Rodriguez Named A C-USA Hitter of the Week
3/6/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 6, 2006
DALLAS -- For an outstanding series of games, highlighted by late-inning heroics to help the Owls win two of three from nationally-ranked Cal. State Fullerton, Rice junior Josh Rodriguez was named one of the Conference USA hitters of the week for Mar. 6, the C-USA office announced from its headquarters in Dallas on Monday.
Rodriguez hit a composite .400 (6-for-15) for the week while driving in five runs and scoring five times. He slugged a game-winning home run and three doubles for an .800 slugging percentage. The Houston native from South Houston High School stepped up with some late-game heroics to win two games against perennial power Cal. State Fullerton. On Friday (Mar. 3) he hit a walk-off solo home run to lead off the bottom of the 10th inning for a Rice 3-2 victory. Less than 24 hours later he knocked a bases-loaded double in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a 2-2 deadlock on the way to a 6-2 victory.
Rodriguez and Marshall's Brendan Murphy shared the league's hitter of the week honors. Murphy hit .462 with three home runs and 12 RBI. Houston's Brad Lincoln was named the C-USA pitcher of the week.
Rice has had a sizable impact on C-USA's weekly honors list. Freshman Aaron Luna was named the C-USA hitter of the week for Feb. 13. Junior pitcher Eddie Degerman was the league's pitcher of the week on Feb. 20.
The Rice baseball team next hosts long-time rival Texas on Tues., Mar. 7. First pitch is scheduled for 7 pm at Reckling Park. The Owls hit the road to play in the Whataburger College Classic this weekend (Mar. 10-12). Rice meets Arizona State, TCU and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in round-robin action at Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi.
