Rice University Athletics
Owls Begin Four-Game Road Swing With LSU In Metairie, La.
5/16/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 15, 2006
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The number-one ranked Rice baseball team, 42-10 on the season and the 2006 Conference USA regular season champions with a 19-2 league record, begins a stretch of four-consecutive road games starting a midweek clash against 25th-ranked Louisiana State University (33-19) on Tuesday, May 16, in Metairie, La. The contest will be held at Zephyr Field (cap. 11,000), the home field of the Washington Nationals' AAA affiliate. First pitch between the Owls and Tigers is slated for 7:07 pm... After facing LSU, Rice will head to West Virginia May 18-20 for a three-game conference series against fellow C-USA newcomer Marshall. All game times with the Thundering Herd are slated for 1 pm central time.
11-Straight Conference Titles
Rice clinched the C-USA regular season championship in its previous game last Sunday (May 14) with a two-games-to-one series win over crosstown rival Houston at home at Reckling Park... The championship was the team's 11th in a row dating back to 1996. Rice won nine-straight Western Athletic Conference championships in baseball from 1997-2005, as well as the final Southwest Conference Tournament crown before that league disbanded (1996)... In addition to winning seven WAC regular season titles, Rice was also a perfect 12-0 in winning three WAC tournaments in 1997, 1998 and 1999... Due to a slight stagger in the 2006 C-USA schedule, Rice (19-2) has three more C-USA games left to play while Houston has finished its conference slate at 18-6. The worse Rice can do is finish its C-USA schedule at 19-5.
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.
This Week's Highest National Ranking: Owls Number One
For the first time this season, Rice is number one team in the country in five different college baseball polls. The latest poll to come on board and list Rice as the country's top team is Collegiate Baseball, which the publication did on May 14... Three organizations, Baseball America, the Sports Weekly/ESPN/ABCA and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association (NCBWA), had Rice as number one in each of the last three weeks... 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 fourth-straight week, the team's highest spot in that ranking since Feb. 16, 2004 when the squad was coming off the 2003 national championship... Rice is number one for a fourth-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
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 669-267 with the Owls (412-92 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 LSU is 6-2 (2-0 home, 4-0 away, 0-2 neutral). He is facing Marshall for the first time... 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. He added the C-USA championship in 2006.. 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 seven 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.
1,244 Wins
Wayne Graham owns 669 career wins at Rice, but he also has 1,244 victories in his collegiate coaching career. Graham's career record is 1,244-380 in a 25-year career that began at San Jacinto College in 1981.
Most Wins In The Country
Heading into the week, Rice is the national leader for having the most wins (42) of any college team in the country. North Carolina, Virginia and Winthrop are knocking at the door with 41 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 10 losses, but a closer look at that figure is in order. Eight of the team's 10 losses were to teams that made the NCAA Tournament a year ago. Eight 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 six 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 46-7 and winners of 33 of their last 35 games.
Probable Pitcher: Will McDaniel
Wayne Graham has announced Rice's starting pitcher for the LSU game as sophomore right-hander Will McDaniel. McDaniel is 6-1 with a 2.79 ERA in 48.1 innings this season. The Houston native has appeared in 141 games with eight starts. He's held 171 hitters to a combined .246 batting average. McDaniel started and won the Lamar game last week (May 10). He worked 5.1 innings an registered a career-high six strikeouts against the Cardinals. McDaniel has faced some of the nation's top programs, including Cal. State Fullerton, Tulane, Oklahoma, Baylor and Texas (twice).
Previous Game: Owls Claim C-USA Championship & Silver Glove Trophy
Sophomore designated hitter Joe Savery went 3-for-5 with a home run and double while tying a career-high with five RBI to pace the number one ranked Rice baseball team to a seven inning-shortened 13-3 win over crosstown rival Houston in front of 4,817 fans in the finale of the three-game Conference USA/Silver Glove Trophy series May 14 at Reckling Park. Not only did Rice win the Silver Glove Trophy for a sixth year in a row, the Owls clinched the regular season C-USA championship and the number one seed in the conference tournament beginning May 24 at Reckling Park... The league title was Rice's 11th-straight and the Owls' first as a new C-USA member. Rice also retained the coveted Silver Glove Trophy for the sixth-straight season... Eight Owls, including Savery (1b), Brian Friday (ss), Tyler Henley (of), Danny Lehmann (c), Aaron Luna (of), Josh Rodriguez (3b), Cole St.Clair (p) and Craig Crow (wild card) were named to the 2006 all-Silver Glove Series Team. Savery and Henley both .462 with identical 6-for-13 weekends. With an outstanding Sunday finale, Savery finished with two home runs and a double for a 1.000 slugging percentage... Houston made the game's first move to claim The Glove by jumping on the scoreboard in the top of the first inning. Isa Garcia hit a one-out double to right-center field and Matt Weston followed with a home run to right. It was Weston's third homer of the series and gave the Cougars a 2-0 lead... The Owls came right back and tied the game in the bottom of the inning with two runs on three hits. Senior Greg Buchanan drove the ball deep into the gap in right-center for a stand-up triple. He scored easily on a base hit by Friday that extended the sophomore's team-best hitting streak to 14-consecutive games. Friday moved to second on a ground out to the right side and he scored on a two-out base hit up the middle by Savery... Houston broke the tie with a run on three hits in the third. With runners on second and third, Weston knocked a one-out single into left. A run scored, but a throw and relay to the plate prevented another score and the Owls were able to work out of the jam... Rice rallied for the lead for good in the fourth. Rodriguez started it off with a single and Savery blasted his sixth home run of the year to give the Blue and Gray a 4-3 advantage. Luna doubled, Lehmann was hit by a pitch and Jordan Dodson and Travis Reagan singled to score one. A fielder's choice by Henley scored the fourth run of the inning to stretch the lead to 6-3...Friday led off the fifth with a solo home run to make the score 7-3. The Owls then exploded for five more in the bottom of the sixth on three hits, two walks and a hit batter. The big blow was a two-run double to left by Savery. Holding a 12-3 lead, Rice added one more score in the seventh to force C-USA's 10-run rule and end the game... Junior pitcher Craig Crow entered the game in relief of Savery and fired 4.1 scoreless innings for his sixth win of the season. He scattered three hits and did not allow a walk while striking out four.
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.
31-Consecutive Home Series Wins
By winning two-of-three from Houston, Rice has won 31-consecutive regular season three-game weekend series at home at Reckling Park. Twenty of the 31 series wins have been 3-0 sweeps. The Owls have also won 24-straight home conference series, including four 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 16-consecutive conference series dating back to Mar 20, 2005, the first weekend of league play in the Western Athletic Conference that year.
C-USA Win Streak Snapped At 17 Games In A Row
Rice had won 17 C-USA games in a row until a loss against Houston in the series-opener May 12. The Owls lost their conference opener to East Carolina, 4-3 at home on Mar. 24, but bounced back to win 17-straight 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.
24-of-26
Rice has won 24-of-26 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 18-for-38 (.474) with 10 walks in his last 11 games for a team-leading .622 on-base percentage. He went 3-for-9 against Houston... Sophomore shortstop Brian Friday is 30-of-63 (.476) the last 16 games with 20 RBI, 20 runs scored, 10 doubles, two home runs and seven steals. Friday is batting an eye-opening .468 in C-USA games with a .533 on-base percentage in league play. He has nine doubles in conference games... Freshman Aaron Luna is 19-for-49 (.388) in the last 16 games with five home runs and six doubles for a .832 slugging percentage. He's driven in 12 runs and scored 10 times in that span... Steady as ever, senior second baseman Greg Buchanan`s recent 24-for-70 pace (.343) almost matches his batting average for his full season (.351). He leads the squad in sacrifice bunts (8) and is second in hitting, multi-hit games (20) and third in runs scored (48). Defensively, Buchanan has not made a fielding error in his last 174 chances in the field. Buchanan made only two errors in 229 total chances (.991) and he's turned or started 36 of the Owls' 49 double plays... Sophomore Joe Savery is 21-for-49 (.429) recently with a .727 slugging percentage and .512 on-base percentage. He's driven in 19 runs and scored eight times in that span. On May 15 he was named the C-USA Hitter of the Week by the league office.
The C-USA Coaches Got It Right!
Rice was the unanimous pick of the league's nine head baseball coaches to win the 2006 conference title. Rice baseball competed in C-USA for the first time in 2006 but the Owls' reputation preceded them. How about a tip of the cap to the C-USA coaches, they had the top team right on the nose.
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)
p> 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 (.387), runs scored (52), doubles (19), total bases (111), on-base percentage (.459) and steals (14). 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 .468 in C-USA games with a .753 slugging percentage against the league.
The "K" Train
Rice pitchers have registered a total of 478 strikeouts in 52 games, an average 9.3 per contest. The staff has fanned 10 or more hitters in a game 24 times. Four 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 84 K's in 57 innings of work, an average of 13.3 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.
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
27,134
There were 27,134 fans in attendance at Minute Maid Park for the Owls' Feb. 11 game against 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.
This & That
Rice's record is six games ahead of team's record from the same point a year ago (36-16). The 2006 team has almost passed the the 45-win total of the in 2005 team that was four outs away from going to the College World Series... The Owls are 34-2 when out-hitting the opponent, 25-0 when holding the opposition to two or fewer runs and 21-0 when scoring in the first inning... Rice already has more steals (59) and stolen base attempts (84) than in either of the past two full seasons... The three-game total of 13,736 fans to see the Rice-Houston series was the largest three-game series attendance total in Reckling Park history... Rice has 17 saves this season, tied for the second-highest total in school history.
