Rice University Athletics
Owls Home For Three-Game Series vs. Southern Miss
4/20/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 20, 2006
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The top-ranked Rice baseball team, 32-9 overall and in sole possession of first place in Conference USA with an 11-1 league record, is finally back home after five consecutive road games. The Owls host C-USA foe Southern Miss in a three-game weekend series at Reckling Park Apr. 21-23. The start times with the Golden Eagles (27-12, 5-4) are 7 pm Friday, 2 pm Saturday and 1 pm Sunday... The home series is the Owls' first Reckling Park appearance since Apr. 9, a 7-3 conference win over UAB. Rice closed out five-straight road games since then with a 4-1 record. The Blue and Gray has played 10-of-13 games on the road dating back to Mar. 27.
Broadcast Information
Rice athletics is broadcast live around the world on the Internet at www.KTRU.org. A number of selected Rice games are live on the radio on KTRU (91.7 FM). A direct link to the audio feed is provided at the "Listen Here" link listed above. Mike Pede, Matt McCabe, Dan Perez and Bill Cousins, are mic-side for the baseball action this season.
Weekend Games On OwlVision
All three C-USA games this weekend are scheduled for an OwlVision broadcast. 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). Information about the service and prices are available on the Rice web site. All home C-USA series are slated to appear on OwlVision. Check it out at the link listed above.
This Week's Highest National Ranking: Number One Again
With 14 wins in a row to finish up last week Rice moved up to number one in the country in two different college baseball polls, including the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association (NCBWA) and Sports Weekly/ESPN/ABCA polls... The Owls were tabbed as the nation's top team by the NCBWA on Feb. 27 and remained there until Mar. 13... Rice is number one in Sports Weekly/ESPN/ABCA, the team's highest spot in that poll since Feb. 16, 2004 when the squad was coming off the 2003 national championship... The Owls are second in Baseball America and third in Collegiate Baseball... Rice moved back to number one according to the Internet site The Rosenblatt Report on Apr. 17. The team was number one by The Rosenblatt Report to start the season, dropped to number two on Mar. 13, reclaimed the top spot on Mar. 20 and held it for seven days... The Owls are ranked high after backing up some lofty preseason rankings with steady play. The preseason rankings were 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 continue through June 30, 2006.
the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association (NCBWA)
Baseball America
Sports Weekly/ESPN/ABCA coaches poll
Collegiate Baseball
The Rosenblatt Report
Win Streak Snapped
Rice saw its 14-game win streak snapped on Tues., Apr. 18, with a 15-3 loss at Oklahoma. The win streak is the Owls' longest since winning an eye-opening 30 in a row in the NCAA national championship season of 2003.
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 659-266 with the Owls (405-91 at home, 197-141 in road games and 57-34 at neutral sites). His overall winning percentage is .712, the best in school history. Another way of looking at Graham's .712 win percentage is that it is the equivalent of a major league team winning 115 games in a single year... The meeting with Southern Miss is Graham's first. He is 4-2 against schools from the state of Mississippi... 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 two weeks 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.
1,234 Wins
Wayne Graham owns 659 career wins at Rice, but he also has 1,234 victories in his collegiate coaching career. Graham's career record is 1,234-379 in a 25-year career that began at San Jacinto College in 1981.
Rice Rotation: Degerman, Bell and Crow
Wayne Graham has announced the Rice pitching rotation for the weekend as senior Eddie Degerman (rhp), sophomore Bobby Bell (rhp) and junior Craig Crow (rhp), the same trio when the Owls swept Memphis a week ago... Degerman has backed up his pre-season all-America status with some eye-opening results. He is 8-0 with a 1.29 ERA in 10 starts. Degerman has been the starting pitcher for eight of the Owls' nine games played on Friday. This season the standout from Granada Hills, Calif., has allowed an average of 5.4 hits and 3.0 walks with 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings of work. Degerman has held 250 batters faced to a composite .168 batting average... Last week at Memphis he scattered six hits and struck out six while working into the eighth inning for the fourth time this season. The veteran right-hander has already defeated Nebraska, Oklahoma and Tulane this year... For his Rice career, Degerman is 17-2 with a 2.49 ERA and 248 strikeouts in 195 innings... Bobby Bell (4-0, 3.41) has made five starts in 10 appearances. He's held 126 batters faced to a composite .238 batting average. The standout from Aledo tied a career-high with seven strikeouts at Memphis. Even without the 22-run explosion behind him a week ago, Rice hitters still like to get behind Bell. The Blue and Gray averaged eight runs per Bell start before he took the Hill at Memphis... Craig Crow has worked his way into the weekend rotation with solid outings. Crow is 5-1 with a 3.35 ERA in 15 appearances, including seven starting assignments. The New Braunfels native has struck out 48 batters in 45.2 frames for an average of 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings. Crow is in his first competitive season at the Division I level after sitting out all of the 2005 season with an injury. He started for two years at Grayson College (2003-04) prior to joining the Owls.
Zornes Earnes C-USA Hitting Honor
For an outstanding series of games, highlighted by four home runs in three games, Rice freshman Adam Zornes was named one of the Conference USA hitters of the week for Apr. 17, the C-USA office announced from its headquarters in Dallas on Monday. Apr. 18... Zornes batted a composite .700 with four home runs to help the Owls go undefeated in a weekend sweep of C-USA foe Memphis on the road. Zornes went 7-for-10 with four home runs, including a round-tripper in all three games. He maintained a team-best 1.900 slugging percentage to go along with nine RBI. The Houston native from nearby St. Thomas High School shared the team lead in total bases (19) and runs scored (8) while playing in just three of the Owls' four games last week. Zornes was also walked twice for a team-best .750 on-base percentage as the Owls won their 14th game in a row... Zornes and Houston's Matt Weston shared the league's hitter of the week honors. Westin hit .550 with three home runs, 12 RBI and 11 runs scored in four games played. Tulane's Sean Morgan was named the C-USA pitcher of the week... Rice has had a sizable impact on C-USA's weekly honors list its first year in the league. Freshman Aaron Luna was named the C-USA hitter of the week for Feb. 13 and junior Josh Rodriguez earned the honor on Mar. 6. Senior right-hander Eddie Degerman has earned the league's pitcher of the week honors two times this season (Feb. 20. and Mar. 13).
Previous Game: Oklahoma Tops Rice 15-3
The 13th-ranked Oklahoma baseball team took advantage of a pair of Rice fielding errors on the way to a big five-run fifth inning, the deciding frame in what turned into a 15-3 win over the top-ranked Owls before a season-high capacity crowd of 2,657 at L. Dale Mitchell Field Tuesday evening in Norman, Okla. The loss snapped Rice's win streak at 14 games and extended OU's win streak to seven... Both starting pitchers were in a groove early. Oklahoma opened the scoring in the bottom of the fourth inning with a run on a walk and pair of hits. The Owls came right back with a run in the top of the fifth. Designated hitter Aaron Luna singled to right and he moved to second when right fielder Bobby Bramhall was hit by a pitch. Catcher Danny Lehmann punched a base hit through the right side to tie the game, 1-1... The Sooners broke the tie wide open with five runs in the fifth, four of which were unearned after two Rice miscues. OU outscored Rice 9-2 the rest of the way for a 15-3 final... Rice and Oklahoma split its two-game, home & away series, 1-1 after the Owls claimed an 8-2 win over the Sooners at Reckling Park on Feb. 17.
Third In The Nation In Wins
Rice has the most wins (32) and fewest losses (9) of any team in Conference USA. Only two teams in the country, Old Dominion (34) and Florida State (33), have more wins than Rice.
Here's Who's Hot
Freshman Adam Zornes is 8-of-12 with four home runs, nine RBI and eight runs scored in his last four games... Sophomore shortstop Brian Friday is 13-of-21 (.619) recently with six doubles, 12 RBI, a home run, eight runs scored and three steals. Friday leads the team lead with 17 multiple-hit games, one game better than senior second baseman Greg Buchanan. Buchanan has a 10-game hitting streak and is also 10-for-his-last-20 (.500) with seven runs, a home run and double. Defensively, Buchanan has not made a fielding error in his last 99 chances in the field. Buchanan made only two errors in 175 total chances (.988) and he's turned or started 26 of the Owls' 35 double plays... Junior catcher Travis Reagan is 9-for-21 (.429) with base hits in seven of the last eight games... Freshman Aaron Luna is 6-for-13 (.462) recently with a home run, three doubles and four runs scored.
T.G.I.F.
Sophomore shortstop Brian Friday`s great start has been a boost to the team. Friday is hitting a team-best .382 with 41 runs scored in 41 games. A year ago, Friday the freshman hit .256 and he had an .876 fielding percentage. In 2006 Friday is hitting almost 130 points higher and his fielding has had a similar improvement. The Houston native had more doubles in last Saturday's win over Memphis than he did all last season... The standout from Bellaire Episcopal High School is hitting .512 in C-USA games with a .805 slugging percentage against the league.
Take A Closer Look
The Owls have nine losses, but a closer look at that figure is in order. Eight of the team's nine losses were to teams that made the NCAA Tournament a year ago. Seven are to teams that were ranked when Rice faced them and four of the losses are to the two most-recent NCAA champions... Four of the team's last five losses have all been by just one run. In those four one-run losses, the Owls surrendered the winning run in the opponents' final inning three times. Stop the rallies in the last four one-run losses and the Owls are suddenly 36-5 and winners of 23 of their last 24 games.
Consecutive Series Wins
Rice enters the Southern Miss games having won 29-consecutive regular season three-game weekend series at home at Reckling Park. The Owls have also won 22-straight home conference series, including two C-USA series this year. The last time Rice lost a three-game regular season series at home was a Western Athletic Conference set against Nevada in April of 2001, two-games-to-one... The Blue and Gray has won 13-consecutive conference series dating back to Mar 20, 2005, the first weekend of league play in the Western Athletic Conference last season.
Owls On Top Of The C-USA Standings
Rice is in sole possession of first place in Conference USA, one of the country's top baseball leagues. The Owls own a two-game lead over crosstown rival Houston (25-15 overall and 9-3 C-USA). Southern Miss (27-12, 5-4) is in third place and has not lost a league road game.
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.
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.
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.
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 390 strikeouts in 41 games, an average 9.65 per contest. The staff has fanned 10 or more hitters in a game 21 times. Six different pitchers have more strikeouts than innings pitched this season. Four Owls, Eddie Degerman, Joe Savery, Cole St.Clair and Craig Crow rank among the C-USA top 10 in strikeouts... Degerman fanned a team-best 11 in his start against Oklahoma (Feb. 17)... St.Clair has 72 K's in 46 innings of work, an average of 14.1 per nine innings... Crow struck out the side in his Division I debut against McNeese State (Feb. 7), 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.
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
This & That
Rice's record is five games ahead of team's record from the same point a year ago (27-14)... The Owls are 25-1 when out-hitting the opponent, 20-0 when holding the opposition to two or fewer runs and 16-0 when scoring in the first inning... Tuesday's game at Oklahoma was the second-longest of the season (3:36). The Owls went without a home run for the first time in 11 games... The team's streak of having a player gt hit by a pitch, however, was extended to 10-straight games, tying the 10-game HBP streak that began the season.
