Rice University
35-15, 16-8
UAB
30-24, 11-12
UAB Rallies Past Rice 15-12 Saturday
5/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 16, 2009
2009 C-USA Bracket in PDF Format 
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Rice baseball had a season-high 20 hits and led by as many as eight runs at one point, but it wasn't enough to hold-off a mid-game UAB rally as the Blazers went on to record a 15-12 victory over the Owls in the finale of a three-game Conference USA series at Young Memorial Field Saturday afternoon in Birmingham, Ala.
The Rice loss, paired with East Carolina's 13-2 win over Memphis earlier in the day, lifted the Pirates into sole possession of the 2009 C-USA regular season championship on the league's final day of action. The Owls finish second in the conference standings and will be the No. 2 seed in its next game, vs. Marshall in the annual C-USA Tournament which begins on Wednesday (May 20) in Hattiesburg, Miss.
With 15 runs on 12 hits of their own, and a win over Rice in the opening game of the series on Thursday night, UAB proved it was more than talented enough to play a spoiler's role. The Blazers grabbed the game's early lead in the bottom of the first inning when senior Brint Hardy slugged a two-out pitch over the left field wall for his fifth home run of the season and a 1-0 lead.
The Owls came out swinging in the top of the second. Freshman Anthony Rendon started a five-run outburst with a solo home run to left-center field. The round-tripper was his team-leading 17th of the season, the most home runs by a Rice freshman in school history and the ninth-highest single season total a the school. The blast also set the offensive tone. Four of the next five Owls collected base hits for two more runs, highlighted by RBI singles by Chad Mozingo and senior Jess Buenger. Brock Holt's sacrifice fly added a fourth run and a triple by Jimmy Comerota off the wall in centerfield drove in another to stretch the margin to 5-1.
Rice came right back and sent eight men to the plate for three more in the third. Rendon and Mozingo singled and both men scored on a double down the left-field line by Michael Fuda. Fuda went to third on a passed ball and scored on Steven Sultzbaugh's single to make it an 8-1 game.
Three-consecutive infield singles by Mozingo, Fuda and Sultzbaugh led to a Rice score in the fifth. Buenger's sacrifice fly drove in the Owls' ninth run of the day and the eight-run lead looked as though it would be more than enough room.
UAB answered with five-unanswered runs in the next two innings, including two in the bottom of the fifth and three more in the sixth. In the fifth Jamal Austin singled and scored on a triple to right field by Jonathan Merritt. Merrit came home on a ground out to the left side that made it 9-3. In the sixth Andrew Manning walked and Digger Towe singled. Luke Stewart followed with a homer to right for a new 9-6 game.
The Owls got one run back in the seventh. Sultzbaugh, Buenger and Comerota singled to load the bases. Diego Seastrunk drew a walk to force in the team's tenth run of the afternoon, but it was the Blazers that seemed to get a lift by getting out of the danger with minimal damage.
Rice put itself in a jam in the bottom of the seventh, walking three of the first four batters in the inning. Digger Towe and Luke Stewart then struck back-to-back doubles that tied the game up at 10-10. The Owls got a strikeout, but a fourth walk of the inning and a Jamal Austin triple to center cleared the bases for a new 12-10 lead. Merritt doubled to right for a run and a 13-10 score. When the dust had finally cleared the Blazers had seven runs on just four hits, including three doubles and a triple, on five Rice pitchers used in the seventh.
The Blue & Gray finally put out that fire, but the Blazers were back at it again in the eighth. Four more walks and a base hit led to two more UAB runs that extended the home lead to 15-10. Rice would not go away so easy and fought back for a pair of runs on three hits and a 15-12 score. The big blow was a two-run homer by Holt for the leadoff batter's 10 longball of the season.
Sultzbaugh had a career-best four hits on the day and scored three times to lead the offensive effort. Four-other Owls had three hits. Buenger went 2-for-2 at the plate with a walk and sacrifice fly while making his first start in the lineup since March 8.
The Owls are now 35-15 on the season and 16-8 in conference play. UAB improved to 30-24 overall and 11-12 against the league. The Blazers earned the No. 6 seed of the C-USA Tournament by taking the three-game weekend series 2-1. It was the first time since March of 2008 for Rice not to win a C-USA series.
Rice's opening-round game of the 2009 C-USA Tournament is set for a 12:30 pm against No. 7 seed Marshall at Pete Taylor Park on the Southern Miss campus. The game will be broadcast live on the radio in the Houston area on KTRU (91.7 FM).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Nick Graffeo (2-2)
L: Evers, Matt (4-3)
Batting:
2B: Fuda, Michael 1
3B: Comerota, Jimmy 1 ; Rendon, Anthony 1
HR: Holt, Brock 1 ; Rendon, Anthony 1
RBI: Holt, Brock 3 ; Comerota, Jimmy 1 ; Seastrunk, Diego 1 ; Rendon, Anthony 1 ; Mozingo, Chad 1 ; Fuda, Michael 2 ; Sultzbaugh, Steven 1 ; Buenger, Jess 2
SF: Holt, Brock 1 ; Buenger, Jess 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Holt, Brock 1 ; Rendon, Anthony 2 ; Hague, Rick 1 ; Mozingo, Chad 2 ; Fuda, Michael 2 ; Sultzbaugh, Steven 3 ; Buenger, Jess 1
SB: Rendon, Anthony 1 ; Sultzbaugh, Steven 1
Batting:
2B: Jonathan Merritt 1 ; Digger Towe 1 ; Luke Stewart 1
3B: Jamal Austin 1 ; Jonathan Merritt 1
HR: Brint Hardy 1 ; Luke Stewart 1
RBI: Jamal Austin 3 ; Jonathan Merritt 2 ; Brint Hardy 2 ; Digger Towe 1 ; Luke Stewart 5 ; Nick Crawford 1
SH: Andrew Manning 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jamal Austin 2 ; Jonathan Merritt 2 ; Brint Hardy 2 ; Andrew Manning 2 ; Digger Towe 3 ; Luke Stewart 3 ; Nick Crawford 1
SB: Brint Hardy 1
CS: Cody McMurry 1
HBP: Cody McMurry 1
