Rice Remains Locked In, Pummels Marshall 18-0

Calendar

Baseball

at Louisiana

Oct 11

1 PM

Baseball

vs McClennan JC

Oct 26

Noon

Reckling Park

May 28, 2010

Box Score

By MOISEKAPENDA BOWER

If there are any coaches contemplating a decision to start a lefthanded pitcher against Rice during the NCAA Tournament, perhaps they should consider the fates of Patrick Somers, William Kankel and Mike Mason.

On successive days at the Conference USA Baseball Championship, East Carolina (Somers), Houston (Kankel) and Marshall (Mason) elected to start southpaws against Rice despite the Owls' featuring seven righthanded hitters in their batting order. On Friday, the Owls added Mason to their list of bludgeoning victims and sent a clear message that their earlier struggles against lefthanded pitching are a thing of the past.

Like Somers two days before, Mason did not escape the second inning, falling prey to another extraordinary display of offensive might by Rice, which rolled to an 18-0 win shortened to seven innings at Cougar Field.

In posting the most lopsided shutout in C-USA Baseball Championship history, the Owls (38-20) produced a second 11-run inning less than 24 hours after their 11-run first set the tone for their 24-3 win over Houston. Mason (3-7) pitched admirably against Rice and earned a no decision in a 4-3 victory on May 8. While the top-seeded Owls squandered multiple scoring opportunities 20 days ago, they were relentless in their determination to punish Marshall (27-31) and clinch a spot opposite No. 2 seed Southern Miss in the C-USA tournament final.

"Actually (sophomore outfielder Jeremy) Rathjen said something about that the other day," Rice junior right fielder Chad Mozingo said of the Owls' 7-9 record against lefthanded starters coming into this week. "I was unaware of it. Yeah, it's good to get that little monkey off our backs."

Consider that monkey exterminated. Somers, Kankel and Mason went a combined 0-3 with a 50.62 ERA against the Owls, who bashed five more home runs on Friday after cranking six on Thursday night against the Cougars. Senior center fielder Steven Sultzbaugh was the hitting star this day, sparking the 11-run second with his grand slam off Mason. He added a two-run double later that same inning and smoked a homer to right-center to key back-to-back dingers with Mozingo to open the fifth.

Last season at the C-USA Baseball Championship in Hattiesburg, Miss., Sultzbaugh turned around his season by hitting .438/.471/.500 and driving in three runs as the Owls earned the hardware. In three games this week he is batting .800 with eight runs, 12 RBIs and three homers.

"I think it's all about relaxing for me," said Sultzbaugh, who matched the C-USA Championship single-game mark of seven RBIs matched most recently by former Rice infielder/outfielder Aaron Luna in 2007. "It's always sort of been I've had the ability, but when I kind of settle down and am able to take one at-bat at a time and just relax and have confidence in my at-bats, then things start to work out for me."

Sultzbaugh was the second righthanded hitter to produce a multi-homer game this tournament, joining left fielder Michael Fuda, who stroked two against Houston. Mozingo, the lone true lefthander in the lineup (senior catcher Diego Seastrunk is a switch hitter), joined his outfield mates with a two-run home run in the third and his solo shot in the fifth.

That Mozingo belted two homers against the Thundering Herd represented a bit of humor for he was robbed of a two-homer game at Marshall on May 9 when an umpire erroneously credited Mozingo with a triple after his ball cleared the wall and ricocheted back onto the field.

"I was joking with the umpire about it," said Mozingo, who finished 3-for-5 with three runs scored and three RBIs. "It's all good - I got my home runs. I guess karma came around and got two more against them."

The bottom third of the Rice order - senior first baseman Jimmy Comerota, Fuda and Sultzbaugh - went a combined 9-for-13 with eight runs and 12 RBIs. That statistical highlight was matched by the five-hit shutout hurled by senior righthander Jared Rogers (8-1), who struck out a season-high eight batters and brushed off the lengthy spells in the dugout while the Owls batted around in the second and third innings.

Armed with a fastball that had zip and complemented his slider, Rogers manufactured a means to maintain his focus as the offense went wild.

"I kind of stayed mentally ticked off," Rogers said. "I just tried to stay angry and focus all that energy and concentration on the strike zone.

"That's the best I've felt pretty much all year physically, and my last two outings I've been throwing my changeup a lot more effectively. And that opened up a lot more opportunities for strikeouts with my fastball and my slider."

The assumption is Southern Miss will start C-USA Preseason Pitcher of the Year Todd McInnis on Saturday, a wise move given McInnis' reputation for excellence and the fact he throws righthanded. Given what has transpired at Cougar Field, one has to wonder if opponents will eschew starting a southpaw against Rice in the immediate future.

"Oh, I think so," Rice coach Wayne Graham said.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results