Rice University
27-9, 11-3
Marshall
15-22, 5-9
Rice Baseball Team Powers Past Marshall 10-3
4/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 18, 2009
HOUSTON -- Shortstop Rice Hague hit two of the Rice baseball team's six home runs on the night to help lead the Owls to a 10-3 win over visiting Marshall in the second game of a three-game Conference USA series Saturday night at Reckling Park in Houston.
Not only did Saturday's six round-trippers snap a season-long four-game drought where the team did not hit any home runs, it was the most by an Owl squad since clubbing six against Memphis in the 2007 C-USA Tournament. Hague knocked two out while Michael Fuda, Brock Holt, Anthony Rendon and Steven Sultzbaugh all got into the act with homers of their own in an 11-hit night.
Before Rice hit the power switch, Marshall charged in front on the scoreboard in the top of the first inning. Adam Yeager drew a leadoff walk and advanced to third base on Ben Jurevicius' bouncing single into left field. The Owls turned a 6-4-3 double-play on the next batter, but Yeager scored on the play for an early 1-0 lead.
Rice tied the game in the bottom of the frame. Holt walked to start it off and stole second to move into scoring position. He came home on a two-out single by Diego Seastrunk to knot-it-up 1-1.
The Owls used the longball in the next inning for a four-run second. Jeremy Rathjen led off with a walk and scored on a Sultzbaugh shot to left. Holt then singled and scored on a similar blast to left by Hague. Sultzbaugh's fourth homer of the season, and Hague's sixth, stretched the Owl lead to 5-1.
Rice kept the home runs coming. In the fourth, Hague and Rendon connected for back-to-back blasts out of the park to make the score 7-1. The Thundering Herd scored one in the fifth to make it 7-2 after Kenny Socorro's leadoff triple and Yeager's sacrifice fly.
The Blue Gray, however, countered with solo home runs by Fuda in the bottom of the fifth and then one by Holt to start the sixth. Holt's round-tripper extended the Owl lead to 9-2. Six of Rice's first nine hits in the game were home runs. With Rice still batting in the sixth, Marshall walked the bases loaded before walking-in the team's tenth and final run of the night. The Herd fought for a run in the top of the eighth on an RBI single by Alfredo Brito that made the score 10-3.
With the homers flying out at a steady rate, junior starter Mike Ojala needed only 5.0 innings to earn his third win of the season without a loss. Ojala allowed two earned runs on three hits and registered one strikeout. He was relieved by freshman Andrew Benak, who went 3.0 innings for the third-longest outing of his collegiate career. Junior Jared Rogers pitched a scoreless ninth to finish off the victory.
Rice improved to 27-9 overall and 11-3 in conference play. Marshall is now 15-22 on the season and 5-9 in C-USA. The league series concludes Sunday (April 19) at Reckling Park. First pitch is set for 12 noon.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Ojala, Mike (3-0)
L: Greg Williams (1-3)
Batting:
2B: Rhett Stafford 2
3B: Kenny Socorro 1
RBI: Adam Yeager 1 ; Alfredo Brito 1
SF: Adam Yeager 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Adam Yeager 1 ; Josh Valle 1 ; Kenny Socorro 1
Batting:
2B: Holt, Brock 1
HR: Holt, Brock 1 ; Hague, Rick 2 ; Rendon, Anthony 1 ; Fuda, Michael 1 ; Sultzbaugh, Steven 1
RBI: Holt, Brock 1 ; Hague, Rick 3 ; Rendon, Anthony 1 ; Seastrunk, Diego 1 ; Fuda, Michael 2 ; Sultzbaugh, Steven 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Holt, Brock 3 ; Hague, Rick 2 ; Rendon, Anthony 2 ; Fuda, Michael 1 ; Rathjen, Jeremy 1 ; Sultzbaugh, Steven 1
SB: Holt, Brock 2 ; Fuda, Michael 1 ; Rathjen, Jeremy 1
CS: Holt, Brock 1
