Rice University Athletics
Owls Return To Action Wednesday Night
With Home Game vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
4/28/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 28, 2009
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The Rice baseball team, 28-10 overall and in sole possession of first place in Conference USA standings with an 11-4 league record, returns to action against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Wednesday (April 29) at Reckling Park. First pitch with the Islanders is set for 6:30 pm. The contest is the Owls' first game since defeating nationally-ranked Texas by a score of 7-4 in Austin on April 21. The Blue & Gray was off last week while Rice University was in its final exams period for the spring semester.
Owls Play at U.H. This Weekend; First Two Games To Be Broadcast By CBS College Sports
The Owls play at crosstown rival Houston this weekend (May 1-3). Not only are the games part of the C-USA regular season slate, they are also the final three installments of the annual best-of-five meetings for the Silver Glove Trophy. Game times at Cougar Field are set for 6 pm on Friday and Saturday, and 1 pm on Sunday. As if that is not big enough CBS College Sports, a broadcasting leader in televising collegiate sports across the country, will air the games against Houston on both Friday and Saturday. Broadcasters Carter Blackburn (play-by-play) and former Houston Astros star Morgan Ensberg (commentary) will call the action.
Easy Links
This week's schedule with easy-links to the live stats/audio features is as follows.
Apr. 29 (Wed.), 6:30 pm, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at Rice
Watch the game live on OwlVision
KTRU Radio (91.7 FM) Listen Here
May 1 (Fri.), 6 pm, Rice at Houston
Watch the game live on OwlVision
KTRU Radio (91.7 FM) Listen Here
May 2 (Sat.), 6 pm, Rice at Houston
Watch the game live on OwlVision
KTRU Radio (91.7 FM) Listen Here
May 3 (Sun.), 6 pm, Rice at Houston
Watch the game live on OwlVision
KTRU Radio (91.7 FM) Listen Here
Audio Broadcasts • Catch The Owls On KTRU The Rest of the Season
Note that every Rice baseball game for the rest of the season will be broadcast live on the radio in the Houston area on KTRU (91.7 FM). Every Rice baseball game is also broadcast live around the world on the Internet at RiceOwls.com and KTRU.org. A direct connection to the audio feed is provided at the above link. David Saltzman will broadcast Wednesday's game against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. J.P. Heath has the call the rest of the way.
Live Stats On GameTracker
Live play-by-play text and statistics from every Rice game will be posted on RiceOwls.com. Look for the GameTracker links on either the Rice Athletics front page, the weekly series preview or the baseball schedule page.
National Ranking Update • Rice No. 2 by Rivals.com, Baseball America
At press time the latest polls from Rivals.com and Baseball America both had the Owls as the No. 2 team in the nation. Six different polls all have Rice in the Top 6. The 2009 national ranking roll call is as follows....
Rivals.com 2nd
Baseball America 2nd
NCBWA 3rd
PingBaseball.com 3rd
USA Today/ESPN Coaches 4th
PG Crosschecker.com 6th
Collegiate Baseball 8th
Why so high? The polls are paying attention, that's why. Rice is 9-2 against ranked teams, including five wins against foes that were in the Top 10 at the time. Two wins were against teams that were rated No. 1 in the nation at the time (Texas A&M and Texas). The Owls have also defeated a host of quality opponents that played in the NCAA Tournament last season - Texas (twice), East Carolina (twice), Houston (twice), Dallas Baptist (twice), Southern Miss (twice) and UCLA... A closer look at the team's 10 losses is also in order. Two of the losses were on the road on the opening weekend of the season against a Cal Poly team that is now ranked among the nation's Top 25 teams. Three other losses were to nationally-ranked Texas A&M, San Diego and East Carolina, and another two were to '08 NCAA Tournament teams Oral Roberts and Sam Houston State. Four of the team's losses were by a narrow two (or-fewer) runs.
Head Coach Wayne Graham
Four-time national coach of the year and Texas Sports Hall of Fame inductee Wayne Graham (Texas, 1970) is in his 18th season at Rice... In the 4-3 win over Southern Miss in Hattiesburg on March 20th, Coach Graham reached another career milestone. He won his 800th game at the helm of the Rice program... He is now 815-309 with the Owls (498-106 at home, 244-158 in road games and 73-45 at neutral sites). His Rice winning percentage is .725, the best in school history. Another way of looking at Graham's .725 win percentage is that it is the equivalent of a major league team winning 117 games in a single year - then winning 117 games a year for 17+ years in a row... Graham's record against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is 8-0 (4-0 home, 4-0 road. His record against Houston is 58-24 (34-7 home, 24-17 road)... Under Graham, the Owls clinched another postseason bid in 2008, making 14-straight seasons for Rice to earn an NCAA appearance. The 2003 bid culminated with the Owls' first national championship. Rice played in the 1994-95-96 Southwest Conference tournaments (winning the final league title in '96), won the 1997-98-99 WAC tournaments, shared the 2000 WAC title with San Jose State before winning the 2001-02-03-04-05 titles outright. He won the C-USA regular season crowns in 2006, 2007 and 2008, as well as the C-USA tournament championships in `06 and `07. Rice has advanced into the NCAA tournament in 1995-96-97-98-99-00-01-02-03-04-05-06-07-08... Graham was named the WAC Coach of the Year in 1998, '99, '02 and the Co-Coach of the Year in '03. He was named the Keith LeClair C-USA Coach of the Year in `06, his first year in the league, and again in `07 and `08... Rice has seven appearances in the NCAA College World Series under Graham (1997, '99, `02, `03, `06, `07, `08)... Graham has led the Owls to number-one rankings for seven weeks during the 1999 season, for six weeks during the '01 campaign, two weeks in '02, six weeks in 2003 (the last of which established some staying power), three weeks in 2004, 12 weeks in 2006 and five weeks in `07... Graham's San Jacinto Gators dominated the NJCAA World Series in Grand Junction, Colo., in the 1980s, winning five national titles in six years (1985-86-87, 89-90)... The Austin American-Statesman named Graham its SWC Coach of the Year in '95 after he led the Owls to their first NCAA tournament appearance... Collegiate Baseball was especially cognizant of Graham's efforts at San Jac. He was named the newspaper's Coach of the Decade for all levels in the 1980s after winning those five junior college national titles, and CB tabbed him the NJCAA Coach of the Century... He was named the 2007 Division I college Coach of the Year by FieldTurf... One of the few current collegiate coaches to have played in the major leagues (N.Y. Mets in 1963, Philadelphia in 1964), Graham is aided by assistant coaches Mike Taylor (Prairie View A&M, 1997; ninth year), David Pierce (Houston, 1988; seventh year), Patrick Hallmark (Rice, 1995; fourth year)... The program's "new dads" coach the bases on game-days: Taylor coaches at third base this year while Hallmark coaches at first base.
1,390 Wins • A Baseball Odyssey
Wayne Graham owns 815 career wins at Rice, but his career victories tally to 1,390 when you include his 11 years at San Jacinto North College where he won five national championships. Graham's overall collegiate record is 1,390-422 in a 28-year career that began in 1981.
One More Thing To Consider
To help place Coach Graham's achievements in perspective, consider that Rice started its baseball program in 1913 and in the 76 seasons where there are verified won-loss records (Rice is missing a few W-L totals from those early days), the Owls won a total of 838 games. In the 17+ years since 1992 when Graham was named the head coach, the Owls have won 815 games. It's only taken Graham 17+ years to accomplish what it took the program more than three-quarters of a century to do before he got here.
Keeping Pace
Rice has matched its record (28-10) through this point in the season (38 games) that it had a year ago. The team also has a slightly better record than the 2007 squad (27-11). The Owls' quick start matches or exceeds two recent Rice teams that eventually went on to play in the College World Series in Omaha.
Winners In 13-of-last-16
The Owls have won 13 of their last 16 games. The Blue & Gray is hitting .333 as a team and averaging a steady 8.5 runs per game during the recent stretch. Rice has also clubbed 22 home runs for a .526 slugging percentage and stolen 29 bases in the recent 16-game tempest.
Probable Pitchers
Wayne Graham announced the probable Rice starting pitcher for the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi game as junior right-hander Jared Rogers. Rogers has a winning 2-1 record with four starts this season. The Duncanville, Tex., native was sensational in the April 3 win over Conference USA rival Tulane. He worked a career-long 7.1 innings and held the Green Wave to just six hits and three walks while striking out a season-high four batters. Rogers was also the winning pitcher in the home extra-inning win over Lamar (Mar. 24). His most-recent-outing was 1.1 innings against Marshall on April 19... Texas A&M-Corpus Christi announced its starting pitcher as sophomore right-hander Trey Hernandez (2-1, 5.24). Hernandez made two starts against Rice as a freshman last season.
Sole Possession, Again
Rice moved into sole possession of first place in the Conference USA standings over the weekend with a two-games-to-one series win over Marshall. The Owls have won 11-straight C-USA series dating back to last season. Since its first Conference USA baseball season in the spring of 2006, Rice's regular-season record in C-USA league games is 76-11 (.874).
Their Country Is Calling
Sophomore shortstop Rick Hague and freshman third baseman Anthony Rendon are two of of the first 17 invitees named to the 2009 USA Baseball National Team Trials to be held in Cary, North Carolina, June 15-24. The duo will have a chance to represent their country as members of Team USA in games against international competition later this summer. USA Baseball, the United States' governing body for international baseball competition, announced the first 17 of 36 eventual invitees to the 2009 National Team Trials. The Trials will be held at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C. The invitees will compete for a spot on the final 22-man roster to be announced on June 24. The most-recent Rice Owl to play for Team USA was right-handed pitcher Ryan Berry in the summer of 2007. Berry went 2-1 in seven appearances for the United States, including the Pan American Games held in Brazil.
Previous Outing • Owls Top Texas 7-4 In Austin (April 21)
AUSTIN -- The Rice baseball team collected 13 hits and the Owl bullpen kept Texas off the scoreboard for the final four innings on the way to a 7-4 win over the Longhorns in a match-up of nationally-ranked rivals April 21 on the road in Austin... Rice started the scoring in the top of the second inning and proceeded to put up runs through the fifth. In the second, Anthony Rendon was hit by a pitch and he hustled to third on Diego Seastrunk's single through the right side. Rendon scored when Ryan Lewis dropped a base-hit between three fielders in left-centerfield. Seastrunk went to third on a ground out and scored on Craig Manuel's single to left to make the score 2-0... Texas came back with a run in the bottom of the inning. Kevin Keys led off with a double to center field. He scored on a one-out double to right-center by Preston Clark to make it 2-1... The Owls battled for two more runs in the third. Brock Holt singled to start it off and he moved into scoring position on Jimmy Comerota's sacrifice bunt. A base hit by Rick Hague put runners on the corners. Holt came home on a single down the line by Rendon while Hague dug for third. Seastrunk drove a pitch to the warning track in right that allowed Hague to score for a 4-1 lead... The Longhorns added a run in its at bat to cut the margin in half. A leadoff walk to Michael Torrres and two wild pitches handcuffed the Owls' cause. With one away Holt made a spectacular sliding catch in foul territory on the right side for the second out, but Torres was able to score on the play... The Blue & Gray took advantage of a Texas miscue for a run in the fourth. Manuel stroked a double down the right-field line and was able to take third on a Longhorn fielding error. He scored on Comerota's ground out for a 5-2 Rice advantage... Rice rallied for a run with two away in the fifth for its fourth-straight inning to score. Jeremy Rathjen came off the bench and delivered a pinch-hit double off the wall in right. Michael Fuda followed with a triple to the gap in right-center that stretched the margin to its largest of the night, 6-2... Texas would not go away so easy and posted a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth. Brandon Belt walked with one away and Tant Shepherd doubled to center field. Two wild pitches allowed both runs to score and the lead was back down to two, 6-4... The Owls added a final insurance run of the night in the eighth. Fuda started it with a base-hit up the middle and advanced on a sac bunt by Manuel. The sophomore from Katy, Tex., dashed home for a 7-4 lead on a Sultzbaugh single into center... Sophomore Abe Gonzales started on the mound for Rice and was followed by Travis Wright and Matt Evers. Senior Jordan Rogers entered the game in the fifth and worked out of a jam. He proceeded to work 2.2 innings and was credited with his team-leading sixth win of the season after allowing just one hit while striking out one. Seastrunk came out of the bullpen for the second time this season and faced two batters. True freshman Taylor Wall pitched the last 2.0 innings and earned his first career save. Taylor allowed just one walk and no hits in a solid performance that closed the door... Holt, Fuda, Manuel and Sultzbaugh all finished with two hits on a 13-hit night. Rice is now 28-10 on the season. The Owls have defeated Texas four-straight times dating back to last season. Texas fell to 29-9 on the year and saw its win-streak snapped at 10-straight games.
Here's Who's Hot
Here's where some Owls were at heading into the schedule break: Sophomore outfielder Michael Fuda had a solid final four games, going 6-for-10 with a home run and two triples. He also drew four walks for an .714 on-base percentage and scored five times... Junior second baseman Brock Holt is batting .520 (13-for-25) over the last six games with a home run and a double for a .680 slugging percentage. He also has five runs scored, three RBI and three steals in the stretch. Holt is an outstanding leadoff batter who has drawn four walks for a .586 on-base percentage in the last six games... True freshman Craig Manuel has worked his way into a regular starting role as either the catcher or designated hitter. Manuel is hitting at a .440 pace (11-for-25) over his last eight games with 10 RBI and five walks for a .533 on-base percentage... Not only did true freshman sensation Anthony Rendon hit at a .412 clip by going 7-for-17, the young star from Houston's Lamar High School smashed two more home runs and a double for an .824 slugging percentage. He's scored six runs in his last four games... Freshman outfielder Ryan Lewis was 4-for-his-last-10 before the break. He also drew a walk and was hit by a pitch for a .500 on-base percentage.
Seastrunk Approaching 200; Comerota Nears 100
Two Owls are approaching career milestones for hits. Junior catcher Diego Seastrunk needs only three more base hits for 200 in his career. Junior first baseman Jimmy Comerota needs only two more for 100 in this, his second full season as a starter.
It Was Kind of Like Home Run Derby
On April 18 six of Rice's first nine hits in the 10-3 win over Marshall were home runs. Not only did the six homers snap a season-long four-game drought where the team did not hit any round-trippers, it was the most by an Owl squad since clubbing six against Memphis in the semifinals of the 2007 C-USA Tournament. Rick Hague hit two of the team's six home runs 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.
Jordan Rogers On Stopper of the Year Watch List
IRVING, Texas - On April 16 Rice senior right-hander Jordan Rogers was named to the 45-man midseason watch list for the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award as the nation's top collegiate baseball reliever. Rogers has emerged as the stopper for the nationally-ranked Owls. The Dayton, Tex., native shares the Conference USA lead in saves with seven and leads the Rice lead in victories with six. In 21 appearances, Rogers is 6-2 with a 3.40 ERA. He has struck out 41 batters and walked just 17 in 39.2 innings pitched... At the end the regular season, the Division I leader in saves and four other relief pitching standouts will be selected as the award's finalists. These finalists will be released on Wednesday, June 3, just prior to the beginning of NCAA regional play. From the list of finalists, the NCBWA's All-America Committee will select a winner. The fourth annual winner will be announced on Saturday, June 13, just prior to the beginning of the College World Series.
Freshman Home Runs
Rookie Anthony Rendon hit two home runs in the Marshall series for his team-leading 11th and 12th home runs of the season. It also moved him into a tie for third place on an impressive list of Owl freshman who have hit at least 12 home runs in their debut season at the Division I level... The Rice freshman home run leaders are: Aaron Luna (2006-2008), a ninth-round draft pick by the St. Louis Cardinals last summer. Jose Cruz, Jr., who had 13 homers as a freshman in 1993 and went on to play a dozen years in the major leagues is second on the list. The third-place Owl on the frosh homer list, Bubba Crosby, ended up (like Cruz, Jr.) being first-round pick in the major league draft who reached the major leagues. Rendon has now passed Vincent Sinisi's redshirt freshman season in 2002 when Sinisi hit 11 round-trippers. A year later Sinisi helped lead the Blue & Gray to the NCAA National Championship... Rendon has twice hit two home runs in a single game. Here are the Rice frosh leaders for Four-Masters.
1. Aaron Luna 16, 2006
2. Jose Cruz, Jr. 13, 1993
3. Bubba Crosby 12, 1996
3. Anthony Rendon 12, 2009
5. Vincent Sinisi 11, 2002
Against The Wall
Freshman left-handed starting pitcher Taylor Wall has had some solid outings in his debut season at the Division I level and he certainly has been improving as of late. In his last five starts over the past month, Wall is 3-1 with a 3.13 ERA. During the current stretch, the Houston native and Westside High School star has averaged a steady 6.1 innings per start with an eye-opening 10.2 strikeouts per nine innings. For the season Wall is second on the Rice staff in wins (5) and first in strikeouts (54) and games started (9). He's held all opposing batters to a composite .256 batting average. In the April 21 game at Texas, he came out of the bullpen and notched his first career save with 2.0 hitless innings.
Six Owls In "The Show" This Season
Congratulations to six former Owls who made the Opening Day rosters of major league teams. The 2009 Rice alums in the majors include David Aardsma (Mariners), Lance Berkman (Astros), Tim Byrdak (Astros), Philip Humber (Minnesota), Paul Janish (Cincinnati) and Jeff Niemann (Tampa Bay).
The C-USA Favorites
IRVING, Tex. - Led by the junior tandem of Ryan Berry and Diego Seastrunk and sophomore Rick Hague, the Rice baseball team was ranked first in a preseason poll of Conference USA's nine head coaches, the league office announced on Jan. 28. The three preseason honorees are the most in the conference from any one school. Last season Berry was an all-conference pitcher who led the team in strikeouts (86), starts (16) and innings (104). The 6-foot-1 right-hander from Humble, Tex., has been the ace of the Rice staff since he earned freshman all-America honors in 2007. Hague earned freshman all-America honors last season as the starting shortstop for the Owls' College World Series team. The standout from Spring, Tex., batted .348 in his Division I debut and .379 in the Blue & Gray's run through the NCAA Tournament. Seastrunk is such a respected switch-hitter around the league that the C-USA coaches voted him to the preseason all-conference team even though the former third-baseman is projected to start at a completely new position (catcher) in 2009. A year ago the Channelview, Tex., star led the team in hitting (.353) and finished among the C-USA's best in hits, doubles, RBI, total bases and sacrifice flies.
2009 PRESEASON BASEBALL COACHES POLL
(as selected by C-USA's head coaches)
PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
Rank, School (First Place Votes) Pts.
1. Rice (9) 81
2. East Carolina 67
3. Southern Miss 62
4. Tulane 55
5. Houston 49
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Nate Lape, Marshall (Sr., Outfielder)
PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Seth Maness, East Carolina (Soph., Righthander)
ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
P Ryan Berry Jr. Rice
P Seth Maness So. East Carolina
P Wes Musick Jr. Houston
RP Chase Dempsay So. Houston
C Diego Seastrunk Jr. Rice
IF Brian Dozier Jr. Southern Miss
IF James Ewing Sr. Southern Miss
IF Rick Hague So. Rice
IF Seth Henry Sr. Tulane
IF Adam Yeager Sr. Marshall
OF Stephen Batts Jr. East Carolina
OF Brint Hardy Jr. UAB
OF Nate Lape Sr. Marshall
DH/UT Rob Segedin So. Tulane
Cooled By A Draft
A total of 11 Owls were selected in the 2008 Major League Baseball amateur draft, including junior right-hander Bryan Price as a first-round supplemental pick (the 45th player taken overall)... Bryan Price was taken by the Boston Red Sox organization in the supplemental round, the so called "sandwich" round between the draft's official first and second rounds. He was the first pitcher taken by the Red Sox, the defending World Series champions. Price was also the 13th right-handed pitcher taken overall. Six Rice juniors and four seniors were drafted last June... The total of eleven drafted players was three-off the Owls' school record of 14 draftees the team had taken in 2007.
Rnd Player Pos MLB Team
1A Bryan Price RHP Boston Red Sox
7 Cole St.Clair LHP Los Angeles Dodgers
7 Adam Zornes C San Diego Padres
9 Aaron Luna OF St. Louis Cardinals
11 Matt Langwell RHP Cleveland Indians
12 Jared Gayhart OF Detroit Tigers
18 Bobby Bell RHP Toronto Blue Jays
21 Lucas Luetge LHP Milwaukee Brewers
24 Chris Kelley RHP Washington Nationals
29 Jonathan Runnels LHP Los Angeles Dodgers
44 J.P. Padron 1B Washington Nationals
