Rice University
27-10, 11-4
Marshall
16-22, 6-9
Baseball Team Falls To Marshall 11-7 Sunday
4/19/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 19, 2009
HOUSTON -- The Rice baseball team built an early 4-0 lead, but visiting Marshall erupted for 11 runs late in the contest on the way to an 11-7 Conference USA win over the Owls in the finale of the three-game league series Sunday afternoon at Reckling Park in Houston.
Rice (27-10 overall) won the weekend series from the Thundering Herd two-games-to-one. The Owls remain in sole possession of first place in the C-USA standings with a 11-4 conference record.
The Blue & Gray opened the scoring in the bottom of the third inning and was in control in the early-going. Freshman Jeremy Rathjen drew a one-out walk and advanced to second on a ground out. He scored on Jimmy Comerota's RBI single through the left side for a 1-0 advantage.
Rice padded the margin by making the most of some walks for a three-run fourth. Michael Fuda led off with a triple and consecutive walks loaded the bases. Chad Mozingo delivered pinch-hit single to bring one run home. With the bases still loaded, Brock Holt walked to force-in another score and Comerota's sacrifice fly to right field plated one more to make it 4-0 after four.
Marshall got on the board for a run in the fifth then batted around to take the lead with a four-run sixth. The Owls had two outs in the sixth inning, but the Thundering Herd stayed alive due to a Rice error and turned the opportunity into three unearned runs and a new 5-4 lead.
Rice came right back and tied the game in the bottom of the inning. Steven Sultzbaugh was hit by a pitch and Ryan Lewis walked to put men on first and second. A sacrifice bunt by Holt and a another sac fly by Comerota quickly knotted it up at 5-5.
The Herd went back in front in the seventh, 7-5, on the strength of a two-run homer by designated hitter Victor Gomez. Gomez then hit a three-run homer in the eighth to cap a four-run frame that stretched the margin to 11-5.
The Blue & Gray was able to get two of the runs back in the bottom of the ninth. The highlight was a solo home run by freshman Anthony Rendon for his team-leading 12th longball of the season. With the blast Rendon moved into a tie for third place on the Rice list for most home runs by an Owl freshman. In just 37 games Rendon has already matched the dozen home runs hit by eventual major leaguer Bubba Crosby in his freshman year of 1996.
On the offensive side Fuda went 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored. Comerota finished the game tying his career-best with three RBI. The Owls drew a season-high 11 walks in the game.
Marshall improved to 16-22 on the season and 6-9 in conference. The Herd was able to stop a two-game losing streak after Rice posted the first two wins in the series on Friday and Saturday.
The Owls next face the University of Texas on the road on Tuesday, April 21. First pitch with the Longhorns is set for 6 pm in Austin. The game is Rice's last outing before the University's final exams period. The Owls then return to action a home game against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on April 29 at Reckling Park.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Austin Coan (3-3)
L: Evers, Matt (2-2)
Batting:
2B: Rhett Stafford 1 ; Eric Semeniuk 1
HR: Victor Gomez 2
RBI: Adam Yeager 1 ; Josh Valle 1 ; Victor Gomez 5 ; Rhett Stafford 1 ; Kevin Shackelford 1 ; Kenny Socorro 1
SH: Kevin Shackelford 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Adam Yeager 1 ; Ben Jurevicius 1 ; Josh Valle 2 ; Victor Gomez 3 ; Rhett Stafford 1 ; Brandon Casamassima 1 ; Eric Semeniuk 2
CS: Josh Valle 1
HBP: Ben Jurevicius 1 ; Eric Semeniuk 1
Batting:
3B: Fuda, Michael 1
HR: Rendon, Anthony 1
RBI: Holt, Brock 1 ; Comerota, Jimmy 3 ; Rendon, Anthony 1 ; Mozingo, Chad 1
SH: Holt, Brock 1
SF: Comerota, Jimmy 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Rendon, Anthony 1 ; Fuda, Michael 2 ; Gonzales-Luna, Daniel 1 ; Sultzbaugh, Steven 2 ; Rathjen, Jeremy 1
SB: Holt, Brock 1 ; Comerota, Jimmy 1 ; Gonzales-Luna, Daniel 1
CS: Gonzales-Luna, Daniel 1
HBP: Sultzbaugh, Steven 1
