Rice University
27-10
Lamar
22-15
Rice Baseball Team Slugs Lamar On The Road, 13-4
4/11/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
BEAUMONT, Tex. -- Every Rice starter collected a base hit by the fourth inning on the way to a season-high 20 hits, including a grand slam home run by junior first baseman Joe Savery, on the way to a convincing 13-4 road victory over Lamar Wednesday evening at Vincent-Beck Stadium in Beaumont.
Rice jumped on the scoreboard for eight early runs. In the first inning junior Tyler Henley knocked a two-out single into left field and was able to score easily on a triple to right-center by Savery. Savery then scored on Jordan Dodson's double to left-center and the Owls had two runs in the first inning of game for the first time since late February.
The Owls continued to apply the offensive pressure in the second inning to the tune of six more runs. Sophomore Jess Buenger led off with a double to the gap in left-center and he scored on a one-out hit to left by Adam Zornes. Brian Friday singled and Jared Gayhart walked to load the bases. With two away Savery blasted a 2-0 pitch over the outfield wall in left-center for his second home run of the season and the Owls' second grand slam of the year. With one swing of the bat the Blue & Gray doubled its run total for an 8-0 lead.
The Cardinals scored in the bottom of the second and added another run in the third on two hits and a walk. David Moore singled home Collin DeLome to cut the Rice lead to 8-2.
Rice came right back with three more in the top of the fourth. A walk and four hits, including three in a row, stretched the margin to 11-2. That was more than enough room for Rice starting pitcher Chris Kelley. The junior right-hander earned his first Rice win by allowing just one earned run on eight hits in 6.0 innings while striking out two.
Lamar scored two late runs off the Owl bullpen in the seventh. Rice junior J.P. Padron came off the bench to slug a two-run homer in the eighth that made the score 13-4. In only his third appearance of the season Rice reliever Cole St.Clair entered the game in the ninth inning and struck out four batters after a Lamar hitter advanced on a wild pitch.
The Owls improved to 27-10 on the season with the team's eighth win in a row. Lamar fell to 22-15 overall.
The road swing continues for Rice. The Owls next face crosstown rival Houston in a three-game Conference USA weekend series April 13-15 at UH's Cougar Field. Start times in the annual series for the Silver Glove Trophy are set for 7 pm on both Friday and Saturday. Sunday's series finale begins at 1 pm.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Kelley, Chris (1-2)
L: Needham, Brian (4-2)
Batting:
2B: Dodson, Jordan 1 ; Luna, Aaron 1 ; Buenger, Jess 1
3B: Savery, Joe 1
HR: Savery, Joe 1 ; Padron, J.P. 1
RBI: Gayhart, Jared 1 ; Savery, Joe 5 ; Dodson, Jordan 1 ; Luna, Aaron 1 ; Buenger, Jess 1 ; Seastrunk, Diego 1 ; Padron, J.P. 2 ; Zornes, Adam 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Friday, Brian 1 ; Gayhart, Jared 1 ; Henley, Tyler 1 ; Savery, Joe 2 ; Dodson, Jordan 2 ; Luna, Aaron 1 ; Buenger, Jess 3 ; Padron, J.P. 1 ; Zornes, Adam 1
HBP: Buenger, Jess 1
Batting:
2B: Vickers, Jeff 1
3B: DeLome, Collin 1
RBI: Moore, David 1 ; Vickers, Jeff 1
Base Running:
RUNS: DeLome, Collin 2 ; Prudhomme, Tylor 1 ; Vickers, Jeff 1
HBP: Hernandez, Dan 1
