Rice University Athletics
Owls Host Houston In Silver Glove Showdown This Weekend
5/12/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 11, 2006
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The number-one ranked Rice baseball team, 40-9 on the season and in sole possession of first place in Conference USA with a 17-1 league record, hosts crosstown rival Houston in a three-game C-USA home weekend series May 12-14 at Reckling Park. The start times with the Cougars (34-17, 17-4) are 7 pm on Friday, 2 pm Saturday and 1 pm Sunday... Like the big rivalries in college football, the city of Houston's top two college baseball programs play for a special prize (the Silver Glove Trophy) as part of their annual series. Rice has won seven of the eight series with Houston since play for The Glove began in 1998. The Owls won the trophy in its first two years and have held the hardware now for five years in a row (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005).
C-USA Title On The Line At Reckling Park
As if the showdown for The Silver Glove wasn't enough, the 2006 edition has a wealth of added drama. This year's series features two teams ranked in the Top 15 in the country and 1-2 in the current C-USA standings, going head-to-head for the league's regular season championship in the final part of the season... Rice leads Houston by 1.5 games heading into the weekend. Due to a slight stagger in the league's schedule, Rice has six C-USA games left to play and UH has only the three against the Blue and Gray... There are a myriad of scenarios that could determine the league champion, but the quickest for Rice is that the Owls win two games from UH. If Houston doesn't sweep all three games, the Cougars must await the outcome of Rice's series against Marshall next weekend.
Broadcast Information
Every Rice baseball game for the remainder of the season is slated for a live radio broadcast in the Houston area on KTRU (91.7 FM). Rice athletics is also broadcast live around the world on the Internet at www.KTRU.org. A direct link to the audio feed is provided on the baseball schedule page of RiceOwls.com. Mike Pede, Bill Cousins, Matt McCabe, Dan Perez and Ryan Black are mic-side for the baseball action this season.
All Remaining Home Games Slated To Appear On OwlVision
Every remaining game at Reckling Park is scheduled for an OwlVision broadcast. OwlVision is a subscription-based service that 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 at the link listed at the top of this page. This year all the C-USA home series appeared on OwlVision and now loyal fans can get even more. With the C-USA Tournament at Reckling Park only a few weeks away, the Rice Marketing Dept. has announced all tournament games will be broadcast on OwlVision.
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 667-266 with the Owls (410-91 at home, 200-141 in road games and 57-34 at neutral sites). His overall winning percentage is .715, the best in school history. Another way of looking at Graham's .715 win percentage is that it is the equivalent of a major league team winning 116 games in a single year... Graham's record against Houston is 47-21 (26-6 home, 21-15 away)... 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 six 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.
1,242 Wins
Wayne Graham owns 667 career wins at Rice, but he also has 1,242 victories in his collegiate coaching career. Graham's career record is 1,242-379 in a 25-year career that began at San Jacinto College in 1981.
This Week's Highest National Ranking: Number One In Three Polls
Rice was idle the previous weekend due to exams but remained the number one team in the country in three different college baseball polls for a second-consecutive week, including Baseball America, the Sports Weekly/ESPN/ABCA and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association (NCBWA) polls... The Owls were tabbed as the nation's top team by the NCBWA on Feb. 27 and remained there until Mar. 13. Rice regained the NCBWA's top spot on Apr. 17... Rice is number one in the Sports Weekly/ESPN/ABCA poll for a third-straight week, the team's highest spot in that ranking since Feb. 16, 2004 when the squad was coming off the 2003 national championship... The Owls are third in Collegiate Baseball... Rice is number one for a third-straight week according to the Internet site The Rosenblatt Report. 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
Most Wins In The Country
Heading into the weekend, Rice shares the national lead for having the most wins (40) of any college team in the country. Only North Carolina has matched Rice's 40 victories.
12-Straight Seasons With 40 Wins
The Owls have clinched their 12th-straight 40-win season. Rice has won at least 42 games a year in every season since 1995. The team has won at least 45 games in eight of the last nine campaigns.
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... Consider that 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 44-5 and winners of 31 of their last 32 games.
Rice Rotation: Degerman, Bell & TBA
Wayne Graham has announced the Rice pitching rotation for the weekend as senior Eddie Degerman (rhp) on Friday and sophomore Bobby Bell (rhp) on Saturday. Sunday's starter will be announced at a later time... Degerman has backed up his pre-season all-America accolades with some eye-opening results. He is 9-0 with a 1.18 ERA. Degerman has been the starting pitcher for 10 of the Owls' 11 games played on Friday. This year the veteran right-hander has already defeated Nebraska, Oklahoma and Tulane. He has allowed an average of 5.2 hits and 3.2 walks with 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings of work. The standout from Granada Hills, Calif., has held 295 batters faced to a composite .163 batting average. In his previous start at UCF he allowed just three hits and struck out nine, but was lifted after 7.0 innings of work and the scored tied 0-0. Degerman has reached double-digit strikeouts five times this season and eight times while at Rice. In his college career, Degerman is 18-2 with a 2.37 ERA and 267 strikeouts in 209 innings. He moved into sole possession of 10th place on Rice's all-time list for career strikeouts... Sophomore right-hander Bobby Bell has moved into a weekend starter's role with aplomb. Bell has battled back from an injury early in the season to compile an undefeated 6-0 record and a 2.77 ERA in 48.2 innings of work. The Aledo, Texas, native stretched his career record to a perfect 10-0 dating back to his freshman season a year ago. He has made 12 appearances, including seven starts, and held 178 hitters to a combined .236 batting average. This year Bell owns wins over Cal State Fullerton, Southern Miss and UCF. When first coming back from an injury that held him out three weeks, he began in the bullpen and contributed to the team by notching saves over East Carolina, and Tulane and Texas A&M on the road. Bell has outstanding control, allowing just 2.8 walks with 8.3 strikeouts per 9.0 innings this season. He worked a season-long 7.2 innings in a win at UCF. Bell struck out a season-high seven in a C-USA start at Memphis, but left after 5.0 innings with the Owls holding a comfortable 19-2 lead. He made three starts against Houston in his freshman season.
Series History
In 133 games played since the first meeting between the two schools in 1948, Rice leads the all-time series with Houston by a 68-65 margin. The teams became Southwest Conference rivals when UH joined that league in the 1970s. The teams are now conference foes again and meet as league opponents for the first time since 1996.
The 2005 Silver Glove Revisited
Last season the Owls won the first four games of the Silver Glove series (and had a total of six in a row dating back to 2004), but could not close out a sweep of the Cougars. Rice dropped game five, 3-2, after rallying from a two-run deficit. The Blue and Gray found a silver lining in that eight Owls were named to the all-series team, including Greg Buchanan as the most outstanding player. The infielder from Clear Brook High School in nearby Friendswood batted .391 for the five games with a pair of doubles and three runs scored. Buchanan was joined by teammates Lance Pendleton (p), Bobby Bell (p), Danny Lehmann (c), Josh Rodriguez (ss), Tyler Henley (of), Adam Hale (of) and Joe Savery (wild card) on the all-series team... It was the Owls' first loss to Houston in seven games and only the second defeat in the last 11 meetings dating back to the 2003 NCAA Super Regional. The dramatic 2005 series featured a total of six runs separating the two teams for five games. Two of the contests went extra innings and the finale came down to the bottom of the ninth.
Five Owls Earn Academic All-District Honors
Senior pitcher Eddie Degerman's selection to the all-District VI first team highlighted a list of five Rice Owls who earned 2006 ESPN The Magazine all-district academic honors for baseball, the national Collegiate Sports Information Directors Association (CoSIDA) announced on May 11... Degerman was named to the all-District VI academic first team while junior Craig Crow and sophomores Brian Friday, Tyler Henley and Joe Savery earned second team honors. This season on the pitcher's mound Degerman is 9-0 with a 1.18 earned run average, registering 111 strikeouts in 83.2 innings of work. The standout from Granada Hills, Calif., has been just as successful in the classroom, juggling baseball and the books to maintain a 3.37 grade point average as an Economics major. Degerman and all the first team all-district honorees from across the country are now eligible for consideration for national academic all-America, to be determined by sports information directors later this month... CoSIDA's district VI encompasses all Division I schools in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. The Owls' second team honorees also had successful seasons in the classroom. Crow (3.69 GPA, English & Economics), Henley (3.30, Economics & Managerial Studies), Friday (3.28 Economics) and Savery (3.20, Kinesiology & Managerial Studies) make Rice the school with the most honorees in District VI.
Previous Game: No Signs Of Rust As Owls Top Lamar 11-2 Wednesday Night
Rice slugged 16 hits, highlighted by a 4-for-4 day from Tyler Henley, three-hits by Josh Rodriguez and a solid dual hitting/pitching performance by Joe Savery to pace the Owls to an 11-2 victory over visiting Lamar Wednesday evening at Reckling Park... Rice broke a 5-2 game wide open with six runs in the seventh. The Blue & Gray sent 10 men to the plate behind five hits, a hit batter and Cardinal fielding error. Even with a big lead late, Rice fans were still cheering in the ninth inning. That's when, after a 3-for-5 night at the plate with a triple and three RBI, Savery moved from first base to the pitcher's mound for the first time since March 26. The left-hander served notice in his pitching return, striking out each of the three batters he faced to end the game... Rice jumped on the scoreboard for a run in the bottom of the first inning. Sophomore Brian Friday led off with a double down the right field line for his team-leading 19th of the season. He advanced to third on a ground out to the right side and scored on a base hit up the middle by Rodriguez... The Owls added a run in the third and two more in the fourth. Henley was hit by a pitch to lead off the third and he moved into scoring position on sacrifice bunt by Friday. He took third on ground out and came home on Savery's two-out single into center. In the fourth Adam Zornes drew a leadoff walk and Aaron Luna sacrificed him to second. Zornes scored on a single to right by Danny Lehmann. Henley followed with another base hit to right to get Lehmann to second and a two-out single by Savery added another to stretch the margin to 4-0... The Cardinals came right back with two runs in the top of the fifth. Rice got a run back in the sixth after a Henley double and consecutive sacrifice bunts. The Owls were sharp offensively despite taking nine days off for final exams. Not only did the team club 16 hits, but also execute a season-high four sacrifice attempts... Sophomore starting pitcher Will McDaniel was effective in holding a 31-win Lamar team to just two runs on six hits. He worked 5.1 innings and struck out a career-high six to improve his season record to 6-1. The relief trio of Bobby Bramhall, Craig Crow and Savery combined to hold the Cardinals to no runs on three hits with seven strikeouts for the final 3.2 frames.
C-USA Win Streak At 14 Games In A Row
Rice has won 17 C-USA games in a row. The Owls lost their conference opener to East Carolina, 4-3 at home on Mar. 24, but have bounced back to win every league game since then. The last time Rice won 17 conference games in a row was over a span of two different seasons. The Owls won their last seven Western Athletic Conference games in 2002 and their first 12 WAC games of 2003 for a total of 19 consecutive league wins.
22-of-23
Rice has won 22-of-23 games dating back to March 25. The Owls have hit 99 points better than their opponents during the stretch (.325 to .226) and averaged 7.7 runs per game.
Here's Who's Hot
Junior Josh Rodriguez is 15-for-29 (.517) with eight walks in his last eight games for a team-leading .622 on-base percentage. He went 3-for-3 against Lamar Wednesday... Sophomore shortstop Brian Friday is 25-of-52 (.481) the last 13 games with 16 RBI, 16 runs scored, 10 doubles, a home run and six steals. Friday is batting an eye-opening .470 in C-USA games with a .532 on-base percentage in league play. His nine doubles in conference games make up for one-fourth of the Owls' C-USA season total (36)... Freshman Aaron Luna is 16-for-39 (.410) in the last 13 games with five home runs and five doubles for a .947 slugging percentage. He's driven in 11 runs and scored eight times in that span... Steady as ever, senior second baseman Greg Buchanan `s recent 21-for-58 pace (.362) almost matches his batting average for his full season (.357). He leads the squad in sacrifice bunts (8) and is second in hitting, multi-hit games (19) and third in runs scored (45). Defensively, Buchanan has not made a fielding error in his last 159 chances in the field. Buchanan made only two errors in 214 total chances (.991) and he's turned or started 33 of the Owls' 45 double plays... Sophomore Joe Savery is 15-for-36 (.417) recently with a .639 slugging percentage and .475 on-base percentage. He's driven in 13 runs and scored six times in that span.
30-Consecutive Home Series Wins
With the sweep of Southern Miss on Apr. 23, Rice has won 30-consecutive regular season three-game weekend series at home at Reckling Park. Twenty of the 30 series wins have been 3-0 sweeps. The Owls have also won 23-straight home conference series, including three in C-USA this year and 16 by a three-games-to-none margin... 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... Overall Rice has won 15-consecutive conference series dating back to Mar 20, 2005, the first weekend of league play in the WAC that year.
Freshman Homers
Freshman Aaron Luna hit his team-leading 11th home run of the season in the series finale against UCF (Apr. 30), putting him in the neighborhood of some elite Owl sluggers in their freshman year. The top two frosh home run leaders, Jose Cruz, Jr. , and Bubba Crosby, ended up being first round picks in the respective major league drafts and both reached the big leagues. Both, like Luna, were true freshman. Vincent Sinisi was a redshirt freshman when he hit 11 round-trippers in 2002. Here's the list of Rice's freshman home run leaders.
Frosh HR Leaders
1. Jose Cruz, Jr. , 1993 -- 13
2. Bubba Crosby, 1996 -- 12
t 3. Vincent Sinisi, 2002 -- 11
t 3. Aaron Luna, 2006 -- 11
T.G.I.F.
Sophomore shortstop Brian Friday`s great season has been a sensational boost to the team. Friday is leading the team in hitting (.383), runs scored (48), doubles (19), total bases (101), on-base percentage (.455) and steals (13). There have been only five games this season where Friday hasn't had a hit. 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 the April 15 win over Memphis (4) than he did all last season... The standout from Bellaire Episcopal High School is hitting .470 in C-USA games with a .727 slugging percentage against the league.
The "K" Train
Rice pitchers have registered a total of 460 strikeouts in 49 games, an average 9.5 per contest. The staff has fanned 10 or more hitters in a game 24 times. Five pitchers have more strikeouts than innings pitched this season. Three Owls, Eddie Degerman, 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) and matched the feat against East Carolina (Mar. 24)... St.Clair has 81 K's in 53 innings of work, an average of 13.8 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.
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.
St.Clair Joins Degerman & Savery On Clemens Watch List
Sophomore Cole St.Clair has been added to the official watch list for the 2006 Roger Clemens Award as the top pitcher in college baseball, the award's organizers announced May 4. St.Clair joins his teammates Eddie Degerman and Joe Savery on the elite list of candidates across the nation vying for the top honor bestowed on a college pitcher... St.Clair has followed up the success he had a year ago (when he was named a freshman all-America) with an equally impressive sophomore season. The left-hander from Santa Ana, Calif., has come out of the Owls' bullpen to earn eight saves, compile a 5-2 record and maintain a 1.70 ERA in 53 innings of work. He ranks second among the NCAA leaders in strikeouts per nine innings (13.8 pg) and is 17th in the country in ERA. St.Clair leads C-USA in appearances (28) and he has the lowest opponents' batting average (.144) of any pitcher in the league. Five of his saves have been in C-USA games, helping the Owls stay in sole possession of first place in the league standings. His ERA in C-USA games is 0.46... The trio of St.Clair, Savery and Degerman have helped the Owls to a 40-9 record and the number one ranking in the country. As a pitcher Savery is 4-1 with a 1.68 ERA. He ranks 16th in the nation in ERA and has held 175 batters faced to a combined .229 average. Savery has averaged 6.0 innings in eight starts and 8.9 strikeouts per nine innings... 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... 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.
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.
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
