Rice University
31-19, 14-6
Southern Miss
30-18, 12-8
The Owls Fend Off Southern Miss, Win 10-2
5/15/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 15, 2010
By MOISEKAPENDA BOWER
Leave it to Rice senior righthander Mike Ojala to shrug off the significance of his performance on Saturday night, to act as though his six strong innings of work were just a cog in the Owls' winning machine.
In truth, Rice was relying heavily on Ojala to deliver as only a veteran could in the backend of a doubleheader against red-hot Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles had squeezed out a victory in the opener, and with the Owls' lead in the Conference USA standings shaved to only one game, it was Ojala who was charged with reestablishing their cushion.
After blowing off a two-run home run surrendered to Southern Miss shortstop B.A. Vollmuth in the first inning, Ojala pinned down the Golden Eagles in a 10-2 victory and doubleheader split at Reckling Park.
Heavy rains forced the postponement of the series opener from Friday night to Saturday afternoon, at which time Southern Miss (30-18, 12-8 C-USA) extended its 11 game-winning streak to a dozen with an 11-10 triumph. Vollmuth staked the Golden Eagles to a 2-0 lead with his blast in the first, but Ojala (3-2) allowed just two more runners into scoring position while allowing three hits and three walks and fanning seven.
"My stuff felt great tonight; my arm felt great," Ojala said. "The pitch (Vollmuth) hit just ran the wrong way and I ... just needed to get the breaking ball over because they were taking it down (in the strike zone) early in the count. I had to throw it for a strike to get them to chase it later."
When Ojala needed strikeouts he got them, closing the first, second and third innings with strikeouts of Dillon Day, Travis Graves and Vollmuth. He ran into two-out trouble in the fourth and fifth, but induced ground balls to the middle of his defense to avert serious trouble. He retired the Golden Eagles in order in the sixth, capping his start with a strikeout of Southern Miss designated hitter Anthony Doss. Ojala threw 111 pitches.
"Ojala did a great job, particularly after the slow start," Rice coach Wayne Graham said. "He pitches like a veteran. He is a veteran. That game really picked the team up because they know that that's the guy that can win in the playoffs."
Sophomore third baseman Anthony Rendon supplied the boost on offense, drilling a three-run home run off Southern Miss starter Todd McInnis (5-5) to turn a one-run deficit into a 4-2 lead in the third inning. Rendon just cleared the wall in left-center, driving the ball with such a low trajectory that Graham assumed Rendon had doubled. Instead, his 19th home run this season maintained the momentum Rice established with its eight-run eighth inning in the opener, and ignited a six-run frame in the nightcap that chased McInnis from the hill to the dugout.
Though the Owls fell short while dropping their first conference home game, their spirited rally against Southern Miss relievers Paxton King and Collin Cargill seemed to light their fire. Rice (31-19, 14-6) trailed by nine runs before the first nine batters reached to open the eighth. The last six of those batters recorded RBIs, including shortstop Rick Hague, designated hitter Jeremy Rathjen and Rendon against Cargill, the Golden Eagles' closer. The Owls gave Southern Miss the first out of the frame when Craig Manuel sacrificed himself so that Rendon could advance to third with less than two outs, but Cargill recorded two more outs in succession to strand Rendon, the tying run, at third base. Cargill then retired the Owls in order in the ninth to seal the one-run triumph.
"This was like San Diego last year with the rainout," Rendon said. "We were in the locker room since like 9:30 just waiting and waiting and waiting, and when we finally came out to play, as you could tell we weren't the most excited of people. Something finally clicked in the eighth inning, and we built on that as we moved into the second game."
The late surge provided inspiration to a particular pitcher who spent most of the opener in the clubhouse stretching and mentally preparing for his seventh start. When he poked his head into the dugout to check on his teammates' progress, he was eager to witness the final frames.
"I was inside stretching and stuff, and when I came out we scored a (load) of runs," Ojala said. "I said, `Oh, I can't go back in there,' but Coach Graham told me to go back into the locker room. But it carried over."
Ojala saw to it that the Owls wouldn't falter on the mound. And thanks to his resilience and persistence, Rice stands just one victory on Sunday over Southern Miss away from clinching the regular-season C-USA title.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Ojala, Mike (3-2)
L: Todd McInnis (5-5)
S: Gonzales, Abe (2)
Batting:
HR: B.A. Vollmuth 1
RBI: B.A. Vollmuth 2
SH: Taylor Walker 1 ; Dillon Day 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kameron Brunty 1 ; B.A. Vollmuth 1
Batting:
2B: Rathjen, Jeremy 1 ; Rendon, Anthony 1
HR: Hague, Rick 1 ; Rendon, Anthony 1
RBI: Mozingo, Chad 1 ; Hague, Rick 1 ; Rathjen, Jeremy 1 ; Rendon, Anthony 4 ; Comerota, Jimmy 1 ; Manuel, Craig 1
SF: Comerota, Jimmy 1 ; Manuel, Craig 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mozingo, Chad 1 ; Hague, Rick 3 ; Rathjen, Jeremy 2 ; Rendon, Anthony 1 ; Seastrunk, Diego 1 ; Comerota, Jimmy 1 ; Ratterree, Michael 1
SB: Mozingo, Chad 1 ; Comerota, Jimmy 1
CS: Mozingo, Chad 1
