Rice University
32-13, 14-6
UCF
19-31, 7-13
Owls Fly High For 10-2 Win Over UCF
5/9/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 9, 2009
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HOUSTON -- Junior pitcher Ryan Berry worked 7.0 strong innings and freshman third baseman Anthony Rendon went 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBI to lift the Rice baseball team to a 10-2 victory over visiting UCF in the second game of a three-game Conference USA weekend series Saturday afternoon at Reckling Park. The Rice win evened the weekend series between the league rivals at one game each. The series finale is set for 1 pm Sunday at Reckling Park.
Solo home runs from each team left the game deadlocked at 1-1 after one inning of play. UCF shortstop Eric Kallstrom knocked a homer to leftfield with one away in the top of the first. Rice second baseman Brock Holt quickly answered with a solo blast of his own to start the bottom of the frame. Holt's round-tripper was his eighth of the season.
The Owls took the lead for good with three in the third. Jimmy Comerota started it off with a walk, moved to scoring position with a stolen base and went to third on a UCF balk. Chad Mozingo walked with two away to put runners on the corners. Rendon gave Rice the lead, 2-1, with a base hit that scored Comerota. With the Owls still threatening, Rick Hague followed with a double that plated both baserunners for a 4-1 lead.
The Knights got one run back in the fifth. D.J. Hicks drew a leadoff walk and hustled all the way home on Chris Duffy's double to right-center.
The 4-2 score was close, but it didn't last terribly long. Rice batted-around for four runs in the sixth on four hits, a walk and two Knight fielding errors. The big blow was a two-run double by Mozingo that stretched the margin to 8-2.
With a new six-run lead there was no need for Berry to work any further and he was relieved by sophomore right-hander Mark Haynes. Berry pitched 7.0 full innings, allowing just the two runs on six hits and two walks while striking out six. He secured his fifth win of the season without a loss when Haynes finished-off the eighth and ninth. Haynes was sharp in holding a Knight squad that defeated the Owls in game one of the series, to just one single and no runs scored. He had a strikeout in a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
Rice added its final two runs of the afternoon in its final at bat of the eighth. Freshman Ryan Lewis singled with one away and a batter later Rendon blasted a pitch over the left field wall for a two-tun homer. The shot was Rendon's team-leading 16th homer of the season and tied the Rice mark for most homers by an Owl freshman (set by Aaron Luna in 2006). Rendon is hitting .380 on the year and has driven-in 54 runs in his first 44 games played at the Division I level.
The Owls improved to 32-13 overall and 14-6 in C-USA action. UCF fell to 19-31 on the year and 7-13 in conference.
The rubber-match of C-USA series is Sunday at 1 pm. The Rice seniors will be honored before the start of the contest. The final Rice home game of the regular season is scheduled for Tuesday (May 12) against Louisiana-Lafayette.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Berry, Ryan (5-0)
L: Jaager Good (1-6)
Batting:
2B: D.J. Hicks 1 ; Chris Duffy 1
HR: Eric Kallstrom 1
RBI: Eric Kallstrom 1 ; Chris Duffy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Eric Kallstrom 1 ; D.J. Hicks 1
CS: Kiko Vazquez 1
Batting:
2B: Mozingo, Chad 1 ; Hague, Rick 1 ; Fuda, Michael 1
3B: Lewis, Ryan 1
HR: Holt, Brock 1 ; Rendon, Anthony 1
RBI: Holt, Brock 1 ; Lewis, Ryan 1 ; Mozingo, Chad 2 ; Rendon, Anthony 3 ; Hague, Rick 2
SF: Lewis, Ryan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Holt, Brock 2 ; Lewis, Ryan 1 ; Mozingo, Chad 1 ; Rendon, Anthony 2 ; Fuda, Michael 1 ; Gonzales-Luna, Daniel 1 ; Comerota, Jimmy 2
SB: Lewis, Ryan 1 ; Comerota, Jimmy 1
