Rice University
29-11, 11-5
Houston
22-23, 11-5
Baseball Team Falls To Houston On Friday Night, 7-4
5/1/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 1, 2009
HOUSTON -- The University of Houston collected 12 hits and took advantage of three Rice fielding miscues before claiming a 7-4 victory over the Owls' baseball team in the opening game of a three-game Conference USA series Friday night across town at UH's Cougar Field.
Not only did Houston take the first game of the C-USA weekend set, UH moved into a tie with Rice for first place in the conference standings with identical 11-5 league records. The Owls lead the Silver Glove Series by a count of two-games-to-one heading into Saturday's 6 pm contest across town at UH.
Houston struck first to put a runs on the scoreboard in the first two innings. Blake Kelso singled through the right side and moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. He advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a two-out single to center by Chris Wallace.
In the second, Jake Runte singled and a costly Rice fielding error put runners on first and second. Kelso walked to load the bases and Runte scored on a sacrifice fly by Presley. The out would have otherwise ended the inning, but the Cougars moved in front by a 2-0 score.
Rice fought-back and tied the game in the top of the third. A leadoff single by Jimmy Comerota and double off the left field wall by Steven Sultzbaugh quickly put runners on second and third. Comerota scored on a sacrifice fly by Brock Holt to make it 2-1. Chad Mozingo followed with a double to left to drive in Sultzbaugh and the game was knotted-up, 2-2.
Houston returned serve with two runs in the fourth to go up 4-2. Taylor White walked and scored on a double to left by Kelso. Kelso took third on a ground out to the right side and scored on Chase Dempsay's single through the right-side.
The Cougars exploded for three unearned runs in the fifth. The key was a two-out single by Taylor White with men on first and second, but it wasn't the end of the action. The Owls made two fielding errors on the play and all the runners scored, stretching the margin to 7-2.
The Owls came right back with a two-run sixth. Diego Seastrunk walked and three-consecutive singles by Michael Fuda, Craig Manuel and Comerota led to the two runs. The Blue & Gray was looking for more after a walk to Holt loaded the bases, but UH worked out of the jam and the Rice runners were stranded. The Owls had only one base runner after the sixth.
The Blue & Gray was paced on the offensive side by Comerota and Manuel, who both went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Freshman Taylor Wall (5-4) started on the mound for the Owls and surrendered a total of three earned runs in 4.2 innings of work. He was relieved by Matt Evers and Matthew Reckling for the final 3.1 frames. The Owls had some good news with the return of Jess Buenger to action for the first time since March 8.
Rice fell to 29-11 overall and 11-5 in C-USA action. Houston improved to 22-23 on the season and 11-5 against the league. The rivals hold a slim lead by percentage points over nationally-ranked East Carolina (33-14, 12-6) in the C-USA standings.
Saturday's second game of the three-game weekend series will be televised live by CBS College Sports. Junior right-hander Ryan Berry (4-0, 1.91) is scheduled to start on the mound for the Owls.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Ray (4-2)
L: Wall, Taylor (5-4)
S: Joseph, D. (7)
Batting:
2B: Mozingo, Chad 1 ; Sultzbaugh, Steven 1
3B: Holt, Brock 1
RBI: Holt, Brock 1 ; Mozingo, Chad 1 ; Manuel, Craig 1 ; Comerota, Jimmy 1
SF: Holt, Brock 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Seastrunk, Diego 1 ; Fuda, Michael 1 ; Comerota, Jimmy 1 ; Sultzbaugh, Steven 1
Batting:
2B: Kelso 1
RBI: Kelso 1 ; Presley 1 ; Dempsay 1 ; Wallace 1
SH: Presley 1
SF: Presley 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kelso 2 ; Murphy, D. 1 ; Runte 2 ; White 2
SB: Dempsay 1
CS: Stuckey 1
