Rice University
14-5, 2-0
Southern Miss
12-8, 0-2
Baseball Team Tops Southern Miss 16-4
3/21/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 21, 2009
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- The fourth-ranked Rice baseball team tied a season with 16 hits, including two home runs by freshman Anthony Rendon as part of a four-homer afternoon by the Blue & Gray, to pace the Owls to a 16-4 road win over Southern Miss in the middle game of a three-game weekend series Saturday afternoon at Pete Taylor Park in Hattiesburg, Miss.
The game was an offensive slugfest by both teams in the early-going. Rice put two runs on the board in the top of the first inning after a two-out bases-loaded hit by freshman Craig Manuel. Southern Miss answered with three runs on a pair of hits and an Owl fielding error to take the lead in its first time at bat.
Rice responded with a big five-run second inning that was highlighted by two Owl home runs. Junior Jimmy Comerota blasted a one-out solo shot to left field for his first career round-tripper. Consecutive singles by Brock Holt, Chad Mozingo and Diego Seastrunk scored one and left two men on for sophomore shortstop Rick Hague. Hague connected on a pitch for a three-run homer to left field that stretched the margin to 7-3. Hague's homer was his fourth of the season and the 12th of his career.
The Owls used the longball to add two more runs in the fourth. Mozingo walked and Rendon knocked the ball over the left field wall to make the score 9-3. The Golden Eagles got one of the runs back in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single by Taylor Walker that made it 9-4.
Rice didn't relax on its five-run lead and exploded for seven more runs on seven hits and an USM error in its final at bat in the top of the ninth. The big blows were Rendon's second homer of the game and his seventh longball of the young season. He finished the conference game with four RBI on the two blasts.
Seven Owls had two or more hits in the team's fourth-straight game. Hague went 3-for-5 with a homer and double for three RBI. Five players had two-or-more RBI to help Rice improve to 14-5 overall and 2-0 league action.
Junior right-hander Ryan Berry started on the mound for Rice and earned his fourth win of the season with 5.0 innings of work. He allowed three earned runs on seven singles and a pair of walks, but left while holding the comfortable 9-4 lead. Sophomore Matt Evers pitched scoreless frame in the sixth and freshman Matthew Reckling fired three hitless innings for the first save of his collegiate career. Almost lost in the offensive barrage was that the Owls turned a season-high four double plays, giving the squad a total of nine twin-killings in the first the last three wins.
Southern Miss fell to 12-8 overall and 0-2 in conference. The finale of the three-game C-USA weekend series is set for 1 pm Sunday. The game will be broadcast live around he world on the Internet at RiceOwls.com.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Berry, Ryan (4-0)
L: Kyle Lindsey (2-1)
S: Reckling, Matthew (1)
Batting:
2B: Holt, Brock 1 ; Hague, Rick 1
HR: Rendon, Anthony 2 ; Hague, Rick 1 ; Comerota, Jimmy 1
RBI: Holt, Brock 1 ; Seastrunk, Diego 2 ; Rendon, Anthony 4 ; Hague, Rick 3 ; Manuel, Craig 3 ; Comerota, Jimmy 2
SH: Rathjen, Jeremy 1
SF: Seastrunk, Diego 1 ; Comerota, Jimmy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Holt, Brock 3 ; Mozingo, Chad 3 ; Seastrunk, Diego 1 ; Rendon, Anthony 3 ; Hague, Rick 2 ; Manuel, Craig 1 ; Sultzbaugh, Steven 1 ; Comerota, Jimmy 2
SB: Mozingo, Chad 1
CS: Rendon, Anthony 1
HBP: Hague, Rick 1
Batting:
RBI: Taylor Walker 1 ; Brian Dozier 1 ; Joey Archer 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Taylor Walker 1 ; Kameron Brunty 1 ; Brian Dozier 1 ; Kyle Maxie 1
SB: Kyle Maxie 1
CS: Taylor Walker 1
HBP: Adam Doleac 1
