Rice University
1-0
Central Missouri St.
0-1
Owls Shut Out Central Missouri 5-0 On Opening Day
2/3/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 3, 2007
HOUSTON -- Five Rice pitchers combined to hold Central Missouri to no runs on three hits, and sophomore catcher Adam Zornes gave the No. 1 ranked Owls all the offense the team would need with a two-run first inning homer on the way to a 5-0 victory on the opening day of the season for both teams Saturday afternoon at Reckling Park.
Zornes quickly gave Rice the lead with a two-run homer to left in the bottom of the first inning. The standout from nearby Saint Thomas High School also laced a double down the left field line in the fifth inning to finish the season-opener a pair of hits, two RBI and a run scored.
That was all the offense the Blue & Gray would need as pitchers Ryan Berry, Chris Kelley, Kyle Gunderson, Bobby Bramhall and junior starter Joe Savery held the Mules to just three singles with three walks while combining for 10 strikeouts. Starting on the mound on opening day for the third time in three years, Savery was sharp in a predetermined two innings of work. He surrendered a leadoff base hit, but started a successful 1-6-3 double play on the next batter and retired the next four in a row before giving way to Berry.
Berry, a feshman from Humble, fired three scoreless frames with two strikeouts in his NCAA debut. Kelley, a junior transfer from San Jacinto College, fanned three in 2.0 innings in his first appearance. Gunderson and Bramhall both recorded two strikeouts in their respective innings in the eighth and ninth.
Rice added two more runs to its 2-0 lead in the fourth. Savery, who also served as the designated hitter, was hit by a pitch and moved from first to third on a single to right by Danny Lehmann. Savery scored on a sacrifice fly by Jordan Dodson and Lehman came home on a wild pitch to stretch the margin to 4-0. The Owls opportunistically added a run on an CMU error, a walk and a base hit in the eighth for a 5-0 final.
The Owls won their season-opener for the seventh year in a row. Rice is 14-2 in its season-openers and 15-1 in its home-openers under head coach Wayne Graham. Central Missouri, an NCAA Division II power that went 44-16 a year ago, is 0-1 on the season. The Mules meet Texas A&M-Kingsville Sunday at Reckling Park at 11 am.
Rice next plays on the road at Texas State on Tuesday, Feb. 6. First pitch with the Bobcats is slated for 6:30 pm in San Marcos.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Savery, Joe (1-0)
L: Jarod Potts (0-1)
Batting:
SH: Chris Brown 1
Base Running:
CS: Iain Dykins 1
Batting:
2B: Friday, Brian 1 ; Zornes, Adam 1
HR: Zornes, Adam 1
RBI: Zornes, Adam 2 ; Dodson, Jordan 1 ; Myers, Derek 1
SH: Lehmann, Danny 1
SF: Dodson, Jordan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Friday, Brian 1 ; Zornes, Adam 1 ; Savery, Joe 2 ; Lehmann, Danny 1
SB: Myers, Derek 1
HBP: Savery, Joe 1
PO: Dodson, Jordan 1
