in 1919 and 18 at McNeese State in April of 2000.
Family Fun At Reckling Park
An exciting list of home game-day promotions for the Owls' 2006 baseball season are in place. There are 28 promotions for the Owls' 30 home games at Reckling Park. Some recurring promotional events will overlap over the course of the year, making for days where there are multiple activities and giveaways at the ballpark. Popular events like ice cream sundae Sundays, kid's cap day, 25 cent hot dog night, the burrito bounce, trading card day and kids takeover the park, have all returned to the Owls' promotional lineup... Some new events, like jersey night, autographed baseball day, a bobblehead giveaway could prove to be new fan favorites. Rice will also have some unique entertainment options in conjunction with games. A show of classic cars from the Houston Cadillac LaSalle Club is on tap for the spring and EA Sports will debut its new video game, 2006 College Baseball, at Reckling Park in late March. The city's civic leaders and elected officials will be on hand for a special patriotic celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Star Spangled Banner..."We've added a little bit extra for the loyal fans who already know about the great value and family-oriented sporting event that is Rice baseball," Athletics Director Mike Pede' said. "Year-in and year-out, Rice ranks among the national leaders in college baseball attendance and some of our giveaways and promotional events is a way of thanking them for their support." Last season, the Owls were 10th in the nation in total attendance (96,390 fans). Rice averaged more than 3,000 fans per game for its 32 homes dates. A complete list of baseball game-day promotions can be viewed on the web at www.RiceOwls.com. Click here for a full list of the Owls' 2006 baseball promotions.
Draft Dodgers
Owls Eddie Degerman and Bryce Cox were selected in the 2005 Major League Baseball draft (June 7-8) but opted to return for their senior season. Two other Rice juniors and two seniors were drafted and signed. A former Owl who was not on the 2005 team, Wade Townsend, was the eighth player taken in the first round.
2005 Rice Draftees Rnd Pick MLB Team
Josh Geer 3rd 98th San Diego
Lance Pendleton 4th 139th New York (A)
Bryce Cox 13th 403rd Los Angeles (A)
Adam Rodgers 25th 770th St. Louis
Eddie Degerman 41st 1245th Boston
Adam Morris 47th 1420th St. Louis
Quick On Cal. State Fullerton
Cal. State Fullerton is 9-4 on the season and winners in nine of its last 10 games. The Titans enter the weekend series ranked as high as seventh in the nation according to both Baseball America and the Sports Weekly/ESPN/ABCA coaches poll. The Titans are 13th in both Collegiate Baseball and the NCBWA.
Series History
Cal. State Fullerton leads the all-time series history with Rice, 6-2. The last four games in the series have been played as part of regional action in the NCAA Tournament in 1995 and 1996... The teams met in 1995 at the South Regional in Baton Rouge where the Titans won a pair of games by the scores of 17-7 and 8-7. The teams were paired again the very next year at the Midwest Regional in Wichita, Kan., and split two games. Cal. State Fullerton won the first game 7-3 but Rice bounced back for a 13-10 victory in the most-recent meeting... The very first game between the Owls and Titans was in 1990 in California where the CSUF claimed a 7-1 win after waiting out some long rain delays. Rice hosted the Titans in 1991 at Cameron Field and claimed one win in the three-game weekend series.
This & That
On Tuesday at Corpus Christi, sophomore outfielder Tyler Henley recorded the seventh outfield assist in his Rice career by throwing out a runner at home plate from his spot in center field. Henley also assisted on throwing out a runner in the McNeese State win (Feb. 7). Henley once threw out three advancing runners in a single game... Rice pitchers have not allowed any hits this season in 10 bases-loaded situations... Sophomore infielder Brian Friday`s great start has been a boost to the team. Friday is hitting a steady .327 with nine runs scored in 13 games and he has started or turned six of the team's double plays. At this point a year ago, Friday the freshman was hitting .250 and he had already made three-times as many errors in the field... On the pitching side sophomore Bobby Bramhall has quietly strung together some solid outings. Bramhall has worked a total of 8.2 innings in four outings and his composite pitching line is two runs allowed on four hits and three walks with 11 strikeouts.
On Deck
The Owls have a rugged stretch of games coming up. After taking on Cal. State Fullerton for three, Rice hosts longtime rival and defending national champion Texas at Reckling Park on Mar. 7... After hosting Texas, Rice returns to Corpus Christi to play in the Whataburger College Classic tournament Mar. 10-12. The Owls meet 21st-ranked TCU, 17th-ranked Arizona State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in a round-robin format. That's six-straight games against ranked teams... The games start Mar. 10 but the Classic actually begins the day before with a tournament-opening home run derby. Classic tickets may be obtained at the Whataburger Field box office, which is open weekdays from 9 am until 5 pm. They may also be secured by phone at 361-561-HOOK (4665) or on-line through the Hooks' site. The tournament schedule is:
Fri., Mar. 10
Rice vs. TCU, 2:30 pm
Arizona State at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 6:30 pm
Sat., Mar. 11
TCU at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 1:30 pm
Rice vs. Arizona State, 5:30 pm
Sun., Mar. 12
Arizona State vs. TCU, 11:30 am
Rice at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 3:30 pm
