Owls Host Stanford Friday In 2011 Season-Opener

Feb. 15, 2011

(All start times listed are CENTRAL TIME)

Feb. 18 (Fri.) 4:30 pm; Rice vs. Stanford
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Feb. 19 (Sat.) 2 pm; Rice vs. Stanford
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Feb. 20 (Sun.) 1 pm; Rice vs. Stanford
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Internet features activate at game time.

Rice Opens 2011 Season Feb. 18 With Three-Game Home Series Against Stanford
The Rice baseball team, 40-23 a year ago and ranked as high as 14th in the nation in the preseason polls, opens the 2011 campaign on Friday (Feb. 18) at home against national powerhouse Stanford. The Owls host the Cardinal in a three-game weekend series at Reckling Park. Start time for the season-opener is set for 4:30 pm. The start time for Saturday is 2 pm while Sunday's game begins is 1 pm. (Listed times are Central Time.)

Watch The Games On OwlVision All Access
Every game of the Stanford series is slated for a live on-line video broadcast by OwlVision All Access. OwlVision is a subscription-based service which matches the play-by-play audio with a video feed to create a television-like broadcast on the Internet (either live or in an archived format). The service has proved to be very popular with fans and alumni living throughout the world. Information about the service and subscription prices are available here. Access the service on game day at the above links.

Audio Broadcasts - Catch Every Rice Baseball Game On The Web
Every Rice baseball game this season will be broadcast live around the world on the Internet at RiceOwls.com. For on-line listeners there is a direct connection to the audio feed provided at the above link to the Internet audio home page. The Rice broadcasting tag-team this season is J.P. Heath and David Brady with help from some of our Rice broadcasting friends.

Live Stats On GameTracker
Live play-by-play text and statistics from every Rice game will be posted on RiceOwls.com. Look for the GameTracker links on either the Rice Athletics front page, the weekly series preview or the baseball schedule page.

National Ranking Update • Rice "Climbs" To 14th In The Polls
Rice is ranked as high as 14th in the nation to start the 2011 season. What's interesting is that the Owls appear to be climbing in the various preseason national rankings! Rice is 21st according to the Collegiate Baseball rankings released on Dec. 20, 2010. CollegeBaseballLineup.com rated the Owls as the No. 18 team in the country on Jan. 3, 2011. Baseball America also had the Blue & Gray 18th in its national preseason poll announced on Jan. 27, while USA Today/ESPN tabbed Rice as the No. 17 team that same day. The Owls moved up to 15th in the country when the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) published its preseason poll on Jan. 31. PerfectGame.com listed the Owls to 14th in the nation on Feb. 9. Here's a closer look at the preseason polls:

POLL	Preseason Ranking	Final 2010 Ranking
PerfectGame.com	14	22
NCBWA	15	21
USA Today/ESPN	17	20
Baseball America	18	21
CollegeBaseballLineup.com	18	24
Collegiate Baseball Magazine	21	26

99th Season Since The Start; 95th Season On The Field
The 2011 season marks the 99th year since Rice played baseball for the first time. Rice Owls baseball made its debut in the spring of 1913, just one semester after the school (The Rice Institute) opened its doors for higher education in the fall of 1912. The 2011 season is, however, only the Owls' 95th season on the diamond. The school cancelled its season in 1919 and did not field a team for three years (1933-35) during the Great Depression. Rice returned to the diamond in the spring of 1936 and has been playing ever since.

Head Coach Wayne Graham
Four-time national coach of the year and Texas Sports Hall of Fame inductee Wayne Graham (Texas, 1970) is in his 20th season at Rice. The 2011 campaign marks his 31st year as a collegiate head coach... He is now 870-340 with the Owls (527-115 at home, 261-177 in road games and 82-48 at neutral sites). His Rice winning percentage is .719, the best in school history. Another way of looking at Graham's .719 win percentage is that it is the equivalent of a major league team winning 116 games in a single year... Graham's record vs. Stanford is 2-4 (0-3 road, 2-1 neutral)... Under Graham, the Owls clinched another postseason bid in 2010, making 16-straight seasons for Rice to earn an NCAA appearance. The Blue & Gray has advanced into the NCAA tournament in 1995-96-97-98-99-00-01-02-03-04-05-06-07-08-09-10. The 2003 bid culminated with the Owls' first national championship... Rice played in the 1994-95-96 Southwest Conference tournaments (winning the final league title in `96), won the 1997-98-99 WAC tournaments, shared the 2000 WAC title with San Jose State before winning the 2001-02-03-04-05 titles outright. He won C-USA regular season crowns in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010 as well as the C-USA tournament championships in `06, `07 and `09... Graham was named the WAC Coach of the Year in 1998, `99, `02 and the Co-Coach of the Year in `03. He was named the Keith LeClair C-USA Coach of the Year in `06, his first year in the league, and again in `07, `08 and `10... Rice has seven appearances in the NCAA College World Series under Graham (1997, `99, `02, `03, `06, `07, `08)... Graham has led the Owls to number-one rankings for seven weeks during the 1999 season, for six weeks during the `01 campaign, two weeks in `02, six weeks in 2003 (the last of which established some staying power), three weeks in 2004, 12 weeks in 2006 and five weeks in `07... Graham's San Jacinto Gators dominated the NJCAA World Series in Grand Junction, Colo., in the 1980s, winning five national titles in six years (1985-86-87, 89-90)... The Austin American-Statesman named Graham its SWC Coach of the Year in `95 after he led the Owls to their first NCAA tournament appearance... Collegiate Baseball was especially cognizant of Graham's efforts at San Jac. He was named the newspaper's Coach of the Decade for all levels in the 1980s after winning those five junior college national titles, and CB tabbed him the NJCAA Coach of the Century... He was named the 2007 Division I college Coach of the Year by FieldTurf... One of the few current collegiate coaches to have played in the major leagues (N.Y. Mets in 1963, Philadelphia in 1964), Graham is aided by assistant coaches Mike Taylor (Prairie View A&M, 1997; 11th year), David Pierce (Houston, 1988; ninth year), Patrick Hallmark (Rice, 1995, Brown College; sixth year)... Taylor coaches at third base this year while Hallmark coaches at first base.

1,445 Wins • A Baseball Odyssey
Wayne Graham owns 870 career wins at Rice, but his career victories tally to 1,445 when you include his 11 years at San Jacinto North College where he won five national championships. Graham's overall collegiate record is 1,445-453 in a 30-year career that began in 1981.

Openers Under Wayne Graham
Looking sharp out of the gate is nothing new for Rice under Wayne Graham. The Owls are 14-5 in their season-opener under Graham and 17-2 in their home-opener.

Wayne Graham Radio Show Set To Debut In March
A new Rice baseball radio show featuring the Owls' legendary head coach Wayne Graham is set to debut in March and air live on a weekly basis, announced Director of Athletics Rick Greenspan Tuesday (Feb. 8) in conjunction with Rice Sports Properties, the multimedia rights partner for the University and IMG College property... The Wayne Graham Radio Show presented by Waste Management, will air live from Prince's Restaurant near the Southwest Freeway and will be broadcast in the Houston area on 1560 AM The Game (KGOW), and around the world on RiceOwls.com... A total of nine, hour-long shows over an 11-week span begin at 7 pm on March 7 and run through the remainder of the regular season. Coach Graham, with Rice baseball broadcaster David Brady, will review games from the previous weekend and preview upcoming series. In addition to discussions on college baseball's national rankings and chase for the Conference USA championship, each week's show will include current members of the team, former Owl players and special guests. There is also a segment for fans to ask Coach Graham a question. It's a unique opportunity for baseball fans to get direct insight from one of the college game's most successful icons... "This is a great opportunity to increase the dialogue between Rice Baseball and its fans," said Coach Graham. "It is also a wonderful opportunity to increase the visibility of college baseball in Houston. I am looking forward to the show, and the upcoming season."

Probable Rice Pitcher
Wayne Graham announced the Owls' probable starting pitcher for the 2011 season opener as freshman right-hander John Simms.

John Simms is one of the Owls' talented freshman who will have an opportunity to make a big contribution to the Blue & Gray this season. After earning high school All-America honors at College Park HS in The Woodlands, Tex., he was selected in the 2010 Major League draft by the Washington Nationals. Simms declined the pro offer and went on to pitch for the United States 18 & Under National Team over the summer of 2010. He enrolled at Rice in August and proved to be one of the top pitchers during the fall practices, holding his Owl teammates to a composite .226 batting average during intrasquad scrimmages... Simms would be the first Owl freshman to start on the mound on Opening Day since eventual first round major league draft pick Joe Savery earned the honor during his rookie year in 2005.
Stanford announced its starting pitcher as sophomore right-hander Mark Appel (2-1, 5.92 last season).

Series History
In nine career meetings Stanford leads the all-time series 7-2. This weekend marks just the fourth series between the two teams. The Cardinal have twice swept Rice three-games-to-none in Palo Alto, Calif. The first time was in the first meetings between the teams back in 1991, and the most recent was the opening series of the 2010 season. The Owls won two-of-three games over Stanford at the 2003 College World Series to win the NCAA National Championship.

Anthony Rendon To Be Re-Presented With Howser Trophy Before Saturday's Game
Just prior to the start of Saturday's second game against Stanford (Feb. 19), Rice All-America third baseman Anthony Rendon will be re-presented with the 2010 Dick Howser Trophy as the National Player of the Year by the College Baseball Foundation... In addition to being honored at the award's official presentation ceremony at the conclusion of the college baseball season, each Howser Trophy winner is saluted again on his campus so that fans, classmates and administrators at his school can be a part of recognizing his achievements. Rendon will be re-presented the Howser Trophy by Jana Howser, daughter of Dick Howser and the College Baseball Foundation Executive Vice-President... In 2010 Rendon was the recipient of the 24th annual Dick Howser Trophy as college baseball's national player of the year. The original presentation was made on July 2 in Lubbock, Tex., as part of the festivities to recognize and induct the College Baseball Hall of Fame and award several other national honors for 2010... Rendon is just the second player in Conference USA history to be named Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons. He picked up that honor again this year while leading the Owls to the regular season league championship and the school's 16th consecutive NCAA Regional appearance. Under Rice head coach Wayne Graham, Rendon was named a two-time first team All-C-USA selection, to the C-USA Championship All-Tournament team and was the Most Outstanding Player at the NCAA Austin Regional. The Houston native from nearby Lamar High School was selected as the 2009-2010 Male Athlete of the Year for all sports in Conference USA... He batted .402 in conference play and finished the season hitting .394 overall. Rendon led the league and was among the NCAA leaders with 26 home runs, and he finished with more homers than strikeouts (22). Rendon ranked among the nation's leaders in runs scored (83) and walks (65) while maintaining a .530 on-base percentage. He had 12 doubles and 85 RBI, while posting an .801 slugging percentage. Rendon was also named the 2010 National Player of the Year by Baseball America magazine and the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)... The Dick Howser Trophy, given in memory of the former Florida State University All-America shortstop and major league player and manager who died of brain cancer in 1987, is regarded by many as college baseball's most prestigious award. Criteria for consideration for the trophy include performance on the field, leadership, moral character and courage - qualities that were exemplified by Dick Howser's life... A Florida native, Howser was twice an All-America shortstop at Florida State University (1957-58), then coached the Seminoles in 1979 after a career as a major league player and coach. After one year in the college ranks, Howser returned to the majors to manage the New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals and won the World Series with the Royals in 1985. The baseball stadium on the Florida State campus is named for Howser... CBWA membership includes writers, broadcasters and publicists. Designed to promote and publicize college baseball, it is the sport's only college media-related organization, founded in 1962... The Howser Trophy was created in 1987, shortly after Howser's death. Previous winners of the Howser Trophy are Mike Fiore, Miami, 1987; Robin Ventura, Oklahoma State, 1988; Scott Bryant, Texas, 1989; Alex Fernandez, Miami-Dade Community College South, 1990; Frank Rodriguez, Howard College (Texas), 1991; Brooks Kieschnick, Texas, 1992 and 1993; Jason Varitek, Georgia Tech, 1994; Todd Helton, Tennessee, 1995; Kris Benson, Clemson, 1996; J. D. Drew, Florida State, 1997; Eddy Furniss, LSU, 1998; Jason Jennings, Baylor, 1999; Mark Teixeira, Georgia Tech, 2000; Mark Prior, P, USC, 2001, Khalil Greene, SS, Clemson, 2002; Rickey Weeks, 2B, Southern U., 2003; Jered Weaver, P, Long Beach State, 2004; Alex Gordon, 3B, Nebraska, 2005; Brad Lincoln, P/DH, Houston, 2006; David Price, P, Vanderbilt, 2007; Buster Posey, C, Florida State, 2008 and Stephen Strasburg, P, San Diego State, 2009.

The C-USA Favorites
IRVING, Tex. - With returning National Player of the Year Anthony Rendon tabbed as the 2011 Conference USA Preseason Player of the Year, along with fellow Owls Jeremy Rathjen and Taylor Wall selected as preseason all-conference honorees, the Rice baseball team was picked to finish first in the league in a head coaches poll, the C-USA office announced... Rice, East Carolina and Southern Miss all had three preseason honorees, sharing the most of any school in the annual coaches' survey... Already a unanimous preseason All-America selection, the C-USA coaches voted Rendon as the favorite to win what would be his third C-USA Player of the Year Award in as many seasons. The Owls' junior third baseman became the first freshman to win the C-USA player of the year award in 2009, and then just the second player in league history to earn the honor twice when he won it again in 2010. Junior outfielder Jeremy Rathjen earned second team all-conference honors after a solid sophomore season in 2010. A year ago Rathjen batted a steady .317 with 13 home runs. The local standout from Memorial High School drove-in 69 runs and scored 52 times in 57 games played... Taylor Wall is a left-handed pitcher who earned second-team all-Conference USA accolades in 2010. Wall went 5-5 with a 4.45 ERA in 15 starts. The Houston native from Westside High School finished among the C-USA leaders in starts, innings pitched (85.0) and strikeouts (61). He held all opponents to a composite .233 batting average.

2011 CONFERENCE USA PRESEASON BASEBALL AWARDS
(as selected by C-USA's head coaches)

PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
1. Rice (6)
2. Southern Miss (2)
3. East Carolina
4. UCF (1)
5. Tulane
6. Memphis
7. Houston
8. Marshall
9. UAB
(first place votes in parentheses)

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Anthony Rendon, Rice (Junior, Third Baseman)

PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Todd McInnis, Southern Miss (Senior, RHP)

ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
P, Seth Maness, Sr., East Carolina
P, Todd McInnis, Sr., Southern Miss
P, Taylor Wall, Jr., Rice
RP, Collin Cargill, Sr., Southern Miss
C, Victor Gomez, Jr., Marshall
IF, Garrett Cannizaro, So., Tulane
IF, Anthony Rendon, Jr., Rice
IF, Corey Thompson, Jr., East Carolina
IF, B.A. Vollmuth, Jr., Southern Miss
IF, Chad Zurcher, Jr., Memphis
OF, Jamal Austin, Jr., UAB
OF, Drew Martinez, Jr., Memphis
OF, Trent Whitehead, Sr., East Carolina
DH/UT, Jeremy Rathjen, Jr., Rice

Career Longball Leaders
As the 2010 national player of the year and a unanimous 2011 preseason All-America selection, junior third baseman Anthony Rendon has both the eye of the media covering college baseball, and the full-attention opposition. It seemed it was only going to be a matter of time before he broke into the Rice top ten for career home runs, and he enters his junior year already in the top three. The junior standout from nearby Lamar High School has two players in front of him who also happen to be some of the most prominent players in Rice baseball history. Rice's top ten career home run hitters are as follows:
1. 67, Lance Berkman (1995-97)
2. 59, Bubba Crosby (1996-98)
3. 46, Anthony Rendon (2009-current)
4. 43, Jose Cruz Jr. (1993-95)
5. 42, Eric Arnold (1999-2002)
T 6. 39, Jay Knoblauh, (1985-88)
T 6. 39, Aaron Luna (2006-2008)
8. 37, Damon Thames (1998-99)
9. 33, Jacques Landry (1995-96)
10. 32, Enrique Cruz (2001-03)

Sign Up For "Dollars For Dingers"
Owl fans are encouraged to support Rice Athletics by signing up for the 2011 edition of the Dollars for Dingers program. Signing up on-line at this link is easy and secure... for Dingers is a fun way to support Rice student-athletes. The popular program ties the total number of Owl home runs hit during the season to a financial contribution from our fans. Last year, participants in the Dollars for Dingers program contributed more than $30,000 to the Owl Club Scholarship Fund supporting all of Rice's student-athletes... Rice invites fans to make your pledge today as the Owls try to eclipse last year's home run total of 96. The Development Office will keep track of the count all the way through the College World Series, and let fans know their gift amount at the end of the season. Every pledge of $2 or more qualifies participants for a special souvenir... The Rice baseball team will again be swinging for the fences this year. On behalf of the student-athletes who benefit from your generosity, Rice sends its deepest appreciation and hopes the wind is blowing our way each time the Owls are up to bat!

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